In hockey, cross-checking means a player with both hands on his raised hockey stick slams into an opposing player. That&rsquo;s against NHL rules and earns at least a two-minute penalty.

Now, checking into the hospital isn&rsquo;t as dangerous as that hockey check, but there are a few rules you should follow to stay safe. True, you won&rsquo;t face time in a penalty box for not following them, but the negative results could be worse.

Rule #1 &ndash; <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/parenting/article/hospital-etiquette-tips">Don&rsquo;t lie</a> on your medical questionnaire. 
Whether you&rsquo;re embarrassed by the truth (you smoke or drink) or don&rsquo;t want to make a big deal of that pain in your gut, keeping info to yourself could lead to a medical mistake. One, according to a Rutgers University study, that tough guys&mdash;and gals&mdash;are most likely to make; seems they hate to admit they&rsquo;re hurt or in pain. So remember, fessing up is smart&mdash;and confidential. And when asked what meds you&rsquo;re taking, mention all supplements and herbs.

Rule #2 &ndash; Bring a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/how-can-find-patient-advocate">patient advocate</a> with you. 
Everyone needs another set of eyes and ears to remember medical information and ask questions. (If you don&rsquo;t have anyone available, most hospitals provide free Patient Advocates.) Tip: Record the sessions.

Rule&nbsp; #3 &ndash; <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-care-basics/article/5-things-nurse-wants-you-to-know">Rely on the nurses</a>. 
When your doc isn&rsquo;t around, the nursing staff can provide information and assistance. If they don&rsquo;t know the answer or aren&rsquo;t authorized to make a medical decision, they&rsquo;ll find someone who is.

That&rsquo;s how you keep your hospital stay in check and skate right through.

Medically reviewed in September 2018.

3 Rules for Checking Into the Hospital

New Year&rsquo;s resolutions can lift you up with a rush of optimism and determination (&ldquo;I WILL lose 25 pounds and exercise regularly!&rdquo;). But too often they&rsquo;re followed six to eight weeks later by the self-defeating thought, &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t do it!&rdquo;

But still you resolve, year after year, to become as healthy as possible. As Oprah once said: &ldquo;Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.&rdquo; Now, that&rsquo;s a lot better than Gwyneth Paltrow&rsquo;s attitude toward resolutions. She reportedly said she doesn&rsquo;t make big resolutions because she&rsquo;s afraid of breaking a promise to herself and failing.

To help you (and Gwyneth) succeed, here are oh-so-easy ways to stick to your &ldquo;get healthier&rdquo; resolutions.

1. Caffeinate. A study in Sports Medicine suggests a little <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/user/roshana-golstani/blog/post/8de14771-c11e-489c-a15c-111757d573e6">caffeine before exercise</a> can make it easier to stick to the routine, because the exercise seems to take less effort. 
2. Add mini-movement to your day. Amp up your calorie burn by using an <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-regular-exercise/exercise-ball">exercise-ball</a> chair at your desk (you&rsquo;ll burn 6 percent more calories than in a desk chair), get a standing desk (you&rsquo;ll use 20 to 50 additional calories per hour). 
3. Cut calories OCCASIONALLY. You don&rsquo;t have to slash calories every day! Four or five days a month <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/weight-loss/quizzes/portion-control">restrict your diet</a> to 1,000 calories and you&rsquo;ll reset your metabolism and reduce inflammation.

These are easy and powerful ways to shed pounds, get healthier, raise your spirits and make your RealAge younger. Happy New You!

Medically reviewed in September 2018.

3 Surprising Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

In the past, your health history was tracked on paper only, but that&#39;s no longer the case. Doctors and hospitals across the country are making things easier for you, turning those paper medical records of yesteryear into something more practical in the 21st century: the electronic health record. Here are five facts to help you understand more about it.

Electronic health records are the future. That&#39;s right. Many hospitals and doctors&rsquo; offices have already implemented electronic health records (EHRs) into their administrative systems. EHRs go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider&rsquo;s office and can offer a broader view of your care:

<ul>
	<li>Syncs your health history, diagnoses, medicines, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and lab and test results within an online portal</li>
	<li>Allows all your doctors to access your record, making it easier for them to share information and coordinate your care</li>
	<li>Helps you create a personal, secure account to review all of your health information</li>
	<li>Gives providers evidence-based tools to help them make smarter decisions about your care</li>
</ul>

And the federal government encourages these changes by incentivizing healthcare practitioners and facilities to go electronic with their recordkeeping.

They&rsquo;re different than your personal health record (PHR). You control and maintain what&#39;s in your PHR. You can use it to collect, track and share past and current information about your health or the health of someone you&#39;re caring for. Whether you track this health information on paper -- or online -- is completely up to you, but it&#39;s becoming more popular in the form of an electronic health data application, which may be linked to your EHR. With an EHR, your doctor (or hospital) controls the information. They may be stored at a doctor&#39;s office, a hospital, an insurance company, or an employer.

You get better care. With all your medical information in one place, your doctor has a more complete and organized view of your health. EHRs help your doctors stay current with your conditions and treatments and track your progress over time. It also alerts them when you&rsquo;re due for preventive care. They even help prevent prescription errors, guarding you against incorrect dosages and harmful interactions with other medicines you may be taking. Ultimately, it&rsquo;s a more effective way to help your doctor help you.

EHRs save you money. EHRs can help you save cash. They make it less likely that doctors will order duplicate or unnecessary tests. They also make practices more efficienct, reducing administrative costs involved with transcribing notes, handling charts and billing. Those savings reduce overall healthcare spending&mdash;and the costs passed on to you.

You&rsquo;re not left out of your care. EHRs are designed to be accessed by everyone involved in your care, including you. Forgot something your doctor said during your visit? Your doctor can share notes from your visit with you, give you self-care or follow-up instructions and point you to web resources. An EHR can even help you schedule an appointment, send questions to your doctor via email and much more.

Medically reviewed in January 2020.

5 Facts About Electronic Health Records

If you don&rsquo;t think you have time for exercise, healthy meals or stress-busting techniques, you&rsquo;re not alone. Surveys report that crazy-busy schedules keep around 42% of North Americans from exercising and 21% from cooking and relaxing. One survey of time-starved people even reported that 58% of them said they&rsquo;d happily shell out $2,725 to fit an extra hour into their day!

But smart folks like you don&rsquo;t have to shell out big bucks to find time to do what you know is good for you. Research reveals amazing ways you can attain your health goals in tiny tidbits of time:&nbsp;

Get a great cardio work-out in 12 minutes. In an exciting study from Canada&rsquo;s McMaster University, overweight people who normally didn&rsquo;t exercise boosted their fitness with this speedy routine: A two-minute warm-up, followed by 3, two-minute interval work-outs. For each interval, exercise as hard as you safely can for 20 seconds, followed by two minutes of recovery at a slow pace. Do it two more times. End with a 3-minute cool-down.

Study volunteers used exercise bikes, but you could try doing it while walking on a treadmill or even marching or jogging in place in your living room. Study volunteers did it three times a week. After six weeks, their endurance and blood pressure had improved. &nbsp;

Weigh in for weight loss.&nbsp; The more often you weigh yourself, the more weight you&rsquo;ll lose, finds a study from Cornell University and Finland&rsquo;s Tempere University of Technology. If you don&rsquo;t want to step on the scale every day, once a week works, the researchers found. They analyzed a year&rsquo;s worth of weigh-ins from 40 dieters. Weight began to creep up in those who hadn&rsquo;t weighed themselves for about six days. Seems when you know the truth about your weight you can&rsquo;t as easily rationalize eating extra calories or acting like a couch-potato.

Get a handle on your health and banish isolation using health-boosting apps. In one new survey, just 18% of Canadians over age 50 used computer apps to manage their diabetes and just 5% used <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-care-basics/article/6-clever-ways-your-smartphone-can-make-you-healthy" target="_blank">smartphone</a> apps -- even though most owned the technology to run them. These tools can help improve blood sugar significantly without spending hardly any time messing with them. And some put you in touch with other folks working toward the same blood sugar control goals as you are -- and that support makes everyone more successful!

Plenty of other apps also exist that are designed to help you manage your weight, fitness, blood pressure and more. Step counters and fitness trackers are like a friendly good conscience sitting on your shoulder. There are even apps to make grocery store shopping purchases more healthy. And there&rsquo;s a bonus: In another study, older adults who got trained to use social media felt less isolated, because they could connect with friends and loved ones without leaving home.

Take a 15-minute stroll after lunch for better blood sugar, weight and mood. A 15-minute stroll after meals can help control your blood sugar, says a study from George Washington University. That&rsquo;s big news for the 29 million Americans with diabetes and the 83 million more with prediabetes. And you know how we feel about the cardio <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-of-walking" target="_blank">benefits of walking</a> 10,000 steps a day -- they&rsquo;re huge! Getting outdoors in the sunshine can also help reset your body clock for better sleep and a brighter mood, too.

Make the healthy dessert decision: Go for fruit. Added sugars may be more dangerous than too much salt for high blood pressure. The worst sources are commercial desserts packed with the known food felons: added sugars and sugar syrups, saturated fat and artery-clogging trans fats. Keeping your favorite fruit on hand is a great way to get more fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidant-boosting phytochemicals. They&rsquo;ll satisfy your sweet tooth, give you more energy and a sunnier outlook on your day.

Medically reviewed in March 2020.

5 Health Upgrades for Busy People

For many Americans, controlling healthcare costs is continually top of mind. But, health experts warn that you should never skip doses of prescription medication or take a smaller dose than prescribed in order to save money.

Unfortunately, not everyone follows that advice. A 2019 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that over 11 percent of Americans aged 18 to 64 have admitted to not taking their medicine as prescribed in order to save money. Among uninsured adults, almost 34 percent said they were less likely to take their medications as prescribed due to cost concerns.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not taking your prescription, it can&rsquo;t work for you. And if you&rsquo;re taking it at less than the prescribed dose, it could be working for you less,&rdquo; says Keith Roach, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. &ldquo;If you are taking an antibiotic or antiviral medicine&mdash;when it is at the right dose in your body, it keeps the bugs from growing. But once that level gets too low, then they have a chance of learning how to defeat the medicine you&rsquo;re taking.&rdquo;

In addition, skipping doses or only taking a partial dose can have other negative consequences, including increased visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations.

Strategies for reducing costs 
The next time you&rsquo;re thinking about how to <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/financial-planning-health-care/slideshow/worst-case-scenario-cant-afford-meds">reduce your drug costs</a>, use one or more of these strategies&mdash;before your health ends up paying the price.

Be informed. Your doctor may not be aware of your medication coverage. Look at your health insurance plan website or ask your pharmacist about preferred tier medications. Then share that information with your doctor. &ldquo;Your doctor wants to help you and work with you to figure out a way of using your benefits to the maximum,&rdquo; Dr. Roach says.

Use generics. Ask your doctor to write a prescription for a generic substitute, if possible. Keep in mind that there are a few instances where a brand-name medication is necessary. If you have a concern about the medication prescribed to you, talk to your health care provider.

Shop around. Drug prices vary by pharmacy, so do your homework and call around before getting your prescription filled. Use an app or website, such as <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/prescription-drug-medication-adherence/article/track-meds-save-money-sharecare">Sharecare</a>, to search and compare prices for your medications. And don&rsquo;t just think of pharmacies as sources. Many big box and grocery stores fill prescriptions at a lower cost. Consider mail-order as well. Many pharmacies and insurance providers will discount a drug if you order a 90-day supply. If you need medication for longer than three months, ask your doctor for an extended prescription. Do not rely on internet or foreign pharmacies, as they may sell counterfeit or dangerous drugs.

Seek help from the drug company. Contact the drug manufacturer to see if you qualify for an assistance plan for either low-cost or zero-cost medication. Many manufacturers also feature coupons on their website for brand-name medications. However, keep in mind that a manufacturer can stop issuing coupons without notice, so this may not be a long-term solution.

Ask, &ldquo;Do I still need this?&rdquo; Sometimes a person&rsquo;s medication profile needs a good cleaning, especially if you are prescribed medication by multiple doctors. Don&rsquo;t be afraid to speak up and ask your healthcare provider if you still need to take a certain medication.

Consider lifestyle changes 
In addition to prescribing the right medications, healthcare providers will often suggest lifestyle modifications to help with certain conditions and their symptoms. Suggested changes may include:

<ul>
	<li>Maintaining a healthy weight</li>
	<li>Eating a wholesome diet</li>
	<li>Beginning an exercise routine</li>
	<li>Practicing stress-relieving tactics</li>
	<li>Quitting smoking</li>
	<li>Getting enough sleep</li>
	<li>Reducing or eliminating alcohol</li>
</ul>

Taking the time to make your health a priority can also have a positive impact your wallet.

&ldquo;Treating any underlying condition through lifestyle can sometimes eliminate the need for medications and has so many other benefits,&rdquo; says Roach. &ldquo;Not only can it you save money, you can save side effects.&rdquo;

Even if you practice healthy habits, it may not eliminate the need for certain medications. Do not stop taking any prescriptions unless directed by your healthcare provider.

