When you play an active role in your health care, you can improve the quality of the care that you and your family get. Start by speaking up and asking questions at the doctor's office.
Health care is a team effort, and you're the most important member of the team! Your team also includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and insurance providers.
To take charge of your health care:
Follow these steps to play an active role in your health care.
Keeping all your health information in one place will make it easier to manage your health care. Take this information with you to every medical appointment.
To start your own personal health record, write down:
If you're not sure about some of this information, check with your doctor’s office.
Your family's health history is an important part of your personal health record. Use this family health history tool to keep track of health conditions that run in your family.
Getting regular checkups with your doctor or nurse can help you stay healthy. If you don’t have a doctor or nurse, check out these tips for choosing a doctor you can trust.
Regular checkups can help find problems early, when they may be easier to treat. Use these resources to:
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans must cover many preventive services, like screenings and vaccines. Plans must also cover well-child visits through age 21 and well-woman visits.
Depending on your insurance plan, you may be able to get preventive services at no cost to you. Check with your insurance company for more information.
Medicare also covers certain health services at no cost. Use this tool to see what Medicare covers.
If you don’t have insurance, you may still be able to get free or low-cost health services. To learn more, find a health center near you.
You can also check out these resources:
Write down any questions you have about your health. Take the list with you to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. Use this tool to build your list of questions.
Take your list of questions and personal health record with you to the appointment. You may also want to ask a family member or friend to go with you to help take notes.
Be sure to talk about any changes since your last visit, like:
You can also ask your doctor questions about health information you’ve found online or heard from others.
It can take time and hard work to make the healthy changes you talked about with your doctor or nurse. Remember to: