If you've ever felt rushed at the doctor's office, you're not alone.

"Typically, the world is very regimented as far as physician slots and for a followup, it can be a shorter time, possibly 15 minutes with the doctor. So a short time to get in all these things you want to talk about with the doctor and you might feel rushed and the doctor might feel rushed, but you shouldn't feel rushed. And that's my goal to make them not feel rushed," said Joseph Riccione with Buffalo Medical Group.

So how can you maximize your visit to the doctor? Some primary care physicians recommend making a list of your concerns.

"We all shriek a little bit internally when we see this list come out. We wonder how long it is, but honestly, it's a great framework, even if there's three things on there, what do they want answered in this visit," said Riccione.

If you are unsure about something, it is essential to make sure the doctor answers your question.

"We see people in their most vulnerable state, weakened health, so they need to know that no question is silly or stupid. A new diabetic who doesn't know what a carb is, we need to know that, so we can refer them to someone in our care team, like a dietitian, who can really go over that with them," said Riccione.

You should also take advantage of patient portals to update your information regularly, including your medication list and doses.

"For patient with chronic disease conditions, they can now send us blood pressure flow sheets. I can get blood pressure that people are getting in the comfort of their own home. They can check their sugars at home. These things can be monitored and track these things between visits and get much more of a feel, and a 360 kind of view of the patient," said Riccione.

If you do have medical equipment, like a blood pressure cuff, doctors recommend bringing it to the annual visit.

"We just check it manually using our stethescope. We have you demonstrate that you know how to use yours and that they can take their blood pressure and are they getting a reading that is in the ballpark of what we're getting so that we can trust these readings that we're getting through a MyChart or digital interface," said Riccione.

Finally, bringing a family member can help with complicated take home instructions and also offer moral support.