Keep an open dialogue 
If you are worried about the cost of a medication, don&rsquo;t feel embarrassed about speaking up. Your healthcare provider may not realize your financial limitations. They also may not know if you have poor coverage or no insurance at all.

&ldquo;Your physician can&rsquo;t help you if they don&rsquo;t understand what your situation is. They can help find a regimen for you that is something you&rsquo;re going to be able to afford,&rdquo; says Roach. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s much better to have a regimen you can afford and take every day than it is to be on a more expensive medication that you can&rsquo;t afford to take or that you take only intermittently.&rdquo;

Medically reviewed in July 2019.

Sources 
QuickStats:&nbsp;Percentage of Adults Aged &ge;18 Years Who Did Not Take Their Medication as Prescribed or Asked for Lower-Cost Medication to Save Money Among Those Prescribed Medication in the Past 12 Months, by Number of Chronic Conditions &mdash; National Health Interview Survey, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:990. 
Cohen RA, Boersma P, Vahratian A. Strategies used by adults aged 18&ndash;64 to reduce their prescription drug costs, 2017. NCHS Data Brief, no 333. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. 
Medicare. &ldquo;Lower Prescription Costs&rdquo; 
UpToDate. &ldquo;Coping with high drug prices (Beyond the Basics)&rdquo;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. &ldquo;How You Can Prevent Chronic Diseases&rdquo;

5 Ways to Pay Less for Medications

No one looks forward to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/article/what-to-expect-in-the-er">trip to the ER</a>. And as an ER doctor, there&rsquo;s nothing better than making a patient&rsquo;s diagnosis and seeing her feel better after treatment. But you may be surprised to learn there are a few little things you can do to make the experience a little more bearable and, depending on your condition, speed you on your way:

1. Don&rsquo;t be shy about your problem. 
You will not embarrass an ER doctor or nurse. We have literally seen it all and heard it all, so&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/slideshow/7-white-lies-can-harm-health">don&rsquo;t be afraid to open up</a>. Knowing all the details of your symptoms, when the condition started and what may have brought it on helps us give you the very best care.

2. Ask before you pee.&nbsp; 
If you have to urinate,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-care-basics/slideshow/10-things-nurses-wish-their-patients-knew">check with the nurse</a>&nbsp;first to see if we&rsquo;ll need a sample. I frequently have patients on whom I want to check a urine test for infection, pregnancy or some other reason, but then find out they just urinated. This means we (including you) spend another two hours waiting until you have to go again. Save yourself the time. When you feel the urge, ask a nurse or wait until you&rsquo;ve seen the doctor.

3. Do not eat before you come to the ER.&nbsp; 
Some procedures require sedation&mdash;and that means not eating four to six hours prior. Obviously this can&rsquo;t always be controlled, but if you suspect you may need the ER, don&rsquo;t have a snack before you head out the door. And once you get there, skip the vending machine. I have literally had patients sit there waiting for time to pass just so I can sedate them and treat their condition or injury.

4. Bring your medication list.&nbsp; 
Some drugs cannot be combined, so before we begin treatment we need to know what you take, including any supplements. Time spent tracking down your meds can also delay your care.

5. If you&rsquo;d like privacy with your doctor, just ask.&nbsp; 
You can always ask family to leave the room. But if you don&rsquo;t feel comfortable doing so, here&rsquo;s your exit strategy: go to the bathroom (ask the nurse to take you) and tell him or her that you want them out but are afraid to say anything. Whenever a patient makes this request (the nurse will discreetly let me know), I ask family to leave and I&rsquo;ll take the blame. That way, patients get the privacy they need without blowback.

6. Being nice will get you everywhere. 
It&rsquo;s hard to be kept waiting, especially if you&rsquo;re physically uncomfortable and worried about your health. Understandably, you may have a short fuse. Which is why a patient who is nice and appreciative can be the exception to the rule&mdash;and inspire staff to go the extra&nbsp;extra&nbsp;mile.

Medically reviewed in June 2019.

6 Emergency Room Secrets

You&rsquo;ve probably heard of HIPAA, the law that protects your medical privacy. In short, HIPAA limits how healthcare providers, insurers and employers can use and share your health information. But once you go beyond the basics, the finer details of your privacy rights can be confusing, and myths and misunderstandings abound. We&rsquo;ve compiled a few of the most common myths to help you separate fact from fiction.

Myth #1: Your doctor can&rsquo;t discuss your care with family members 
Fact: Healthcare providers can tell your family, other relatives or close friends any information they need to know to be involved or informed about your care. And as long as you don&#39;t object, providers can also share other medical details with your family or other people that are close to you. If you&rsquo;re unconscious or otherwise not able to give consent, then it&rsquo;s up to the doctor&rsquo;s professional judgment to decide what to tell. If a doctor or hospital refuses to share information with your family, that&rsquo;s the provider&rsquo;s policy, not the law.

Myth #2: Hospitals cannot give your room number without your consent 
Fact: Unless you tell the hospital to exclude your name from their directory, you will be listed as a patient. If someone asks for you by name, the hospital can tell them what room you&rsquo;re in and your general condition. However, hospitals are required to give you a chance to opt out.

Myth #3: Your healthcare provider needs your approval before they can release your health information to another provider 
Fact: Doctor&rsquo;s offices can share your medical records for treatment purposes. That includes consultations about your care and referrals from one doctor to another.

Myth #4: Providers can disclose your health information to an employer 
Fact: Unless you&#39;ve given explicit, written consent, your healthcare provider is prohibited from sharing your personal health information with your employer. Employers can ask you for a note from your doctor related to sick leave, worker&rsquo;s compensation or insurance, but they can&rsquo;t ask the doctor directly.

Myth #5: Your doctor can&rsquo;t communicate with you by email 
Fact: Healthcare providers are free to email you&mdash;or send your health records by email&mdash;as long as they use encryption or another way to protect your health information from unwanted access or tampering. Likewise, it&rsquo;s okay for healthcare providers to fax your records, but they must have security measures in place.

Myth #6: Providers are discouraged from leaving voicemail messages 
Fact: If you have an outgoing message that verifies your name or phone number, providers are allowed to leave a message. And they can also leave a message with someone else if you&#39;ve given that person permission to receive your messages.

