Celebrate the spirit of Independence Day by taking
charge of your health
SACRAMENTO – July 1, 2011 – California consumers have healthcare
rights that they may not be aware of, according to Californians
for Patient Care, an independent nonprofit and patient advocate
that connects consumers to affordable care. Exercising these
rights may give patients greater control over their healthcare
experiences and even improve their health.
When you receive healthcare services, you
have certain rights and protections under U.S. law. A
number of regulations work together to guarantee these
rights and protections.
Look for doctors and office staff who speak your family’s
language, or ask for an interpreter if you need one to talk to
your doctor or your child’s doctor. Certified medical
interpreters are trained to translate health information
correctly. They must keep your information private.
Effective June 27, 2010, all California doctors are required to
notify their patients that they are licensed by the Medical Board
of California and provide the Medical Board’s contact
information. This notice may either be prominently posted in the
doctor’s office, or it may be in the form of a written statement
that is given to the patient. The written notification must
include the Medical Board of California’s telephone number and
Web site. Consumers can contact the Medical Board to check on a
doctor’s license status or to file a complaint.
To avoid a relapse of your condition or readmission to the
hospital, it is important that you understand the directions your
doctor or other healthcare provider is giving you. There are
steps you can take to improve your recovery once you leave your
healthcare providers office. To ensure that you understand the
directions, we suggest:
Whether you are going to the hospital for an outpatient procedure
or whether you will be admitted to the hospital for medical
illness or surgical procedure, there are certain things you must
know and certain things you must do in order to ensure that your
reasonable expectations will be met.
You must become informed about the terms and limits of your
health insurance policy. See if the fees you are being charged
can be negotiated ahead of time. If you do not know the terms and
limits of your policy, you will not know the financial field upon
which you are playing, and the end result may be significantly
displeasing to you.
Do not be afraid to ask questions of your doctor. By
accepting you as a patient he or she has made a contract with you
to provide you with the best possible care. This means that the
doctor must make time to answer your questions. On the other
hand, you must realize that doctors do not have much time in
today’s medical environment owing to the system under which they
currently work. Therefore, prepare a list of questions for the
doctor each day, and set a time during the course of the day that
you and the doctor can meet so that these questions can be
answered. If possible, e-mail the questions to your doctor before
hand.
Research the hospital your doctor recommends and the procedure
you’re set to have. Check Medicare’s Hospital Compare website
(hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) for
information about medical centers’ performance. Some states
publish hospital report cards, another source worth checking.
Ask your doctor how many procedures of this kind she’s done, what
results she usually achieves and how often potential
complications occur (for instance, how often do people having hip
replacements get infections?).
As your 2012 calendar starts to fill, think about making
appointments for health screenings you know family members need
this year.
“People get busy, and if they feel well, they go about their
business thinking they are healthy,” says Glen Stream, president
of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “As a country, we
have too much focus on illness treatment rather than on wellness
and prevention, which leads to people having problems that could
be avoided.”
But it’s easy to get confused about what screenings you need, and
how often to get them, especially when recommendations change or
when different medical groups have conflicting guidelines. Your
first step: Find a doctor who can help you sort it all out,
suggests Stream. “You really need to have a coordinated plan.”
Growing public health concern in pediatric
populations
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections (also
known as MRSA infections) are an increasing public health concern
in pediatric and adolescent populations.
These bacterial staph infections are unique for two reasons.
First, they have developed a gene which is resistant to several
antibiotics in the penicillin family. Second, this bacteria
contains a tissue-damaging toxin that makes it particularly
aggressive.
Drink plenty of fluids. Children are especially susceptible
to dehydration. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
water breaks every 20 minutes during sports, even if kids aren’t
thirsty.
Avoid exercising or playing at the hottest times of day.
Always wear and reapply sunscreen.
The American Lung Association recommends checking your
community’s air quality status before playing outside. Poor air
quality affects lung health and can have lasting impact on
children’s lung development.
For a bad sunburn, Mayo Clinic dermatologist Lawrence E.
Gibson recommends using cold compresses and applying aloe to the
sunburned skin. Dr. Gibson also recommends letting sunburn
blisters pop on their own, taking an over-the-counter pain
medication for pain management and treating peeling skin gently.
