Take Charge of Your Health Care

The Basics: Overview

When you play an active role in your health care, you can improve the quality of the care 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 are the most important member of the team. Your team also includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and insurance providers. 

To take charge of your health care:

• Keep track of important health information.
• Know your family health history.
• See a doctor regularly for checkups.
• Be prepared for medical appointments.
• Ask your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist questions.
• Follow up after your appointment

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.

• Use the myhealthfinder tool to get personalized health recommendations based on your age and sex.
• Get information about shots to help you stay healthy.
• Protect your health by getting recommended screenings.
• Check out these fact sheets about recommended screenings:
  
  
  • Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age
  • Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age
  
  

  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.

  Next section Cost and Insurance Previous section Keep a Record 3 of 5 sections

Take Action: Cost and Insurance

What about cost?

Thanks to 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.

• Find out which services are covered under the Affordable Care Act.
• Find out which services are covered by Medicare.

If you don’t have insurance, check out these resources to help you get health care:

• Visit HealthCare.gov to find insurance options for your family.
• For low-cost or free services, find a health center near you and make an appointment.

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.