Items to Bring With You

During your first visit your oncologist will need to assess your health in general and understand the history of your condition in detail.  Therefore please bring with you all the material and information that will help us obtain such a complete medical history and thus be in a better position address your medical problem.   The following are the main items:

• Surgical Report if any
• Histological examination, Pathologist Report for other older possibly unrelated surgery
• Record of all previous treatments for your disease if applicable
• Recent imaging exams (CT, MRI, PET, Ultrasound, etc.)
• Recent blood tests
• Whatever else you think will help the doctor that will examine you.
• Other tests even if they seem irrelevant to the disease (e.g. Cardiac Echo)

Appointments

At Contemporary Oncology our office hours are from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM. To make an appointment, please contact us on

• Tel. +30 210 6815855 +30 210 7216993
• Fax +30 210 7213207

Or send us an Email with your name and desired date and time on Appointments@oncologists.gr

While we make every effort to provide an appointment booking at the earliest possible time, it is sometime not possible to respond immediately and it becomes necessary that we take your request and call you back within 24 hours with the possible times.

Registration

On the day of your first visit, and before you meet with your oncologist, a member of our staff will provide you with two forms to fill, these are:

• A Registration Form for contact and insurance and confidentiality information
• A questionnaire for your medical history and any medications you may be receiving

You should complete these forms prior to your consultation. Practice staff is available to assist you in this if you wish.

Patient ID Card

After meeting with your doctor, the reception staff will issue you with a Patient ID Card. This card will have you Patient Number and Name. You should bring this card with you or have it handy when you are calling us by telephone, as we use the unique patient number to make all bookings and other actions on the practice computer system.

The use of the unique patient ID Number ensures that all actions are made on the correct patient record and overcomes the problems of duplicate names.

Instructions

After your examination your doctor will give written Instructions on how to proceed, which medication you may have to take, what further tests you will need to undergo and when will your next appointment be. Make sure you understand and follow these instructions. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to discuss you issues with your doctor or one of our medical care team.

Drugs & Prescription Refills

Your supervising doctor will monitor and check your prescribed medicine at each visit to our clinic, so you should always be aware of how much you have left of each medication, in order for refills can be prescribed if necessary. However, if you need a refill of your medications before your next scheduled appointment, please inform your doctor who will arrange for you to pick up the appropriate prescription. Remember to bring along the health insurance booklet (vivliario ygeias) and for special prescriptions your identification card or passport.

Test Results

In order to monitor the progress of your treatment, we ask that you send us your test results at the intervals indicated by your doctor. Once we receive these results a member of our team will contact you to inform you of the assessment of your test results. You will also be contacted if it is necessary to make any changes to your treatment or change your forthcoming appointment.

It is very important for you to bring along at your visit all your recent tests even if you have faxed them already as well as the instructions your doctor gave you last time you were in the office.

In case you send in your test results but do not hear from us you are kindly asked to call the office and enquire if we have received your tests. At your next visit to your doctor bring along your test results and in the case of your imaging scans we urge you to bring your previous test, in order for your doctor to be able to compare all your exams.

Admission to Hospital

If you need to be hospitalized, you doctor will advise you on how to proceed and the Admissions Office at Hygeia Hospital will help you to complete your admission process. During your hospital stay you will be under continuous supervision by our medical staff. Our senior attending physician will make daily rounds to follow you progress and adjust your care if necessary.

Your Role As a Patient

The effectiveness of treatment and the safety of patient care are the priority of all medical communities. Our practice fully endorses this philosophy and we work with the cooperation of our patients to promote safe care. So we encourage you and your family, friends and visitors accompanying you to engage actively in our endeavor. As a patient you can help us ensure the effectiveness and quality of services we provide. Here are some of the things you can do to assist:

• Tell your doctor about all medicines you are taking (prescribed or not)
• Keep a list of drugs especially with the following information:
• Name of Drug
• The Dose
• Frequency (how often you take them)
• The prescription Duration (how long have you been taking them)
• The reason you are currently on this medication
• Tell your doctor about allergies you know that you have to medicines or other substances
• Tell us immediately about any unusual symptoms
• Follow the instructions: It is important to follow the instructions you are given and not to deviate from what your doctors instruct you to do. If there is something you want to change, talk to your doctor or nurse. We would like to ask the caregivers and families of our patients to help us by informing the doctors about the patient’s tolerance and side effects of the treatment as well as monitor their progress.

