People are always making goals to get healthier. These plans typically include ramping up a new gym routine or watching what they are eating. However, believe it or not, the first real step to a healthier you may be as simple as scheduling your annual wellness visit.
Annual checkups are an important part of assessing how you’re doing health-wise and determining which areas you should focus on to prevent health problems from developing later.
Whether you are due for your annual wellness visit, you have a concern you want to discuss or you just want to find new ways to be healthier, make an appointment with your primary care provider.
What is an annual wellness visit?
An annual wellness visit is a preventive health appointment designed to help you stay healthy and identify potential concerns before they become more serious. Rather than focusing on treating an illness or addressing a specific symptom, this visit centers on your overall health and future well-being.
For Medicare beneficiaries, the annual wellness visit is no charge – it’s a covered preventive service that helps create or update a personalized prevention plan. For other patients, a yearly wellness exam can serve a similar purpose by evaluating your current health status and ensuring you’re up to date on recommended screenings, vaccinations and preventive care.
Think of it as a yearly roadmap for your health.
“The prevention part of the visit is very important,” Jordan Grnak, DO, an internal medicine physician at Bon Secours Woodward Medical Center in our Greenville market, says. “The visit goes through age-appropriate cancer screenings, such as colonoscopies, lung screening for smokers, mammograms for women and prostate screening for men.”
Why is an annual wellness visit important?
The purpose of annual wellness visits is to maintain and create a preventative care plan for your health.
Annual wellness visits typically take a broad approach to your health. While they include the typical head-to-toe physical exam you’d get during a normal physical, providers use these visits to focus on a patient’s overall well-being.
An annual wellness visit helps your provider:
- Review your overall health status
- Identify risk factors for future health problems
- Ensure appropriate cancer screenings are up to date
- Monitor chronic conditions
- Evaluate lifestyle factors that affect your health
- Discuss mental and emotional well-being
- Review medications and immunizations
Even if you feel healthy today, regular preventive care can uncover hidden risks and help you make informed decisions about your future health.
Is an annual wellness visit the same as a physical exam?
Not always. A wellness visit focuses on prevention, risk assessment and long-term health planning. A physical exam typically includes a more comprehensive hands-on evaluation.
Depending on your insurance and health needs, your provider may recommend one or both.
What happens during an annual wellness visit?
Every patient’s needs are different, but an annual wellness visit typically includes a comprehensive review of your health.
Health history
Your provider will review your medical and family history, including any chronic conditions, previous surgeries and significant health events.
Preventive screenings
Based on your age, gender, health history and risk factors, your provider may recommend screenings such as:
- Mammograms
- Colon cancer screenings
- Prostate cancer screenings
- Lung cancer screenings for eligible patients
- Diabetes screenings
- Cholesterol testing
- Blood pressure monitoring
Preventive screenings can often detect health concerns before symptoms appear, when treatment may be most effective.
Mental health and cognitive screening
Your health extends beyond the physical. Annual wellness visits often include discussions about stress, anxiety, depression and emotional well-being.
For older adults, providers may also perform cognitive assessments to identify early signs of memory issues or cognitive decline.
“We want to make sure patients have the proper help or interventions they may need to deal with those things. Cognitive testing can help us determine if a patient is showing any signs of dementia,” Dr. Grnak adds.
Medication review
Your provider will review your current medications, supplements and vitamins to ensure they remain appropriate and effective.
Lifestyle and wellness discussions
This is an opportunity to talk openly about:
- Nutrition
- Physical activity
- Sleep habits
- Tobacco use
- Alcohol consumption
- Weight management
- Stress management
These conversations help create a personalized plan to support healthy habits and reduce your long-term health risks.
Who should schedule an annual wellness visit?
Everyone should schedule a wellness visit each year. Generally one wellness visit every 12 months is covered by insurance.
Adults of all ages benefit from annual preventive care. Whether you’re managing a chronic condition, monitoring family health risks or simply trying to stay healthy, an annual wellness visit can help you stay on track.
Older adults should be especially diligent about scheduling preventive visits, as health risks often increase with age. Medicare beneficiaries can take advantage of the Medicare annual wellness visit to develop a personalized prevention strategy.
“We want to make sure patients are in a safe place, have someone looking out for them and also have a good support system,” Dr. Grnak explains. “We want to make sure they have their beneficiaries lined up for advance care planning.”
How we can help
It’s easy to postpone routine health care when life gets busy. However, taking a proactive approach through annual wellness visits can help you stay healthier, reduce your risk of serious illness and gain peace of mind.
To schedule your next check-up or to learn more about annual wellness visits, make an appointment with your primary care provider.
Learn about the primary care services we offer at Bon Secours.