Myth #7: If you think your health privacy has been violated, you can sue 
Fact: No matter how serious the violation, the law doesn&rsquo;t give you the right to sue. Your first recourse is to contact the Privacy Officer of the provider where you think the violation happened. If you can&rsquo;t resolve the issue that way, you should file a formal, written complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services&rsquo; Office for Civil Rights. But note that you must file your complaint within 180 days.

Medically reviewed in January 2020.

Top 7 Common Privacy Myths About Your Health Information

You may have been told to &ldquo;take it easy&rdquo; after your recent hospital stay, but it can be pretty hard to relax with medical bills piling up. Should you just (eventually) pay them? Make a pile and stash them away? Neither! The fact is that while going through medical bills is a pain, doing so can very likely save you money. Here are eight tips to review the bills as painlessly as possible &ndash; and find ways to cut your costs.

1. If you know you need surgery ahead of time. Make sure that the surgeon you&rsquo;ve been referred to is in-network and affiliated with hospitals covered by your plan. &nbsp;Those two steps alone can save you thousands of dollars. If you find that a number of local hospitals are covered, call their billing offices and ask for estimates on your procedure. Nearby hospitals may offer the same service for a much lower price. Ask your doctor if he or she has privileges at more than one hospital and if the procedure can be scheduled at the lower-cost option.&nbsp;

2. After your hospital stay. Expect to receive a flurry of bills from the hospital, your doctor, the surgeon and any specialists who treated you. You may not recognize all of their names or even remember having some of the procedures. But don&rsquo;t panic about the total amounts due on the bottom line. Most likely your insurance company hasn&rsquo;t processed these bills yet. The amount that you&rsquo;ll ultimately owe may be far lower once your insurer makes its contribution. In addition, your insurer can often remove expensive, non-billable items, like surgical equipment.

3. Get an itemized receipt. Bills won&rsquo;t always contain details on specific services and items that you were charged for. Now&rsquo;s the time to call or visit the hospital billing office and request an itemized hospital receipt, which will provide more complete information. It&rsquo;ll be long and may be a little intimidating, but the time you spend looking it over can help you save big if overcharges are found. If you don&rsquo;t understand it, make an appointment with a hospital financial representative. They can help explain unfamiliar medical terms and codes.

4. Pay attention to details. In reviewing the itemized receipt, you&rsquo;ll want to look for errors, double charges or fees from services that you didn&rsquo;t actually receive. You may not know &ndash; or remember &ndash; all the details of your stay, so request a copy of your medical record as well and compare the two documents side-by-side. If you find errors on the itemized receipt, contact a manager in the hospital billing office and request that they deduct the charge from the amount due, then ask for a revised statement showing that the corrections have been made.&nbsp;

5. Organization is key. Create a filing system for your paperwork and organize it by date. Insurance companies look up claims this way, so it&rsquo;ll help when you call with questions. Also, if you get multiple bills for the same thing, you&rsquo;ll be able to avoid repeat payments by realizing that new bills match paid or closed claims that you&rsquo;ve kept on file.&nbsp;

6. Total your out-of-pocket expenses. Now that you&rsquo;ve done your homework and know that the balances are accurate, you&rsquo;ll be able to make a plan for getting them paid off.

<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/financial-planning-health-care/slideshow/worst-case-scenario-cant-afford-meds" style="color: rgb(7, 130, 193);">Find out how to cut your prescription drug costs, too.&nbsp;</a>

7. Negotiate. If you&rsquo;re unable to cover your out-of-pocket costs right away, speak to the hospital financial services department. They may be willing to negotiate your balance due because it can be better for their bottom line if you pay an agreed-upon price, rather than letting your bill go to collections. They may price match if you tell them about lower prices at nearby hospitals, cut costs if you pay your bill upfront or agree to an interest-free payment plan that suits your budget.&nbsp;

8. Ask about your hospital&rsquo;s financial-assistance program. Every hospital has its own application and requirements for financial assistance. Usually, information about programs can be found on hospital websites. If not, ask customer service or a financial representative for details.

Finally, do not ignore your bills. Ignoring your bills won&rsquo;t make them go away, but tackling them head-on can help decrease stress over your finances. Once you get started, that pile of papers will begin to feel less overwhelming. Healthcare providers are much more willing to work with you&mdash;and less likely to send your bill to collections&mdash;if you call them sooner, rather than later.

Learn more ways to manage money worries.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/family-health/quizzes/money-matters" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(44, 154, 204); margin-bottom: 0px;" target="_blank">Take the Financial Stress Test to check your stress levels and learn ways to reduce it.</a>

Rose Hayes, RN, BSN, earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Virginia. She has over seven years of inpatient clinical experience in the acute care of the elderly, pediatric oncology and palliative care, and served as a Frontline Leader at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Rose is an associate editor and producer at Sharecare.

8 Ways to Cut Hospital Costs

Since the Affordable Care Act&rsquo;s (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplaces opened for business in 2013, many more people have been regularly shopping for insurance. The variety of options&mdash;and even <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-insurance/article/make-sense-health-insurance-coverage">the vocabulary</a> you need to know&mdash;can be confusing. So, let&rsquo;s start with the basics.

What types of health insurance plans are available? 
In the Marketplace, you may see these kinds of plans:

<ul>
	<li>Health maintenance organization (HMO): These plans generally pay for care only from a specified network of doctors, hospitals and other providers associated with the plan. Sometimes, even certain pharmacies are specified by your network, meaning you may have to pay more for medications you purchase at other pharmacies. You also need to see your primary care doctor before you can go to a specialist.</li>
	<li>Preferred provider organization (PPO): These plans cost more than HMOs, but you have more flexibility. In a PPO, you can see any provider that you want, although you will still likely pay more for those who are out of network. You also don&rsquo;t have to get a referral from your primary care doctor before going to see a specialist.</li>
	<li>Point-of-service (POS or POS HMO): In this arrangement, you can select a primary care physician (PCP) and see only those doctors to whom your PCP refers you, in which case this would act just like a normal HMO. But with a POS, you also have the option to see specialists without a referral or go to doctors out of the network. If you do so, you will be responsible for a much larger share of the costs, if not the full cost.</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Catastrophic&rdquo; health plan: These plans are the least expensive up-front, but you&rsquo;ll have much higher out-of-pocket costs if something bad does happen. You may have to pay thousands of dollars before your coverage begins. These plans also cover less preventive care. In the Marketplace, they are available only to people under age 30 and those with other special circumstances.</li>
</ul>

What are the different kinds of insurance costs? 
A mistake many insurance shoppers make is looking only at each plan&rsquo;s monthly premiums, ignoring the other costs that can add up. As you compare your health plan options, make sure to look at the following:

