3 .Know You Health Insurance

Before traveling abroad, check with your health insurance provider to determine if it will cover out-of-country medical care.  If it doesn’t, consider purchasing travel medical insurance for the duration of your trip to cover costs ranging from in- and out-patient hospital charges to emergency medical evacuation.

When choosing a provider, be mindful that pre-existing conditions may not be covered, so if you have some, you may want to contact your regular insurer to confirm that they will cover the costs of any care you might need while you are out of the country.

And use common sense: if planning a trip during which you anticipate participating in sports activities, do not chose insurance that excludes coverage for sports-related injuries (which is common). As a reminder, of you’re planning to engage in any strenuous activities during your trip, such as skiing, biking, trekking or swimming, be sure to check with your doctor to confirm that you are healthy enough to participate.  And  be cognizant of the fact that your body will react to different altitudes and climates, so build in time to acclimate to your destination.

4. Play it Safe in Developing Nations

If your destination is in the developing world, ask your doctor to identify physicians and best-in-class hospitals in the cities you are visiting before leaving the U.S.  Also request specific recommendations concerning climate, altitude, vaccinations, or other health concerns.  For up-to-date health alerts concerning specific countries, visit the Center for Disease Control website.

5.  Use Your Smartphone

Health-related apps for travel can become life-saving tools.  iTriage  can help you locate medical facilities and pharmacies anywhere in the U.S., and even offers turn-by-turn directions.  For travel abroad, Universal Doctor Speaker helps facilitate conversation between doctors and patients by providing key medical questions and phrases in a variety of languages.

For more health and travel information, check out:

• Travel Tip: Dental Issues on the Roas
• Travel Tip: Health Apps
• The Travel & Health archives
• The Health & Fitness archives

By Leslie Michelson for PeterGreenberg.com.  Michelson is the chief executive officer of Michelson on Medicine and chairman and chief executive of Private Health Management. He is a former special assistant to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and former chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.