Confidentiality of Your Medical File

Contemporary Oncology has a strict privacy policy and follows the international standards regarding privacy and security. The information you provide to our practice is treated with the utmost care and you are assured of complete privacy and confidentiality. Only professionals involved in your medical care have access to this information. Your information will never be entrusted to third parties for commercial reasons or for personal gain.

Information asked for by Next of Kin, other relatives, friends and even other doctors are only given after authorization by the patient himself. On your first visit with your registration form you will indicate the people that you authorize to receive information from your medical records or from your doctors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Effective treatment is always helped by effective communication between the patient and his physician, and by the patients understanding of the disease and treatment approach. Patients are sometimes reluctant to ask questions about issues that concern them, or are unsure of what to ask. Please feel free to ask for detailed information and explanation of any issue or instruction you do not fully understand. Do not hesitate to ask the same question again if you are unsure if our answer is not clear.

We present here a list of questions that will help you gather all the information you need. Make sure that before leaving our clinic you have a clear understanding and adequate answers to the following questions:

Questions about the Physician’s familiarity with the case

• Do you see other patients with the same diagnosis as me?
• Do you think I should get a second opinion?

Questions about your case

• What is the goal of my treatment? A complete cure or the arrest of the advancement of the disease?
• When, how often and where will I receive my treatment?
• How do I know if my treatment is effective?
• How can a change in dosage or the time I get my treatment affect outcome?
• What are the names of the drugs I will be taking during my treatment?
• Can I come in contact with other patients receiving the same treatment?
• How often must I undergo follow up tests?
• What tests should be conducted?
• Are there genetic tests for my type of illness?
• What risk factors or complications are associated with each treatment?
• What kind of side effects should I be prepared for?
• When will the side effects start?
• Are there treatments that can relieve me from side effects?
• How can my treatment affect my daily life and my activities?
• What should I do if I have a fever?
• Will I be able to work?
• Will I need someone to help me with my daily activities?
• Are there some activities that I should avoid during chemotherapy?
• What happens when chemotherapy is finished?
• How often do I need to do clinical laboratory re-test?
• What happens if the disease reappears?
• When will I know if I am doing well?

Patient Bill of Rights

Current legislation in Greece according to Article 47 N.2071/1992 covers the civil rights of citizens in the event of hospitalization.

• The patient has the right to the appropriate hospital services and care according to his condition and disease.
• The patient has the right to healthcare with respect to human dignity. This involves not only the general aspect of medicine and nursing, but also paramedical services, suitable accommodation, appropriate treatment and effective administrative and technical services.
• The patient has the right to refuse any diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. In case of a patient with partial or complete mental incapacity, his next of kin or any other person that by law is acting on the patient’s behalf, can exercise this right.
• The patient has the right to be informed for anything that concerns his medical condition. The patient has the right to receive all the information that he needs to provide an informed consent for any proposed procedure of treatment. This information should include the risks and benefits of the proposed actions, on the medical, social and economical aspect of the patient’s life as for him to be able to decide.
• The patient has the right to be informed and have a thorough explanation about his participation in any clinical trials or other experimental treatment. The clinic must provide written information about the clinical trial and the patient has to provide a written consent. The patient has the right to refuse any cooperation for any research purposes and should feel comfortable and free to do so. The patient also has the right to withdraw at anytime from the clinical trial even if he has already signed a consent form.
• The patient has the right to privacy and confidentiality of all his medical information and records.
• The patient has the right to be treated with respect to his religious and ideological beliefs.
• The patient has the right to complain to any appropriate authority about the quality of healthcare and services and be informed about the course of action and results of his complaint.