<ul>
	<li>Premium: The amount that you pay to keep your insurance, regardless of whether you&rsquo;re using it or not. Think of it as a monthly (or sometimes quarterly or yearly) fee. One of the benefits of the ACA is that insurance companies have to justify premium increases of more than 15 percent per year.</li>
	<li>Deductible: How much you have to pay for healthcare services before your health insurance starts to kick in. As a rule of thumb, the higher your deductible, the lower your insurance premium. Plans with high deductibles may be great for people who don&rsquo;t expect to have high healthcare costs. But if you do have a healthcare expense, then you&rsquo;ll have to pick up more of the tab until you reach the deductible.</li>
	<li>Copay: The fixed amount you pay for a healthcare service, usually at the time of service. For instance, you may have a copay of $35 to see your physician or $15 for a medication. You can often find these amounts on your insurance card. Typically, the copays are lowest for doctors in your network and generic medications, and highest for doctors out of network and brand medications. Usually, these payments do not count toward your deductible, but check with your insurance company.</li>
	<li>Coinsurance: Your share of the cost of a health care service. Usually, this is a percentage you pay after your deductible. So, for instance, if you&rsquo;ve met your deductible and have 20 percent coinsurance, for your next $100 healthcare bill, you&rsquo;d owe $20.</li>
	<li>Out-of-pocket costs: The amounts that you pay for your deductible plus coinsurance plus copayments add up to your &ldquo;out-of-pocket costs&rdquo; for the year.</li>
	<li>Out-of-pocket maximum: After you&rsquo;ve spent this amount, your insurance will cover 100 percent of your covered healthcare services. Maximums vary by plan, and some plans don&rsquo;t count copays, deductibles or coinsurance toward the maximum, so check this closely.</li>
</ul>

Where can I get insurance? 
If you do not currently have insurance, you can go to the <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">Marketplace</a> to see a wide range of choices, including both private and government-offered insurance. To help you sort out your options, the plans are organized by the level of coverage they provide. You can also find out if you&rsquo;re eligible for any discounts on premiums or out-of-pocket costs. If you need help, a special ACA Insurance Navigator can guide you through the process at no charge.

But the Marketplace isn&rsquo;t the only way to buy insurance. You can also get coverage through:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-insurance/article/questions-health-insurance-before-job">Your employer</a>. If your company offers insurance and you like the coverage, you can keep it or use the Marketplace to check if better prices or plans are available.</li>
	<li>Your parents. Through the ACA, you can now stay on your parents&rsquo; plan until age 26; previously, people were not allowed to do so after age 19.</li>
	<li>An insurance company or broker. You can buy insurance on your own outside the Marketplace, and the plans will generally include the same guaranteed benefits and protections. But you won&rsquo;t be able to get discounts for which you may qualify.</li>
</ul>

Medically reviewed in March 2020. Updated in September 2020.

How to Pick a Plan in the Health Insurance Marketplace

In Secondhand Lions, two eccentric Texan farmers (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine) use their (ill-gotten?) savings to live fuller lives, thanks in part to the persuasive powers of a young nephew (Haley Joel Osment). Their POV? &ldquo;The actual truth is not as important as belief in ideals.&rdquo; But that attitude doesn&rsquo;t help when they crash their biplane while doing a stunt!

The real truth is most folks do much better if they adopt a more realistic approach&ndash;and don&rsquo;t try stunts&ndash;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/financial-planning-health-care">when handling finances</a> and health. So to help you achieve a life-extending, stress-free balance in your health and finances, Dr. Roizen and Today show financial editor Jean Chatzky have collaborated on a book, Age-Proof: Living longer without running out of money or breaking a hip. (Watch Jean Chatzky and Dr. Mike on the Dr. Oz Show and the PBS fundraising special.) Their advice:

AGE:

Automate good habits. Start with 10,000 steps a day, no excuses. 
Get a handle on your financial and health behaviors. Bank 15 percent of your paycheck. 
Eat LUV-U foods&mdash;that&rsquo;s foods that love you back: lean protein, unsaturated fat, vegetables and fruit, unprocessed grains.

PROOF:

Pay yourself first. The #1 line on your health budget: High-quality foods. The #1 line on your financial budget: Saving 15 percent of your income. 
Rally a team of pros and friends to help you reach your goals. 
Offer to do the same for others. 
Organize your <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/financial-planning-health-care/article/questions-ask-about-your-finances">health and financial worlds</a> to help you think clearly. 
Find your passion and live it.

Medically reviewed in August 2018.

Age-Proof Your Life

It happens every year&mdash;come December 31, your New Year&rsquo;s Resolutions list for the next year is long, inspiring and maybe a little intimidating, too. While it&rsquo;s good to be ambitious when it comes to your health, your spirituality or any other area in your life you wish to improve, you have to be realistic so the changes will actually stick.&nbsp;

&ldquo;A resolution is really a lifestyle change. We reflect over the last year of our life and look at the things that haven&#39;t been going very well. We want the next year to be better,&rdquo; says Emily Newberry, LPC, of&nbsp;Coliseum Center for Behavioral Health in Macon, Georgia.

Map out your resolutions with these expert-approved tips and create realistic goals that you can actually achieve. &nbsp;

You have to be willing to change 
When you start to think about your resolutions, you have to be motivated and willing to change in order to reach your goals, says Newberry. &ldquo;If you aren&rsquo;t, you&#39;re not going to be able to stick to them.&rdquo;

If you&rsquo;re having doubts, feeling reluctant or just feel like you&rsquo;re not ready, it may not be the best time to start working towards that specific resolution. &ldquo;Some people will think about it for months because they&#39;re not quite ready, so they think, &lsquo;I&#39;ll be ready on January 1,&rsquo; but just because it&#39;s January 1 doesn&#39;t mean that you&#39;re ready,&rdquo; adds Newberry.

Identify the problem, then come up with the solution &nbsp; 
Once you&rsquo;re ready to make an improvement, think about it like you&rsquo;re making a specific behavioral change instead of setting goals. &ldquo;You have to identify the problem first and then come up with the specific things you&rsquo;re currently doing that perpetuates the problem.&rdquo;

Specific changes are what you&rsquo;re going to make to remedy the problem, and those are going to be your resolutions, or solutions. Why should you think about them like this? &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t change unless you know what you&rsquo;re doing wrong,&rdquo; says Newberry.

For example, if you&rsquo;re overweight, think about why you are overweight. One of the reasons you may be overweight is because your dinner portion sizes are too big. You could resolve to change your dinner portion size by saving half of it for lunch the next day.

