Whether you have a bacterial infection or a viral infection, there are things you can do to help yourself feel better:

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1 HEALTHPLUS, AN AMERIGROUP COMPANY MakeHealth Happe Vol. 2, 2013 Do I Need Atibiotics? Atibiotics are medicies used to treat bacterial ifectios ad keep them from spreadig. But if a virus makes you sick, atibiotics wo t work. INSIDE: Stay Well With a Flu Shot Use atibiotics: To treat a bacterial ifectio such as strep throat, peumoia ad some sius ifectios Oly whe your doctor prescribes them As prescribed by your doctor, which usually meas takig all of the medicatio util it is goe Do ot use atibiotics: Whether you have a bacterial ifectio or a viral ifectio, there are thigs you ca do to help yourself feel better: Wash your hads with soap ad water ofte. Get plety of rest. Drik plety of fluids. Use a cool-mist vaporizer. To treat viral ifectios, colds, the flu, ruy oses, most coughs ad brochitis, sore throats ot caused by strep, or most upper respiratory ifectios Prescribed to someoe else for aother illess or prescribed to you for a previous illess Take medicatio as prescribed without skippig doses. Use salie asal spray to relieve cogestio. Sooth a sore throat with throat spray or lozeges. Member Services 24-hour Nurse HelpLie TTY Atibiotic Resistace Overuse of atibiotics ca lead to atibiotic resistace. If you take atibiotics whe they are ot eeded, it ca make it harder to treat future bacterial ifectios. You may be sick for loger periods of time. Ask your doctor about over-the-couter medicies that may help reduce symptoms. For more iformatio about atibiotic use, visit

2 We re With You Wherever You Go! Do you eed quick access to your HealthPlus Amerigroup ID card? Are you away from home ad eed to fid a doctor ow? You do t have to worry. Our Amerigroup Mobile smartphoe app makes it easier to stay coected with your health care wherever you go. Visit Apple s App Store (iphoe) or Google Play (Adroid) to dowload it for free today! Amerigroup Mobile lets you: View, or fax your HealthPlus Amerigroup ID card Access the provider directory to fid a doctor Coect to HealthPlus Amerigroup Member Services Use our symptom checker Search our Health A to Z library for iformatio o specific health topics Treatig Depressio People with depressio ofte miss out o work, school or activities with family ad frieds. If depressio is affectig your quality of life, takig atidepressat medicatio ad speakig with a doctor or couselor may help. You ca start by workig closely with your doctor ad by makig sure you schedule ad go to all your appoitmets ad screeigs. This icludes follow-up appoitmets. It also meas seeig your doctor withi 30 days of startig atidepressat medicatio ad oce a moth after that for at least six moths. Use the space below to write i the dates of your ext appoitmets ad whe your prescriptio refill is due. My doctor s appoitmet Date: Atidepressat medicatio prescriptio Date: Follow-up visit with my doctor or behavioral health provider Date: Takig your medicatio It may take several weeks for your medicatio to start workig ad at least six moths to see how well it is workig. That is why it is importat to take your medicatio as directed, eve if you start feelig better. Makig some small chages may also help your symptoms improve. Put a check i the box ext to each statemet that is true for you: I schedule ad keep my couselig appoitmets. I keep my prescriptio for my atidepressat medicatio up-to-date ad filled. I keep track of whe to take my medicatio. I let my doctor kow of ay side effects or chages i behavior I m havig. I have a schedule for whe I go to sleep ad get up each day.

3 Stay Well With a Flu Shot No oe really kows how active the flu will be this year. But the truth is, gettig a flu shot is your best defese agaist the virus, as it ca strike whe you least expect it. Without a flu shot, you may be puttig your health at risk. Ca you afford to miss time from work or school if you or a family member gets sick? We strogly recommed that pregat wome ad everyoe 6 moths of age ad older get vacciated every year. If you re a HealthPlus Amerigroup member, you ca get a flu shot for free: From your Primary Care Provider (PCP) At your local health departmet or cliic At a etwork pharmacy (if you re a adult with pharmacy beefits through HealthPlus Amerigroup) Soud like you? I am afraid the flu shot is t safe or will make me sick. I do t kow where to go to get a flu shot. I am healthy, so I do t thik I eed a flu shot. I am too busy or ca t take time to go for a flu shot. I do t like eedles or shots. What to Cosider You ca t get the flu from a flu shot. Talk to your doctor about your cocers. Call your PCP or call HealthPlus Amerigroup Member Services at (TTY ). Eve healthy people ca get the flu. A mild case of the flu ca make you feel awful ad you ca pass it to others. By protectig yourself, you ca help protect them, too. Some cliics or PCP offices may offer flu shots after hours or o weekeds. Cosider how much time you d lose or what you d miss if you or your child got sick. Ask your PCP about the asal-spray flu vaccie.

