Have you noticed you can put "e-" in front of just about anything, and we all know what that means? We do so much online today – (r)e-tail, e-zines, e-trading and e-banking. And now there’s e-patient.
New research says that 61 percent of us go online for health information from trusted websites. We research symptoms to see if we need to a doctor, and then look up the diagnosis and treatment after we go to the doctor. About one in five e-patients interact with each other online, comparing experiences to broaden their understanding at Patients Like Me or e-patients.net
Whether it’s a simple diagnosis or a complex life-changing condition, being an e-patient helps us be effective and educated about what we can do to support our own health. I’ve talked in this blog about my own experience with looking online and replacing prescription meds with over-the-counter remedies – it was really empowering to do that myself because these options weren’t on my doctor’s radar.
People with the most experience in the health care system – those with chronic conditions – are really active e-patients, because they know how hard it is to figure out the treatment routine that works for them. They have a lot of experience challenging the system and asking “why” and “how much.”
As we are all paying more for health care these days, here’s another online resource for the e-patient: our Cost Generator, so we can be prepared with the real price tag of medical procedures.
If you've got an e-patient story, please let us hear about it at our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheRealCost.
— Susan with Regence
Showing posts with label health reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health reform. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Health reform takes attitude
Thinking back on that last post, about how it takes all of us to curb medical spending, reminded me of my personal attitude adjustment on this issue.
My health plan puts claims online so I can track them, and also shows what I paid and what the plan paid. That was an eye-opener. I thought I was pretty low-maintenance, not a drain on the plan. But my two little meds for a skin condition really add up: between co-pay and insurance coverage, they cost $200 a month, more than my premium share.
Working for a health plan has made me conscious of medical costs. So I researched my options at RegenceRx.com. I found that hydrocortisone cream controls the same symptoms as the prescription I used, for only $5 a tube (less for store-brand). After awhile, I didn’t even need it every day, just every few weeks.
Unfortunately, they don’t make a hydrocortisone shampoo (unless you’re a dog). But I got a valuable clue from RegenceRx.com: both my meds were considered “anti-fungal” (ew!). A Google search showed vinegar has anti-fungal properties. I left some vinegar on my scalp for several minutes before shampooing and voila--that works too!
It was fun to find such easy and cheap solutions, but how come I had to find them myself? No doctor in 15 years of taking those meds offered any alternatives. But then, no vinegar salesmen go to my doctor’s office and buy her staff pizza so she will recommend it.
For about $35 a year, I took myself off two meds and saved $450 in co-pays and $1900 for the health plan -- Unbelievable!! I told my doctor to note I was no longer taking those meds, and that she should pass the word to other patients so they could try it. She just looked kind of bemused. “But those meds are covered,” she said.
“Covered” doesn’t mean “free” – somebody still pays. In fact, everybody pays. That’s why reform can’t stop with health insurance. It will take an attitude adjustment.
My little DIY solution cut almost $10,000 in spending by my health plan – that is, me and my co-workers – in just four years. This didn’t take months of research, settling for less or changing my lifestyle. It just took changing my attitude.
If you’ve had one of those attitude adjustments, maybe you could share it at our Facebook page.
My health plan puts claims online so I can track them, and also shows what I paid and what the plan paid. That was an eye-opener. I thought I was pretty low-maintenance, not a drain on the plan. But my two little meds for a skin condition really add up: between co-pay and insurance coverage, they cost $200 a month, more than my premium share.
Working for a health plan has made me conscious of medical costs. So I researched my options at RegenceRx.com. I found that hydrocortisone cream controls the same symptoms as the prescription I used, for only $5 a tube (less for store-brand). After awhile, I didn’t even need it every day, just every few weeks.
Unfortunately, they don’t make a hydrocortisone shampoo (unless you’re a dog). But I got a valuable clue from RegenceRx.com: both my meds were considered “anti-fungal” (ew!). A Google search showed vinegar has anti-fungal properties. I left some vinegar on my scalp for several minutes before shampooing and voila--that works too!
It was fun to find such easy and cheap solutions, but how come I had to find them myself? No doctor in 15 years of taking those meds offered any alternatives. But then, no vinegar salesmen go to my doctor’s office and buy her staff pizza so she will recommend it.
For about $35 a year, I took myself off two meds and saved $450 in co-pays and $1900 for the health plan -- Unbelievable!! I told my doctor to note I was no longer taking those meds, and that she should pass the word to other patients so they could try it. She just looked kind of bemused. “But those meds are covered,” she said.
“Covered” doesn’t mean “free” – somebody still pays. In fact, everybody pays. That’s why reform can’t stop with health insurance. It will take an attitude adjustment.
My little DIY solution cut almost $10,000 in spending by my health plan – that is, me and my co-workers – in just four years. This didn’t take months of research, settling for less or changing my lifestyle. It just took changing my attitude.
If you’ve had one of those attitude adjustments, maybe you could share it at our Facebook page.
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