To avoid attracting bugs, don’t use scented soaps, perfumes
or hairsprays. Avoid dressing in bright colored clothing or
flowery prints. Use insect repellents containing DEET to prevent
insect-related disease. Don’t use DEET products on children under
two months of age.
Water safety
Learn to swim. Swim in areas supervised by a lifeguard.
Inexperienced swimmers should wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved
personal flotation device.
Pay attention to weather conditions and forecasts. Stop
swimming at the first sign of bad weather.
Never leave children unsupervised around water
Pool covers should be complete removed prior to pool use.
General health
Learn CPR.
Get the immunizations needed for everyone in your household.
A new law requires all students seventh-grade and older to have a
whooping cough vaccination prior to the start of the school year.
Need a flu shot? Do you know any seniors who need their shingles
vaccination? There are low- and no-cost healthcare resources in
almost every community that can help you.
Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing and wash
your hands frequently. Immediately disinfect any cuts or
scrapes.
Embrace a healthy diet by eating more fresh fruits and
vegetables at every meal.
Exercise
Stretch before beginning any strenuous physical activity, or
activity that you haven’t done for a while. Once you’re done,
cool down instead of stopping “cold turkey.”
Wear recommended protective gear, including protective pads,
helmets and gloves.
If you strain or sprain muscles and ligaments, remember RICE
– rest, ice, compression and elevation. Don’t give children
aspirin for pain, instead consider something like Tylenol, but
consult with a pediatrician first.
Household hazards
Install and maintain smoke alarms and carbon monoxide
detectors. Change the batteries once a year.
Store all cleaning supplies and medicines in locked cabinets,
out of the reach of children. Make sure you have the Poison
Control Hotline (800-222-1222) programmed into your phone or
easily available in case of emergency.
Place a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and cover electrical
outlets and cords if crawling babies are in the house.
If the label on one bottle of prescription drugs says, “Take one
tablet twice daily,” and the label on another says, “Take one
tablet every 12 hours,” would you realize that you could take
both medications at the same time?
What if one bottle says, “Take with food and water,” but the
second doesn’t?
Given that the average adult over age 55 juggles six to eight
medications daily, the ability to consolidate pill-popping is no
minor matter. “I’m more likely to be able to sustain a medication
regimen if I only have to take it three or four times a day,”
said Michael Wolf, an associate professor of medicine at
Northwestern University who studies drug safety. “Seven or eight
times a day is complicated to fit into your daily schedule.”
How do I find the best nursing home for my mom? Can I fight
hospital charges that seem wrong? There are so many details to
keep track of when trying to get good healthcare it can be enough
to make the savviest among us throw up our hands.
That’s the reason for this new column, Health 411. Write to us if
you find yourself with some health-related head-scratcher
(contact information is at the end of the article) and we’ll try
our best to guide you. No, we can’t take on your insurance
company when it’s refusing to pay for a brand-name drug, and we
don’t “know a guy” who can go after the doctor who botched your
nose job and still charged you a fortune for it. But we can talk
to the experts and tell you where to go or what steps to take to
get the help you need.
Beginning January 17, 2011, a new timely access regulation will
go into effect in California that rquires HMO doctors to see
patients with non-urgent care needs within 10 business days of
the patient’s request for an appointment. For requests to see a
specialist, patients must be seen within 15 business days of the
request. Patients seeking urgent care that does not require prior
authorization must be seen within 48 hours (96 hours for urgent
care iif it requires prior authorization). Visit
Timely Access to Care to learn more about this new
regulation.
A new push is under way to make prescription drug information
clearer and stem the rise in emergency room visits and
hospitalizations resulting from patients incorrectly taking their
medicine.
As many as three in four Americans say they don’t take
prescription medicine as directed, according to the National
Community Pharmacists Association.
Click here to view the recommended immunizations for
children from birth through age 6, as well as vaccine-preventable
diseases and the vaccines that prevent them.
Public health officials also recommend that:
Anyone 7 years or older who hasn’t had their full series of
vaccines should get it.
Women of childbearing age and those who are around infants
are asked to complete their vaccination series as well.
For more information, see vaccine-specific recommendations at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines or
call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636).
Holiday gatherings can be a good chance to have a conversation
and gather information about your family’s health history, which
is key to healthcare. The U.S. Surgeon General operates a free
Web site — https://familyhistory.hhs.gov
— that helps people create a family health history and share it
electronically with relatives and their doctor.
