Skip to the guide

Care questionLongevity care guide

Show guide index

Guide index

Find care

- Start here

- Find a search route

- Read reviews carefully

- Ask for a referral

- Use a board search

- Check the name

- Check the pharmacy

- Online or in person

- A visit by screen

- A visit in a room

- When states differ

Understand treatment

- Sort the medicine terms

- Medicine made to order

- Weight medicine questions

- Ask about treatment offers

Plan the bill

- What care can cost

- Insurance and cash routes

Ask and check

- When to pause

- Questions for the visit

- Read the source records

The care guideFind care

Find care / guidebook

# How do I ask for a useful referral?

Ask for the reason behind a name.

## Make the request about your concern

Tell the clinician you already see what you want to discuss. Mention the treatment name if you have it. Ask what kind of visit would help you sort it out.

Then ask whom they suggest and what makes that person a fit for the question.

## Ask how the care would join up

Would the next clinician need your past test results? Who would send them? Who would keep track of changes to your medicines? These are useful questions even while you are still exploring.

If the referral is for a test, ask what question the test would answer. If it is for another visit, ask what the visit would add.

## A suggested name still has a record

The state office that licenses doctors publishes whether a doctor has a licence and any public record of penalties.

Ask for the full name and the state where the person practises. Keep the name with the reason for the referral.

## When you do not have a referring clinician

You can take the same concern to an in-person clinic or an online service. Ask who would assess it and how that person’s record can be checked. Ask the same questions you would bring after a referral.

Read and check

## Source records

- State boards: what public records show

- Find a state medical board

Keep readingUse a board search

This guide helps you find words for care questions; it operates no clinic and sells no treatment.

Start hereQuestions for careSource recordsRead as text