If you want to save more money but spend a fortune every week on on-the-go coffee, you already know what your obstacle is. Your resolution may be to put all the money you save each morning by forgoing your normal Starbucks run, in a jar each day, so you can add it to your savings account later.

Come up with a plan first &nbsp; 
When it comes to resolutions or anything you want to succeed at really, Newberry says if you don&#39;t have a plan and prepare in advance, you&rsquo;ll get tired, overwhelmed and may skip it all together. &ldquo;We become very weak and we tend to have slip ups if there&rsquo;s not a plan.&rdquo;

To make sure you stay on track when adopting a new routine, think about the specific ways you can execute your resolutions. If reducing the amount of restaurant meals you eat during the workweek is your resolution, block off time each Sunday to prep your lunches for the week and plan out menus for your breakfasts and lunches. &nbsp;

It&rsquo;s not about the number of resolutions 
It&rsquo;s good to have a long list of things you want to improve on, but too many may be overwhelming and unattainable. &ldquo;If you start off with all these lofty goals, it may be too much change to your routine or lifestyle at once,&rdquo; says Newberry. When you&rsquo;re determining the changes you need to make, it&rsquo;s better to think about how frequent the change is going to be.

&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s something you would change monthly you can probably do up to three things. If it&rsquo;s something that requires a daily change or challenge, I would only try to do one thing at a time,&rdquo; she advises.

If you want to run a 5k once a month and you want to donate your time to the local homeless shelter once a month, those are okay to do together. But, it&rsquo;s not realistic to quit smoking and do away with sugar every single day.

Share your goals with someone 
Embark on your changes with a friend or family member, or just share the strides you plan to take with someone, so they can hold you accountable. The more people that know about your resolutions, the more likely you&rsquo;ll stick to your goals.

&ldquo;Support is so important in every area of your life, but especially when you&#39;re trying to make changes. If there&#39;s a support group out there for whatever your resolution is, then use it because you won&#39;t regret it. The more support you have, the better,&rdquo; says Newberry.

Having trouble getting up in the morning to work out? Book a class at the gym, or sign up for one-on-one personal training sessions. Knowing you&rsquo;ll lose money if you don&rsquo;t show up, or that someone is waiting for you at the gym may prevent you from hitting snooze.&nbsp;

If you know a friend who is also trying to quit smoking, see if they want to join you on the journey. You can talk through your successes&mdash;and your struggles&mdash;and hold each other accountable during social outings and stressful days.

Reward yourself 
Planning out simple, realistic incentives along the way will help encourage you to stick with your goals.

If you eat healthy every day of the week, treat yourself to a movie on Friday night. The reward may keep you motivated, and you&rsquo;ll feel good after having successfully stuck to your plan.

But remember that it&rsquo;s not just about the reward you won&rsquo;t get if you don&rsquo;t follow through, there are other consequences to giving in, too. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t follow through with the change we wish to make, we may feel bad about ourselves, we may get off track and go right back to the way we were,&rdquo; says Newberry.

Remember, it&rsquo;s a gradual process 
Like anything you&rsquo;re working towards, you have to remember that it takes time for new routines and habits to feel normal. Start small and work your way up. You&rsquo;re not going to have everything mastered come January 31. And make sure you realize this before you set your resolutions.

&ldquo;Tweak the little things in your lifestyle and then about a month later, you will start to feel motivated and good about yourself.&rdquo; After a month or so, you may even decide to add more goals and changes.

The goal is to start off realistic, so that you not only follow through with your resolutions, but you adopt the new habits as part of your lifestyle going forward. It&rsquo;s a work in progress, and it&rsquo;s good to be prepared for that from the beginning.

7 Expert-Approved Ways to Set New Year’s Resolutions That Actually Work 

Is someone you love college-bound? Learn four reasons why this savings account can boost your financial health.

What You Need to Know About 529s

Let&rsquo;s face it, stuff happens. You take a tumble from a curb and hit your head. The neighbor&rsquo;s normally friendly cat bites your child. You suddenly feel a heavy pain in your chest. Often it can be difficult to know what to do. Should you &ldquo;wait and see?&rdquo; Call your doctor? Make a beeline to the ER? Here&rsquo;s your cheat sheet for four common scenarios:

Do you need a local doctor that accepts your insurance? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/find-a-doctor" target="_blank">Click here.</a>

1. Chest pain 
In the ER, we have the mantra that &ldquo;time is heart muscle&rdquo; &ndash;- meaning that if someone is <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/heart-attack/what-is-a-heart-attack">having a heart attack</a>, the sooner we can open the blocked blood vessel, less the permanent heart damage. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s so crucial for people having a heart attack to get to the ER as quickly as possible. But how do you know it&rsquo;s a heart attack and not just a bad case of acid reflux? One of the commonly described symptoms is chest pressure &ndash;- &ldquo;an elephant is sitting on my chest&rdquo; is classic, although it can also be a sharp pain or feel like an ache. I start to worry if a patient describes this pressure, especially if it&#39;s lasted over five to 10 minutes and is accompanied by shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, spreading to your arm or back or vomiting. If you have these symptoms, call 911 or go to the ER immediately.

2. Cut with a foreign object in it 
I often treat patients who cut their hand on a wine glass that broke while they were doing dishes, a sharp, dirty tool or a kitchen knife slipped, or they had some similar mishap that cut the skin. When this happens, it&rsquo;s crucial to thoroughly clean the wound and remove all of the foreign material. Otherwise, the cut won&rsquo;t likely heal optimally -- and it has a high chance of becoming infected. If you&rsquo;re not sure it&rsquo;s clean enough or if you know pieces are still inside the skin, a doctor will need to irrigate it and wash out the pieces and bacteria. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/first-aid-for-wounds/how-know-wound-needs-stitches">You may also need stitches</a> if the cut won&rsquo;t stop bleeding or if the skin gapes apart. An urgent care center may be able to handle this (call before you go) if your regular doctor isn&rsquo;t available. If they&nbsp;can&rsquo;t, head to your nearest ER.

3. Dog or cat bite 
I love dogs and cats, but their mouths are breeding grounds for bacteria and their bites come with a high chance of infection. Cats are especially a problem because their sharp teeth can deposit bacteria deep into the skin, even if the puncture wound appears to be small. If a cat or a dog has bitten you, you need to see a doctor. The cut needs to be thoroughly irrigated and you&rsquo;ll likely start antibiotics. You may also need a series of rabies shots if you don&rsquo;t know if the dog or cat was immunized for <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/rabies/symptoms-of-rabies">rabies</a>.

