Take Action: Keep a Record
Follow these steps to play an active role in your health care.
Keep track of important health information.
Keeping all your health information in one place will make it easier to manage your health care. Take the information with you to every medical appointment.
To start your own personal health record, write down:
- Your name, birth date, and blood type
- The name and phone number of a friend or relative to call if there’s an emergency
- Telephone numbers and addresses of places where you get medical care, including your pharmacy
- Dates and results of checkups and screening tests
- All the shots (vaccinations) you’ve had – and the dates you got them
- Medicines you take, how much you take, and why you take them
- Any health conditions you have, including allergies
If you aren’t sure about some of this information, check with your doctor’s office.
Know your family health history.
Your family's health history is an important part of your personal health record. Use this family health history tool to keep track of conditions that run in your family.
Take Action: Get Checkups
See a doctor regularly for checkups.
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 on choosing a doctor you can trust.
Regular checkups can help find problems early, when they may be easier to treat.
Check out these fact sheets about recommended screenings:
If you need help finding a doctor or a health care facility, use these tools to help you choose a doctor, hospital, or nursing home.
Take Action: Cost and Insurance
What about cost?
Under the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law passed in 2010, insurance plans must cover many preventive services, like screenings and shots. 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.
If you don’t have insurance, check out these resources to help you get health care:
Take Action: Be Prepared
Write down your questions ahead of time.
Write down any questions you have about your health and take the list with you to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. Use this tool to build your list of questions.
Make the most of doctor visits.
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:
- New medicines you are taking, including over-the-counter medicines, herbs or home remedies, and vitamins
- Recent illnesses or surgeries
- Any important changes in your life, like becoming unemployed or a death in the family
- Health concerns or issues
- Health information you’ve found on the Internet or heard from others
Follow up after your appointment.
It can take time and hard work to make the healthy changes you talked about with your doctor or nurse. Remember to:
- Call if you have any questions or side effects from medicine.
- Schedule follow-up appointments for tests or lab work, if you need to.
