Taking Charge of Your Own Healthcare

Taking Charge of Your Own Healthcare
I am American by birth, culture and nationality, but I
haven't lived there for 19 years. In 1988, chasing
adventure and work, I left the states. Since then, I have
lived all over the world moving every few years.
Currently, I live in Singapore.

As an "expat"(person who chooses to live outside their home
country), life has its challenges. One of which is that one
has to be very diligent in taking charge of the healthcare
needs of oneself and family.

All in all, I have had very good luck with the docs I have
seen over the years. Of course, except for having a baby,
I haven't developed any medical conditions requiring care ?
just the odd flu or injury etc. It has been my experience
that physicians the world over are a learned and caring
group. The problems seem to arise because of communication
(or lack there of). Many doctors have been taught to
diagnose and treat, but not explain to the patient the
details of their condition. So it's up to the patient to
be informed enough to ask.

Every place has its own healthcare system, with unique
organizational structures and standards of care?some
extremely good and easy, like Singapore, and some not so
good or easy. My last assignment was a small town in
Borneo (yes, the place that used to have head hunters!).
There were good doctors there but it was up to me to find
those that I could work and communicate with.

Over the years, I developed a system where I would go to a
doctor, get a diagnosis, read about it in the Merck Manual,
research the web (more recent years), then go back to the
doctor and ask more questions. The system resulted not
only in the expansion of my knowledge about me and my
family's health, but also development of close connections
to my physicians. I am sure most of them thought of me as
either an overly enthusiastic patient or generally an
annoyance ? but I got attention!

A while back I was reading an article by Barbara Morris,
the author of "Put Old on Hold", where she talks about how
Americans in what she calls second middle age (60, 70's and
beyond) need to take an active role in their own healthcare
and prevention. So, it's not just an issue for someone who
moves around a lot?.

It's important for each of us to be fully informed of any
medical conditions that we might have, what the side
effects of medications that we are prescribed might be,
what allergies we have and the genetic predispositions that
we might have (like a parent with diabetes or certain
cancers). It's also crucial to be very candid with a new
doctor about one's medical history and such.

Since I left the states 19 years ago, the American medical
system has changed to "managed care". This is a system
that I am not familiar with, but it looks like it requires
much more patient involvement than the medical system of 20
years ago. Also, I would speculate that doctors have
learned to be much more specific in explaining to patients
about their care and medical conditions because of this.
In my opinion, this is a good thing as patients know more
they can make informed decisions and action on prevention
and treatment.

I wonder, though, has the "managed care" way of doing
things resulted in patient cost savings ? its original
intent?

I recently renewed my medical insurance policy. I was
given 2 pricing options for the SAME coverage. One was for
people who spend the majority of their time in the U.S. or
live there and the other was for people who live and spend
most of their time anywhere else in the world. No kidding
? the U.S. coverage was 4 times as expensive as the non-US.
4 times!!

Wow?no wonder healthcare costs in the US make international
news.

I will get off the soapbox now and let someone else talk.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones!

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About the Author:
Ainsley Laing, MSc. has been a Fitness Trainer for 25 years
and writes exclusively Body for Mind eZine. She holds
certifications in Group Exercise, Sports Nutrition and
Personal Fitness Training. To see more articles by Ainsley
visit http://www.bodyformind.com or the blog at
http://www.bodyformind.blogspot.com