4. Fall and hit head 
After a head injury there are a few symptoms for which you should definitely see a doctor -- and you may even need the ER. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/head-injury/what-symptoms-head-injury">Worrisome symptoms</a> include vomiting (especially if it&rsquo;s at least two or three times); a severe headache that&rsquo;s the worst you&rsquo;ve ever had; you have difficulty walking or talking; or you lose consciousness or have trouble staying awake.

If you do need emergency room treatment, <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/article/6-emergency-room-secrets">use these six tips </a>to make the experience more bearable and -- depending on your condition -- speed you on your way.

4 Signs You Need a Doctor—or the ER

Something like this has happened to all of us: You go to a doctor you haven&rsquo;t seen before, and as the doctor is writing you a prescription for an antibiotic, she asks if you&rsquo;re allergic to any medications. You know you had a bad reaction to an antibiotic a few years ago, but what was the name?

Or maybe your child&rsquo;s school asks for a copy of his immunization records, but you don&rsquo;t remember where you put it. Or you&rsquo;re not sure when you had your last tetanus shot.

A personal health record (PHR) is just the tool you need to keep track of this information and more.

What is a personal health record? 
Think of it as a quick reference to your health history at your fingertips. Just as your doctor&rsquo;s office keeps a chart of your medical records, a PHR is a chart you keep for yourself. You can put any information in it that you think is important to your health: lists of medications and lab test results, for example, but also your exercise routines and diet plan.

Your PHR could be a paper file&mdash;in fact, if you keep your health records in a box, you already have a type of PHR&mdash;but a web-based PHR is much more versatile. You, or someone caring for you, can access it wherever and whenever you need it, using a computer, phone or tablet. Some insurance plans and medical practices offer PHRs that are connected to the medical records they keep, but you can also build your own PHR at one of many free or subscription websites.

PHRs can also help you:

<ul>
	<li>Give vital information if you need treatment during an emergency</li>
	<li>Avoid duplicate procedures and tests, which saves time and money</li>
	<li>Prepare for doctor&rsquo;s appointments and track your health between visits</li>
	<li>Make decisions about treatment options, preventive care, and more</li>
	<li>Even help you schedule doctor visits, refill prescriptions, and email your doctor</li>
</ul>

How is it different than an electronic health record? 
It&rsquo;s all about control. Whereas electronic health records (EHRs) are maintained and controlled by each of your health care providers, you control and maintain your PHR, and you decide who can access your health information. PHRs are more powerful because often they are more complete. Though a growing number of medical practices are using EHRs, they may use different systems and not easily share information with each other, or with you. By building your own PHR, you can collect all your records&mdash;across all your physicians&mdash;in one place.

What should I include in my PHR? 
At the very least, your PHR should contain the following information:

<ul>
	<li>Personal identification, including name, birth date, and Social Security number</li>
	<li>Next of kin or people to contact in case of emergency</li>
	<li>Names, addresses, and phone numbers of physicians, dentists and specialists</li>
	<li>Health insurance information</li>
	<li>Living wills and advance directives</li>
	<li>Organ donor authorization</li>
	<li>A list and of significant illnesses and surgeries, with dates</li>
	<li>Current medicines and dosages</li>
	<li>Immunization records</li>
	<li>Allergies</li>
	<li>Your family health history</li>
	<li>Recent physical examination</li>
	<li>Opinions of specialists</li>
	<li>Important test results</li>
	<li>Eye and dental records</li>
	<li>Correspondence with provider(s)</li>
	<li>Permission forms for release of information, surgeries and medical procedures</li>
</ul>

Why should I keep my PHR up-to-date? 
More than anyone else, you know what your health record should have in it. And that&#39;s why keeping your PHR current is important. Plus, it&#39;s a great way to take an active role in your own health care. Another reason to keep your PHR up-to-date is that it can also reflect your preferences and values on sensitive issues, like end-of-life care. It&#39;s your record -- make the most of it.

Personal Health Record - Do You Need One?

As a frontline registered nurse and an administrative supervisor for clinical care in a Level I trauma center, I know about the power of communicating effectively with patients. Listening and speaking with empathy can calm patients&rsquo; anxiety, help them heal, and improve their outcomes.

And while I&rsquo;m committed to being there for my patients inside the hospital, I&rsquo;m equally devoted to helping people be well so they can stay out&nbsp;of the hospital.&nbsp;

Here are three of my top tips for taking charge of your preventive health. Note: These aren&rsquo;t the typical how-to items you may have seen before. Rather, they&rsquo;re intended to empower you by getting you more fully engaged in today&rsquo;s tech-forward healthcare space.

Get involved 
You are the biggest stakeholder in your health and therefore the most important member of your healthcare team. When you recognize that fact, you can feel empowered to take steps to live your healthiest life.

Start by becoming a more proactive healthcare consumer. Partner with your healthcare providers (HCPs) and be an active participant in the decision-making process. Remember to&nbsp;speak up and ask questions. When consulting with your doctor, nurse practitioner (NP), advance practice nurse (APN), or other HCPs, always ask the question: &ldquo;What are all the treatment options available to me?&rdquo;

Get tech-savvy 
Technology can help you progress along your wellness journey. Brilliant health apps continue to proliferate, and&nbsp;mobile technology&nbsp;is transforming health care. Imagine having a conversation with your doctor or other HCP that goes beyond simply what medications to take.

Don&rsquo;t get me wrong: Medications are very important for some patients. But once you understand all your treatment options, be sure to ask your HCP about technology. What are your treatment options that include technology?

Think about apps that can help you live healthier from a mind-body perspective. One great example is <a href="http://unwindingbysharecare.com/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Unwinding by Sharecare</a>. Designed by Jud Brewer, MD, PhD, an addiction psychiatrist and mindfulness expert, the app helps you change behaviors that may be getting in the way of your leading your best life. (Download the app for <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unwinding-by-sharecare/id1562169742" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">iOS</a> or <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sharecare.Unwinding&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Android</a>.)

Sharecare also has its own health app that can help people reach their health goals. Whether your focus is losing weight, managing stress, or sleeping better, Sharecare&rsquo;s health app (available for free for <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sharecare-health-well-being/id964313779" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">iOS</a> or <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sharecare.realgreen&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Android</a>) helps set you on a personalized path to total wellness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also fast-tracked <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/online-health-care/article/how-telemedicine-work-you" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">telemedicine</a>, which can allow you to have appointments with your HCPs from the comfort and privacy of your own home. Not everything can be done via telemedicine, but for those issues that can be addressed, it can make seeking and receiving care especially efficient. Talk to your HCPs about establishing virtual communication.

