When it comes to planning your summer vacation, the key is preparation. Booking hotel accommodations, outlining an itinerary and packing a suitcase are essential—and the same idea applies to health care.

Completing important tasks before your trip can help avoid some major discomforts, such as running out of your prescription drugs or contracting the flu in a foreign country. So you don’t get caught unprepared, here are a few things to know before you go.

1. If you are managing an existing condition, make sure to visit your doctor before you leave.
2. Refill your eligible prescriptions. You can even request a vacation override to pick up your prescriptions early (up to a 90-day supply) by calling MedImpact at 1-844-282-5330.
3. Register for the Sutter Health Plus Member Portal. From here, you can view your benefits, confirm cost shares and access member ID cards from anywhere in the world.
4. Pack your Sutter Health Plus member ID card, which contains important contact information.
5. If traveling abroad, find and save the local 9-1-1 equivalent phone number. Also, learn about travel alerts and warnings, safety, security, and health care through the U,S. State Department.
6. Make sure you and your family are up-to-date on your immunizations, including an annual flu shot. For international travel, talk to your doctor in advance about vaccinations or drugs specific to the region you’re visiting. Sutter Health Plus may not cover some of these immunizations and medications. Consult your Evidence of Coverage (EOC) for details.
7. You can access emergency and urgent care when you need it from any facility, in or out of the Sutter Health Plus network, without a referral.
8. But remember: While Sutter Health Plus covers emergency and urgent care worldwide, you must receive all routine and follow-up care from the assigned medical group within the service area.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the old saying goes. Remember to include health care in your travel checklist to ensure a fun, or perhaps relaxing, vacation.