A complete health profile is the most valuable thing you can bring to your doctor appointment. It's more important than your insurance card (but don't forget that either).

Most patients don't do a great job of communicating with their doctors. Often, they give either too little information or an overload of distracting details. Your health profile helps your doctor understand you, whether it's your first visit or your fiftieth.

Your health profile should include:

• Personal information
• Existing conditions and current health
• Current medications and medical symptoms
• Vital statistics and lab history
• Personal and family health histories
• Health exams, screenings, and immunizations
• Emergency contacts

It's time to get a second opinion when:

• The doctor doesn't take your symptoms seriously.
• The doctor says you need surgery.
• You're not seeing a specialist in your disease.
• The treatment isn't working.
• You're not communicating well with one another.
• You want to try other treatment options.

As a smart patient, you should build a strong relationship with your pharmacist. You can drop in to see a pharmacist anytime, without an appointment. All consultations are free.

Pharmacists have an amazing wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, which can mean it's at your fingertips. They see patients with similar conditions using different medications every day. They see patients who complain about side effects, and they know which side effects could mean serious trouble.

A good pharmacist is second in importance only to finding a great primary care doctor.

TV remotes have more than three times as much bacteria as room doorknobs, nurse call buttons, and tray tables. Many of those bugs
are lethal killers.

Disposable remote controls meant for short use are cleaner,
so grab one if there's a choice. Cleaning the remote with small dabs of disinfectant gel is another option.

As many as 98,000 patients die every year due to hospital errors.

When you check into the hospital, the odds of having a significant unexpected complication (meaning one that could lay you up for weeks, leave you permanently disabled, or kill you) are 1 in 25. Since you'll likely enjoy more than a few hospital trips in your lifetime, as almost
all of us will, that risk will multiply.

Your spouse isn't a blood relative, but daily bad habits can be a big risk to your health. If you live with your spouse (and we hope you do), you share the same environmental exposures and, likely, similar risks. You serve as each other's personal coalmine canary. Even though you don't share DNA, your spouse influences your health far more than your blood relatives do.

Your doctor wants you to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging),
a CT (computed tomography) scan, or some other test that goes by another impenetrable name. Fine. But before you run off, get the facts. In addition to taking a more informed role in working with your doctor, you might save yourself some nasty surprises and needless worry.

Most doctors schedule appointments in fifteen-minute segments,
but studies show that the average appointment lasts between eighteen and twenty minutes. Mix in late patients, no-shows, and a host of other time wasters, and you'll see why you spend more time in the waiting room than talking to the doctor.

These are all good questions. In fact, the answers could save your life. You could also save a decent amount of money over time.

By the way, it really is dangerous to mix some drugs with grapefruit juice. To metabolize grapefruit, your body uses the same enzymes that you use to digest many drugs. If you eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice within eight hours of taking certain drugs—such as cholesterol-reducing statin drugs like Lipitor—those enzymes will be occupied by the juice and not be able to break down the drug. This means more of the drug will reach your bloodstream, which can increase its effect and chances of becoming toxic.

Each year, up to 2 million patients get infections while in the hospital. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, infections add an average of two weeks to hospital stays.

Hospital infections from germs such as B staphylococcus (or staph), klebsiella, enterobacter, and E. coli cause as many as 90,000 patient deaths every year. (E. coli alone is responsible for half of all hospital infections.)

To avoid infections, the most crucial tip you need to follow can be distilled into three simple words: Wash your hands. This order goes
to every single person who may come in contact with you. Posting a
sign in your room that says, THANKS VERY MUCH FOR WASHING YOUR HANDS, can help.