Three Effective Ways to Keep the Cost of Your Medical Care as Low as Possible
There are a number of things you can do to keep the costs of your medical care relatively low. Read on to find out what these things are.
Provide your doctor with the information they need to treat you correctly
The amount of information you provide your doctor with could have a significant impact on their ability to treat your medical conditions correctly. If you fail to inform them of relevant facts regarding your medical history or current health status, you could find yourself experiencing further medical problems (and costly bills) later down the line.
Say, for example, that you are allergic to medications that contain sulphonamides. You then develop a bacterial infection and seek treatment from your doctor, but forget to tell them about this allergy. If they then prescribe you antibiotics that contain sulphonamides, you could end up going into anaphylactic shock and having to receive expensive treatment at a nearby hospital. This type of costly medical bill could be avoided, simply by making a concerted effort to give your doctor the information they need to provide you with the most appropriate treatment.
Abide by your doctor's advice
Another way to avoid unnecessarily high medical bills is to follow your doctor's advice down to the letter. If for instance, you suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) and your doctor prescribes you medication to lower it, it is of the utmost importance that you take your pills exactly as they have instructed you to. Failing to do so could lead to a spike in your blood pressure; this, in turn, could put you at risk of a heart attack or a stroke. Both of these life-threatening medical conditions would almost certainly result in an increase in your short-term and long-term healthcare costs.
Make inquiries about your local health fund's preferred providers
Many health funds allow people to access certain types of treatment via a preferred provider service. 'Preferred providers' are healthcare providers that have an arrangement in place with a health fund, which enables them to offer treatment at a discounted upfront rate or allows their patients to receive larger rebates. Many professionals within the healthcare industry, including a lot of opticians, dentists, chiropodists and podiatrists choose to offer their services in this manner.
As such, it is worth seeking out information from your local health fund about their current preferred providers and finding out if you can obtain the treatment you need from one of the healthcare professionals that participate in this service.
