Independent Care Health Plan has taken steps to educate and actively involve members with their health care. We believe that a frequent and consistent message on patient safety will help you to reduce the potential for error in your health care. The Five Steps to Safer Health Care was developed by the federal government with this goal in mind.
Choose a doctor whom you feel comfortable talking to about your health and treatment. Take a relative or friend with you if this will help you ask questions and understand the answers. It's okay to ask questions and to expect answers you can understand.
Tell your doctor and pharmacist about the medicines that you take, including over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and dietary supplements like vitamins and herbals. Tell them about any drug allergies you have. Ask the pharmacist about side effects and what foods or other things to avoid while taking the medicine. When you get your medicine, read the label, including warnings. Make sure it is what your doctor ordered, and you know how to use it. If the medicine looks different than you expected, ask the pharmacist about it.
Ask your doctor or nurse when and how you will get the results of tests or procedures. If you do not get them when expected -- in person, on the phone, or in the mail – don’t assume the results are fine. Call your doctor and ask for them. Ask what the results mean for your care.
If you have more than one hospital to choose from, ask your doctor which one has the best care and results for your condition. Hospitals do a good job of treating a wide range of problems. However, for some procedures (such as heart bypass surgery), research shows results often are better at hospitals doing a lot of these procedures. Also, before you leave the hospital, be sure to ask about follow-up care, and be sure you understand the instructions.
Ask your doctor and surgeon: Who will take charge of my care while I'm in the hospital? Exactly what will you be doing? How long will it take? What will happen after the surgery? How can I expect to feel during recovery? Tell the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses if you have allergies or have ever had a bad reaction to anesthesia. Make sure you, your doctor, and your surgeon all agree on exactly what will be done during the operation.
iCare ensures that our members have seamless and uninterrupted medical care in a public health emergency.
When the president, governor or secretary of Health and Human Services declares a disaster or a public health emergency, iCare takes the following actions so that our members in the affected areas can get the medical care they need.
The actions we take include:
All of these changes become effective immediately.
These actions remain in effect until:
If iCare is also affected by the disaster and cannot resume operations by the end of the disaster or public health emergency, we will notify the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and will update the iCare website, when and if we are able, to provide information about iCare’s operational capabilities.
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