(CNN) -- Being an empowered patient means doing more than the bare minimum. It means taking an active part in your own health care.
Over the past year, we've brought you the extraordinary stories of ordinary people who took health problems into their own hands -- from a young girl who diagnosed her own condition in science class, to a wife whose memory of a disco tune saved her husband's life.
Your actions, however, don't have to be extraordinary: It's often the little, everyday things that mean the difference between a good health care experience and a bad one. Several common themes run through the stories of the people we've profiled. Here are the top lessons that emerged that can help you to become a more empowered patient in 2010.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/31/top.empowered.patient.lessons/index.html