How do we manage our health care on the road?  I can’t say that we’ve figured it all out, but we haven’t stopped seeing doctors and taking care of ourselves since we started living and traveling full-time.  That’s not to say that there are not challenges or inconveniences or that it doesn’t require planning.  There are many articles and blogs out there about what type of insurance you might want or need.  This blog is not about insurance, although for us, having a PPO has made it easy to see doctors regardless of where we are or what is ailing us.  If you are considering traveling full-time or even for seasons at a time, here are eight things that you might consider about managing your health while traveling:

1. Be prepared to fill out paperwork.  You will need to fill out paperwork for each new doctor you see.  I get it.  I want them to have an emergency contact number for me, and they need to know what medications I take.  They need an address to send bills and insurance information.  Maybe it’s because I’m married to a techie, but it amazes me that in 2020, there’s not an easier way to provide this information without filling out and signing twenty pages of documents per doctor.  Not only would automation be easier, but it would also prevent missing medications, existing conditions, allergies, etc.  Not to mention that I haven’t signed so many papers since we closed on the sale of our house last year.
2. Research potential doctors.  We all know that not all doctors are equal.  I love the doctors who I consulted with on my health back in Michigan.  I plan to see many of them when we are back in Michigan this summer.  I found most of them by word of mouth referrals from friends or acquaintances.  When you’re in a new town every few weeks, you barely have a chance to meet people from the area much less ask them who their doctors are.  Of course, I want to find doctors that aren’t too far out of the way, so I start by looking at Google Maps (www.maps.google.com).  I also read reviews on Healthgrades (www.healthgrades.com) and Vitals (www.vitals.com) before scheduling an appointment.  Research can be frustrating when you find what looks like the perfect doctor to see only to find out they are not accepting new patients or you need to schedule many months in advance to see them.  Which leads me to…
3. Plan ahead for appointments you will need.  Many full-time travelers aren’t planning weeks much less months in advance, but most of us have a general idea of where we want to spend the winter or the summer.  If you normally schedule an appointment six months in advance with your cardiologist, I suggest making an appointment with a cardiologist in the area where you will be six months before you get there.  You can work the rest of your time around this appointment.  No, it’s not impossible to call and get an appointment with less notice, but taking the time to plan increases the odds that you secure your preferred time slot with the doctor that you prefer.  It also reduces the odds that you forget to schedule a routine checkup, which hopefully avoids other issues down the road.
4. Be flexible with your travel plans and willing to drive the distance to follow-up appointments.  A routine skin check at a dermatologist’s office in Phoenix in mid-January, led to four pre-cancerous spots needing removal.  The doctor was able to remove them in their office, but our insurance required that they be removed two at a time and at least one week apart.  This news came just as we were ready to move on to Lake Mead.  With plans to be back in the general area (within an hour or two) a month later, I set my appointments up.  Driving two hours one way to a doctor’s appointment isn’t what I want to do very often, but staying on top of your health needs to be a priority.  Without your health, this lifestyle isn’t nearly as much fun.
5. Have your file sent to your new doctor.  Having your file sent from one doctor to another might not be necessary, but may help a new doctor understand your health history, prevent unnecessary tests or x-rays, and help with future diagnoses.  Just typing this out has me thinking about personally having a copy of our medical records in case of emergency and just as a means of keeping things in one place.  I do this for our dog, Skipper’s, vet records.  Why aren’t I doing it for us?  Hmmm…
6. Be aware of new patient fees.  Almost every doctor that we’ve found charges new patient fees.  A fellow traveler told us that if you ask, some doctors will waive these fees.  I didn’t find this to be the case, and as a result of these fees and other inconveniences, I stopped getting my allergy shots.  I had done my due diligence in getting serum for these shots produced to take on the road with me.  While I was more than willing to self-inject, my allergist warned me that it was not a good plan with immunotherapy, especially with my history of anaphylactic reaction.  Not only did I struggle to find places to give me an injection with my serum, the practices that were willing to provide my injections required that I see a doctor and charged a new patient fee.  I found it so outrageous to get a bill for over $200 every month for two injections, a doctor who listened to my lungs for 20 seconds, and asked me questions about our travels, that I quit going.  I may regret this someday, but it’s the decision that I made.
7. Take advantage of Teladoc..   Our insurance offers Teladoc as an option.  In January, when I came down with a cold that settled in my lungs and had me wheezing, I called Teladoc for consultation.  As it was my first phone call to them, I verbally filled out the paperwork with an intake operator who then arranged for a doctor to call me within an hour on a Friday evening.  When the doctor called, we discussed my symptoms and previous medication that helped with similar symptoms.  Within a short time, she was able to phone in a prescription for me, and I was on my way to recovery.
8. Be prepared for an emergency.  Thankfully, we haven’t had any emergencies while we’ve been on the road.  And if we have one, I sure don’t want to be googling for directions to the nearest emergency room while trying to negotiate the emergency.  For each location that we go to, I spend a little time just before our arrival or shortly after that putting together a list of phone numbers and addresses for Police, Fire, Emergency Room, and Emergency Veterinary Services.  I email this list to myself and Brian, along with the address for the park where we are staying.  Should we have an emergency, we can call for or get help quickly.

Have any thoughts or recommendations about healthcare while living on the road?  Please feel free to comment on this post.  We are always learning new things and will be happy to have your suggestions.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay