We're all looking for ways to save money on healthcare. How about a free screening for heart disease that you can do without even leaving home?

Rex Healthcare is offering an on-line heart risk assessment called Heart Aware that takes less than 10 minutes. It was fast and convenient for 76-year old Jerry Cooper. Quintuple heart bypass surgery 15 years ago forced him to make his health a priority.

"I don't want to have bypass surgery again," said Cooper. "That's not the most fun thing in the world. So I do what I can to keep myself healthy."

A new on-line heart risk assessment tool offered by Rex Healthcare gives Cooper and other folks who are at risk for heart disease a free way to find out where they stand and avoid costly screenings.

Dr. Wayne Smith, who manages the HeartAware program, said while screening events tend to draw the "worried well," the goal of the on-line assessment is to get information to people who need it most.

"The people who generally are the healthiest take advantage of screenings," said Smith. "And they're the very people we don't want to screen."

But in these cost-conscious times, many of the people who need it most are avoiding healthcare because of the expense. Rex Dietitian Rose Oakley-Langley said some patients she sees are even cutting back on medication.

"They've been cutting their blood pressure medications in half, or their statin medication in half just to try to save money," she said.

People who are identified in the screening can ask for a follow-up visit and consultation with Langley, where they'll look over their results and decide how to reduce their heart disease risk.

"A lot of people don't even have yearly physicals," said Rose Oakley-Langley, nutritionist. "And this is the opportunity for somebody to say, hey, these are your numbers. They're high. You need to see your primary care physician."

• Know Your Numbers for Heart Health
• Total cholesterol
  LDL "bad" cholesterol
  HDL "good" cholesterol
  Triglycerides
  Blood Pressure
  Fasting Glucose
  Body Mass Index
  Waist Size 
  Amount of Exercise

Click here to try Heart Aware for yourself.