The Benefits of Your Annual Physical Exam

The Benefits of Your Annual Physical Exam

Each year, every major insurance plan allows you one Annual Physical Exam included in your plan with no co-pay to you. Are you taking advantage of this helpful benefit?

In the past, I haven’t been great about requiring this of my patients. I’ve tried to pack in their wellness checks with other visits, or I’ve tried to handle multiple problems at the annual physical visit. Neither way is optimal.

When we try to handle screenings at “problem” visits (what they are called in the billing world), screenings get missed. When we try to pack in “problems” at the annual visit, both the patient and I end up feeling rushed and again, the screenings get missed.

One of my favorite parts of conventional healthcare is screening exams. We have solid systems for finding issues early so that multiple treatment options are available. For example, if polyps are found during a colonoscopy, we can take a deep dive into gut health, possible “leaky gut”, make dietary changes that support the gut, etc. If you don’t’ get your screening and find out later that there is cancer in the bowel, the options are more limited for treatment.

The same goes for pap smears, mammograms, and routine labs. When we find issues early, we can use natural medicine or conventional medicine or a combination to treat them. You have more choices when you find out early.

At an annual physical exam, we focus on prevention and do many things to support your health:

  1. Update your personal history and family history.
  2. Update your medication and supplement lists.
  3. Take vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and respirations)
  4. Do a complete physical exam, including a pap smear for females as needed.
  5. Order routine lab testing.
  6. Order routine screening exams, such as colonoscopy, mammogram, bone density screening.
  7. Renew prescription medications., if needed.
  8. Talk about your health and well-being and lifestyle choices.

Once screenings are completed, if anything is abnormal with your results, I will ask to see you again to discuss.

You can certainly bring any problems you’re having to your annual physical to be sure that we add any labs or other testing to our plan. We will then follow-up at another visit once those additional tests are completed to discuss results and design a treatment plan.

One area of confusion for females is when they go to a gyn for their breast exam and pap smear. In the billing world, this is called a “well-woman visit”. If you choose to do your well-woman visit with a gyn, you are still allowed an annual physical with your primary care provider (PCP). Some PCPs don’t do well-woman visits. At Flourish we can do your well-woman visit at your annual physical, or you can choose to do that part elsewhere.

Basically, females can have both a well-woman visit and an annual physical or just an annual physical that combines the well-woman visit.

It’s helpful to think of your annual physical exam like one of your dental cleaning visits. They do preventative care (cleaning) on your teeth, update your chart, and give you the tips and tools for better dental health. If they find a problem, you return on another day to treat the problem.

I hope this makes sense and helps you see why your annual physical exam with your provider is so important to your health and wellness. I love focusing on prevention so that problems are less likely to occur, and so that we have every possible option for supporting you through any abnormal findings.

Are you a patient at Flourish? Schedule your Annual Physical Exam here.

If not, take a moment now to schedule your Annual Physical Exam with your provider now.