Why Your Yearly Wellness Exam Matters

While there might be a sliver of truth to that adage, there is so much more to maintaining good health – and it all begins with getting annual wellness examinations.

What Is An Annual Wellness Exam?

An annual wellness visit is a yearly appointment with your primary care provider to create or update a personalized prevention plan. This plan may help prevent illness based on your current health and risk factors.

Routine check-ups can lead to better detection and treatment of chronic illnesses such as depression and high blood pressure, an increase in vaccinations and screenings for diseases like cancer, and improvement in how patients actually feel after a visit, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“These appointments encourage healthy habits, check for underlying conditions, provide immunizations, order appropriate screening tests and provide individuals with a detailed assessment of their current health,” said Lance Wallace MD, medical director for quality assurance and performance improvement for Specialty Physicians of Illinois. “In other words, they are essential to maintaining your quality of life.”

What's Included During An Annual Wellness Exam?

We always hear that we need to get an annual wellness exam, but what exactly is done during these visits?

• Vitals and system check including heart rate, blood pressure, weight and BMI
• Discuss screening tests and bloodwork to detect cancer, diabetes, kidney and heart disease
• Assessment of diet, sleep pattern, exercise habits and stress levels
• Review and evaluation of medications and supplements
• Additional tests, evaluations and consultations for patients with chronic diseases are scheduled
• Update vaccinations

"Showing up and spending time in your primary care doctor's annual visits, I can't stress how important that is," said Franciscan Health cardiologist Vijay Rao, MD. "I think we all get sort of in that mindset that we're busy with life and taking care of kids and having a stressful job. And the first thing that often goes is we say, 'Look, I feel fine. There's no reason to go see the primary care doctor unless I have a problem.' And I would argue that is the logic that we need to get over.

"We need to understand that prevention means this is the reason why we go for colonoscopies, even though you're not having symptoms to pick up a colon cancer. This is why showing up in your doctor's office for their annual visits to check on your blood pressure, to do a physical exam, to pick up things that you may not notice are going on would really be important. Make a priority to go to your annual visits with your primary care doctor, and be able to do a lot of these preventative therapies."

Why Are Annual Wellness Exams Important?

Michael Pena, MD, a Franciscan Physician Network primary care physician in Northern Indiana, recommends that even a healthy person with no particular issues still sees their doctor once a year.

"At that point, we can determine what risk factors are present, and tailor labs to what we find during the physical," Dr. Pena said. "The annual exam is also important to build the relationship between doctor and patient."

Wellness exams are an opportunity for providers and patients to establish a closer rapport, formulate a plan to optimize individual long-term health goals and gives the patient a dedicated time to ask questions, Dr. Wallace said.

At What Age Should You Start Getting Annual Wellness Exams?

U.S. government health experts recommend “selective” screenings based on certain health factors and demographics, rather than offering an across-the-board suggestion for annual exams. Your doctor can help you decide whether yearly exams are in your best interest and help you schedule the care you need.

Can You Do Wellness Exams Virtually?

Virtual visits, often referred to as telehealth, are becoming more routine during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A virtual visit is effective and still provides a way for a patient to have an exclusive one-on-one interaction with the provider.” Dr. Wallace said. “This kind of visit is convenient and the best way to keep a patient safe during the pandemic.”

In addition to providing patients a state-of-the-art electronic medical record, Franciscan has also implemented a safe and secure virtual platform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using this platform, Franciscan physicians have provided more than 150,000 virtual visits.

If a face-to-face visit is warranted, Dr. Wallace emphasized Franciscan Health physicians and clinical staff are actively keeping patients safe when they visit our facilities during this public health crisis.

“Exam rooms are fully sanitized between all patient visits, and lobbies and patient appointments are well managed by staff to prevent overcrowding,” said Dr. Wallace.