Why should I ask about upcoming surgeries even if the health history is complete? Because a health history looks backward and your patient lives forward. When someone fills out that form they list what has already happened to them. They are not thinking about the knee replacement scheduled in three weeks or the procedure coming next month. So you can have the world's most thorough history and still get blindsided. Ask it straight, is there anything else going on medically that we have not discussed, or any upcoming surgeries? Skip that one simple question and over a year you will have [...]