Be your own health advocate - 4 Easy steps

You are the key component for achieving an optimum level of health.  In addition to leading a healthy lifestyle by exercising  on most days of the week, eating healthy foods, not smoking, and limiting alcohol intake; advocate for yourself and your health by practicing the following:

1.  Get your yearly check-ups – This can be also referred to as, “preventative care visit, well care visit or annual physical”. This is of the utmost importance to stay on top of any existing health concerns or chronic problems you may already have, to obtain the recommended screening tests for your age and gender, (in order to catch anything early that may be brewing), and for additional preventative care such as getting your annual influenza vaccine or any other vaccines you may still need to complete. 

     2. Ask questions -   Find a health care provider you can talk to. Obtaining care from someone you feel comfortable with is half the battle. Being able to discuss embarrassing symptoms, medication concerns, natural remedies or anything that does not make sense to you is an integral part of good health care. Don’t be intimidated to ask questions; write them down if you have to and pull out your list before the doctor gets in the room, so you don’t forget once you are undressed and a little stressed.  

      3. Competent support staff –  Are you comfortable with the staff in your doctor's office? Are the staff courteous and helpful or rude and detached? If they are the latter, tell the provider. If things don’t improve, go somewhere else.  Lousy support staff can impede good care; timely appointments may not be given, inaccurate vital signs may be taken, information may not be passed along correctly from patient to provider or provider to patient, if the staff cannot accurately relay information due to incompetence. The provider is responsible for keeping good staff, and if they don’t or won’t; find another provider.

      4. Check your prescribed medications – If you do receive a written prescription, confirm the dose and instructions with your MD, NP or PA when you get it. Then, when you pick it up at your pharmacy, confirm you were given the right medication and dose, Read the label.  Are the medication name, dose and instructions on the bottle from the pharmacy the same as what was written on your prescription?  Make sure it is before leaving the pharmacy.  Also, read the label regarding the physical description of the pill on the prescription bottle, then *make sure the pills inside of the bottle match what is said on the label. If there is any discrepancy/difference; ask to speak to the pharmacist immediately and do not take the medicine until this is resolved.