Empowering Patients: How to Manage Your Healthcare

Creating a healthcare plan for your personal needs can feel overwhelming. Where should you start? What do you need? How do you do it? 

And furthermore – why should you do it?

No matter where we are in life, we all want to feel better and have a good feeling about the future. Lee Health wants to help. After all, healthcare is more than just trips to the doctor. It’s about your lifestyle, goals, and learning to prevent chronic conditions before they start.

By taking an active role in your healthcare, you can cut away all the distractions and focus on your well-being – something that’s absolutely essential in these days of stress and information overload.

Follow along for three simple steps when creating your personalized healthcare plan.

Step 1: Perform a Self-Study

Start by looking at your lifestyle. Are you active? How do you relax? Identify your health concerns. Do you want to lose or gain weight? Want to prioritize your mental health? Identifying your personal challenges will help you clearly define your health goals. Then you will know what to talk about with your healthcare provider.

It’s important to set a few goals, so write them down and keep track of your progress. Be honest without being critical. Set some time each day, maybe just a few minutes, to take a few deep breaths and reflect.

You’ll start to see changes, and that will boost your confidence. Even the act of sitting and reflecting is a simple place to start and a goal met!

Step 2: Highlight Areas of Importance

What factor is the most important to you? Highlight your top priorities as you create a value map to help guide you on your healthcare journey.

This may include:

• Affordability
• Accessibility
• Range of services
• Preventive healthcare

Preventive healthcare often entails a lot of different areas. So where should you start? It’s important for you to know that Lee Health offers more than 150 different service options as well as over 100 locations to ensure access and quality.

Preventive care encompasses things such as:

• Nutrition
• Diet
• Exercise
• Lifestyle
• Sleep
• Supplements
• Other Healing options (acupuncture services, yoga, massage and meditation)

Preventive care locations provide you with educational classes and workshops, holistic services, health screenings and community involvement with social meetups. Lee Health Solutions features registered nurses, dietitians and certified diabetes care and education specialists who are all ready to give you the tools to improve/manage your health and lower your risk for future diseases. 

Lee Health offers eight different locations that work to assist you with preventive healthcare:

• Healthy Life Center in Coconut Point
• Lee Health Solutions in Cape Coral
• Teaching Kitchen in Coconut Point
• Teaching Kitchen Fort Myers 
• Lee Health Solutions at Gulf Coast Medical Center
• Lee Health Solutions at Lee Memorial Hospital
• Lee Health Solutions at HealthPark Medical Center
• Lee Health Solutions at Coconut Point 

And, of course, your primary care clinician can steer you in the right direction.

Affordability

Affordability is one of the most important - and challenging - aspects of healthcare. Acquiring health insurance through your employer or a private healthcare association will reduce your out-of-pocket costs for a majority of medical services.

To find out if your insurance qualifies at a Lee Health facility, visit our website https://www.leehealth.org/billing/insurance-help/contracted-insurance-plans. 

Do not see your insurance provider? Not to worry: Lee Community Healthcare  can provide you and your family with the following services regardless of your financial situation:

• Primary Care
• Tests
• Immunizations
• Mental Health
• Pediatrics
• Women's Health and many more

Seeking more assistance? Lee Health has you covered with billing help. No matter where you are in our system, you may be eligible for a personalized billing plan, discount program and one-on-one assistance from our financial counselors.

Step 3: Find a Primary Care Physician 

Think of primary care as the first stop. Finding your perfect primary care physician means everything. You will establish trust and build a deeper connection, allowing for meaningful conversation about your overall state of health.

LeeHealth.org provides the Find a Doctor tool, where you can browse for physicians and schedule appointments easily. Be sure to schedule appointments in advance as openings fill up fast in Southwest Florida. 

Remember, it is important to be open and honest with your physician about your health concerns and goals. The more comfortable you are talking about your health, the more you gain from your care. Lee Health values comfort between a patient and provider to establish a personal connection to work with you to achieve your healthcare goals.

Other Care Options to Remember

Lee Health Convenient Care (Urgent Care) has four locations to serve you and your family. These Urgent Care facilities are perfect for non-emergencies, especially treatment for colds and flu, so that you can avoid trips to the emergency room. You can even get a place in line to avoid the waiting room!

Urgent Care also includes a special facility for children and a mobile service called DispatchHealth.

Lee Health’s TeleHealth service is available 24/7. Talk to a doctor through your computer or phone for non-emergencies.

Lee Health’s Emergency Departments are open 24/7 at our four adult hospitals, Golisano Children’s Hospital, and Lee Health Coconut Point. Find one near you for life-threatening situations.