Many HCP offices will send texts and/or emails for appointment reminders. Electronic Health Records (EHRs)&mdash;which enable you to view your health history, immunization records, and more, online&mdash;are also becoming more widespread. (We still have a ways to go to get all hospital computer systems interfaced and interconnected. If you&rsquo;re a patient in, say, Connecticut and you&rsquo;re traveling to another state and you happen to end up in the emergency department, your health records may not show up in their system.)

You may also find yourself using <a href="https://www.sharecareyou.com/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">virtual reality</a> (VR) as part of your care, too. In certain settings, VR can be used to help minimize stress and anxiety in children and adults. For children, VR can be used to distract from uncomfortable procedures or treatments, and even to help minimize pain. For adults, it can be used for pain management, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.

If your HCP doesn&rsquo;t bring it up at your next visit, ask them about how technology can be part of your care.

Get social 
As the size and reach of social networks have exploded, so, too, has their potential to improve connectivity in the world of health care. If there are health experts who inspire you and offer trustworthy health information, connect with them online.

Important to remember: As you become an informed and connected healthcare consumer, it&rsquo;s vital that you question what you read and that you do your own research. Misinformation spreads like wildfire. Be cautious and make sure to speak with your HCP before making any changes to your health routine or your ongoing care.

There are many health experts engaging in social media networking to provide patients with valuable information. I&rsquo;ve been involved in a few of <a href="https://twitter.com/SharecareInc" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Sharecare&rsquo;s Twitter</a> chats&mdash;powerful real-time question-and-answer sessions&mdash;and I&rsquo;ve found that two hours sharing, engaging, and interacting with the Twitter audience on topics like sleep and heart health is time well spent.

Platforms like Twitter offer nurses, doctors, and other HCPs the opportunity to help educate consumers. They also provide us with the ability to listen to the community, engage with consumers, collaborate, and hopefully inspire people to live a healthier life.

Are there ways you can lean in to be an even more engaged and empowered patient&mdash;and even help drive innovation in health care?

&nbsp;

A Nurse's Perspective: 3 Smart Ways to Take Charge of Your Health Care

Recently, I woke up in the back of an ambulance after a bad bicycle accident with an EMT sticking an IV in my arm. The first words out of my mouth weren&#39;t &quot;What happened?&quot; or &quot;Where am I?&quot; Instead I said, &quot;I have diabetes.&quot;

This seemed like important information to share&mdash;and I assumed the information would get passed along to the emergency department doctors, the floor nurses and so on.

But 30 minutes later, I was telling the ER doc stitching my nose back together that I had diabetes. That night, as a floor nurse took my vitals, I mentioned that I hadn&#39;t checked my blood glucose in hours. &quot;You have diabetes?&quot; she asked incredulously.

This routine repeated itself in the operating room the next day. I was in the facility two days before someone finally checked my blood sugar.

You&#39;d think this was an anomaly, but I had a similar experience when I had an emergency appendectomy at another hospital six months ago. No matter how often I brought it up, the diabetes thing kept getting forgotten. A few hours after the surgery, I was offered a carb-laden meal, including sweet tea. I had to remind them again that I was dependent on insulin and had just gotten my appendix removed. I had my wife bring my insulin and blood glucose monitor with her to the hospital and I gave myself my injections the rest of the stay.

Neither of these facilities are bad hospitals. In fact, they are among the best in the Southeast. My treatment and outcome were excellent. Did I really need to be so vigilant about being my own advocate?

Absolutely.

Smart patients advocate for themselves, and when they can&#39;t, they <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/healthcare-advocate" target="_blank" title="Healthcare advocate">have others do it for them</a>. I&#39;m lucky. In both of my recent hospital stays, <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/caregiving/what-tips-help-family-members" target="_blank" title="what tips help family members?">family members</a> helped inform my medical team. In my most recent hospitalization, my brother stayed with me in the emergency department; he wrote down details and asked questions while I drooled on the shiny floor. I heard him remind doctors and nurses several times that I had diabetes, among other important nuggets of info. My wife came the next day, and together they acted as my eyes and ears when I could not.

Who will be your <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/managing-your-health-care/what-is-patient-advocate" target="_blank" title="What is a patient advocate?">patient advocate</a>?

P.S. I&#39;m ordering a medical ID bracelet or necklace so healthcare workers will know I have diabetes whether I can speak for myself or not.

In the Hospital? Have an Advocate

Find out how to deal with these embarrassing issues that could derail your workday.

Top 5 Body Disasters -- At Work

Nathan R. was 55 when he began to notice that his hearing wasn&#39;t quite right and that his equilibrium was off. He noticed dizziness and vertigo when he stood up suddenly. He kept having the sensation that he was going to faint, particularly whenever he did anything energetic. He went to one doctor after another. The doctors ran him through all the tests they thought appropriate, but they couldn&#39;t find anything wrong.

More Testing 
Just because they couldn&#39;t find anything didn&#39;t mean that something wasn&#39;t wrong. Nathan, who was feeling worse and worse, kept persisting. After going to several specialized clinics and seven different doctors, Nathan finally went to a doctor who took another MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, a kind of three-dimensional x-ray, of Nathan&#39;s brain. At first, the doctor, just like all the others, said that he couldn&#39;t find anything wrong.

Persistence Pays 
Nathan was so insistent that something was wrong that the doctor went back over the images again, showing Nathan exactly what doctors look for when reading an MRI. Explaining to him how to read the images, pointing to the different lobes of the brain pictures on the screen, the doctor began to study the images very carefully. Nathan asked lots of questions. Suddenly, the doctor spotted it: a small bump on a nerve, a telltale tumor.

Normally, brain tumors aren&#39;t detected until they are well over 1 centimeter; Nathan&#39;s was one-third that size. Two days later, Nathan went into surgery.

Happy Ending 
The tumor that was removed proved to be fast-growing -- and cancerous. It might well have killed Nathan in a matter of months had it not been discovered, but because it was discovered early enough, Nathan suffered virtually no consequences. After a few weeks of recovery, he went right back to life as usual.

The only side effect of the surgery was some hearing loss. It&#39;s not much, considering the danger he had barely escaped.

Nathan was saved by his own persistence and savvy.

Question: If something small and vague began to affect you and lasted several weeks, would you see a doctor to find out what was wrong? Or would you hope that it would go away by itself, or just live with it?

The next time you notice something amiss, we hope you will make your own luck and get an appointment with your doctor as soon as you can.

Excerpted from RealAge: Are You As Young As You Can Be? by Michael F. Roizen, MD