4 Whe Should I Go to the ER? It may be hard to kow whe to use the Emergecy Room (ER). Here are some tips to help you decide whe to call 911 or go to the ER. You should go to the ER if you thik your life is i dager ad have ay of these symptoms: Trouble breathig Chest pai or pressure Ay sudde pai Faitig Bleedig that ca t be cotrolled Severe vomitig ad diarrhea Coughig up blood Problems speakig Thoughts of hurtig yourself or someoe else Go to the ER right away if you or someoe you kow is havig ay of the followig sudde symptoms: Numbess or weakess of face, arm or leg especially o oe side of the body Cofusio, trouble speakig or uderstadig Trouble seeig i oe or both eyes Trouble walkig, dizziess, loss of balace or coordiatio Severe headache with o kow cause Where to go whe you eed oemergecy care: 1. Call your PCP. Your Primary Care Provider (PCP) kows about your health better. If you have a urget matter, your PCP will kow what services you eed. 2. If you caot reach your PCP ad you have a urget medical eed that eeds attetio right away, go to oe of the may urget care walk-i cliics i your area. Walk-i cliics deal with may differet medical issues ad ca see you i the eveig or weekeds without a appoitmet. 3. Ask a urse. If you have medical questios, you ca also call our 24-hour Nurse HelpLie at (TTY ). Our urses are available to help you whe you eed them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

5 Ysabel s Story At the age of 38, Ysabel suddely lost her sight. She suffered from diabetes ad high blood pressure but had ot received treatmet for her coditios. The diseases caused her blidess ad led to a series of ear-fatal heart attacks, falls ad a stroke. Ysabel was overwhelmed ad did t kow what to do. Despite all of her health problems, she had ever bee to see a Primary Care Provider (PCP). Ysabel s story highlights the importace of seeig a doctor for routie checkups whe you have a health coditio. If you have a health coditio such as diabetes or high blood pressure, put a check i the box ext to each step you will take to help yourself stay healthy: I will see my PCP at least oce a year for a welless checkup. I will get to kow my umbers (blood pressure level, cholesterol level, A1C level, ad Body Mass Idex or BMI). Would you beefit from workig with a case maager? I will talk to my PCP about which health tests I eed ad how ofte to have them doe. I will schedule ad keep ay appoitmets my PCP recommeds. I will take my medicatio as prescribed. To lear more, please call You may call Moday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time. HealthPlus Amerigroup Ca Help Through the help of a case maager, Ysabel bega to make chages i her lifestyle. She was also gettig help with rides to ad from her doctor appoitmets. After just five moths of workig closely with her case maager ad PCP, Ysabel s blood pressure ad blood sugar levels had improved eough for her to udergo a procedure to restore some of her sight.

6 P.O. BOX VIRGINIA BEACH, VA Make Health Happe healthplus.amerigroup.com Utilizatio Maagemet Notice HealthPlus Amerigroup follows the stadards set forth by the Natioal Committee for Quality Assurace (NCQA). All Utilizatio Maagemet (UM) decisios are based solely o a member s medical eeds ad available beefits. HealthPlus Amerigroup policies do ot ecourage the uderuse of services through its UM decisio process. Practitioers ad others ivolved i UM decisios do ot receive ay type of reward for deial of care or coverage. Our Notice of Privacy Practices This type of otice explais how medical iformatio about you may be used ad disclosed by HealthPlus Amerigroup. It also tells you how to access this iformatio. The otice follows the privacy regulatios set by the Health Isurace Portability ad Accoutability Act (HIPAA). If you would like a copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices or your Rights ad Resposibilities as a HealthPlus Amerigroup member, please check your member hadbook, call Member Services at (TTY ) or view them olie at healthplus.amerigroup.com. Make Health Happe is published by HealthPlus Amerigroup to give iformatio. It is ot a way to give persoal medical advice. Get medical advice directly from your physicia All rights reserved. Prited i the USA. HealthPlus Amerigroup is a culturally diverse compay. We welcome all eligible idividuals ito our health care programs, regardless of health status. If you have questios or cocers, please call (TTY ) ad ask for extesio Or visit healthplus.amerigroup.com. NY HP-C