The Benefits of Preventive Care and Regular Health Screenings

The natural aging process comes with an increased risk of developing certain chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancers. While traditionally people would only present to the doctor when they felt sick, it is becoming increasingly important for patients to obtain routine care to maintain their health.

Preventive care includes services to prevent, diagnose, and treat medical conditions before they become a serious problem. This can reduce overall healthcare costs and lead to a healthier, longer life. Despite the numerous benefits of preventive care, many Americans do not receive the recommended screenings and services. Understanding the importance of regular check-ups, vaccinations, and early detection can make a significant difference in health outcomes. For more detailed information on how to effectively manage your healthcare needs, you can explore our resource on comprehensive primary care and its benefits. By staying informed and proactive, individuals can better navigate their healthcare journey and take full advantage of the preventive services available to them.

In this article, we will describe what is preventive care, the different screenings and services it includes, and other important considerations that can keep you and your family healthy.

What Is Preventive Care?

Preventive healthcare services describe a broad range of actions patients and providers can take to help prevent and manage chronic health conditions. These actions can include screening tests and labs, preventative medicine and vaccines, and patient behaviors and dietary modifications.

Preventive care can be initiated at your Medicare annual wellness visit or preventive check-up with your médico de cabecera. The care provided typically falls within one of these three types of preventive care.

• Primary prevention. Services to prevent a disease from occurring, including weight loss, vaccines, and smoking cessation.
• Secondary prevention. Services to diagnose a health problem early to improve treatment choices. These can include mammograms and colonoscopies.
• Tertiary prevention. Services to help manage current health conditions to prevent complications and improve health outcomes.

Regardless of the type of preventive care, your médico de cabecera is essential in helping arrange, educate, and review all your preventative healthcare needs.

Preventive Care for Adults

Preventive healthcare services for adults include screenings for chronic health conditions; vaccinations for flu, COVID-19, and pneumonia; and counseling measures to promote healthy lifestyles. Depending on age and family history, certain screening tests and counseling measures will be recommended by your atención primaria physician. These can include:

• Se recomiendan pruebas de detección del cáncer, como mamografías, citologías, exámenes de próstata y colonoscopias, para identificar los cánceres en una fase temprana de su desarrollo.
• Pruebas de laboratorio para detectar afecciones como diabetes, colesterol alto y deficiencias vitamínicas.
• Cuestionarios y asesoramiento para identificar a los pacientes que necesitan servicios adicionales para una mejor gestión de diversos problemas de salud.
• Las vacunas se utilizan para prevenir el desarrollo de enfermedades o minimizar las complicaciones una vez contraídas.

Preventive Care for Children

Preventive care is utilized in children to identify conditions that can benefit from early treatment or interventions, as well as prevent serious illnesses. During childhood, wellness checks are scheduled at appropriate screening intervals and promote healthy childhood development.

The most common screening and preventative measures used in children include:

• Vacunas. La poliomielitis, el sarampión, las paperas y la rubéola son sólo algunas de las enfermedades graves que se han reducido drásticamente gracias a los calendarios de vacunación modernos.
• Exámenes de bienestar. Growth charts and developmental milestones are used to identify children who have conditions that can affect normal development.
• Pruebas de detección. Se realizan evaluaciones para identificar a los niños que sufren depresión, autismo y otros trastornos del desarrollo.
• Análisis de sangre. La detección de intoxicación por plomo, deficiencias vitamínicas y anemias puede garantizar el correcto desarrollo del niño.

Health Benefits of Preventive Care

Scheduling a preventative check-up can be one of the most beneficial actions to better your health. Whether it is a Medicare wellness exam or telehealth visit, obtaining preventive care can provide the following benefits.

1. Detección precoz. Recommended screenings can help identify concerns and medical conditions early, resulting in more effective treatment at a lower cost so you can live happier and healthier.
2. Reducir los riesgos de enfermedad. Regular testing can help guide health choices and put you in charge of your health. Targeting problem areas early can help prevent the development of certain diseases.
3. Mayor longevidad. Screening catches conditions early and leads to a longer, healthier lifestyle.
4. Reduce los costes sanitarios. Preventative healthcare services can reduce the need for hospitalizations and expensive treatments providing significant healthcare savings.
5. Más tiempo para hacer lo que le gusta. Reducing the effect of chronic diseases allows patients to spend less time at doctors offices and more time enjoying life.

Does Insurance Cover Preventative Care?

Most healthcare plans are required to cover preventative care without the need to pay a copay or deductible. While certain screening tests have age requirements (i.e., mammograms starting at 40 years of age), your annual physical or wellness exam for Medicare is available for all eligible patients.

During a Medicare annual wellness visit, your provider can help determine all the screening tests required each year and provide the referrals to aid in setting up those appointments. This can ensure you are maximizing your health insurance benefits and obtaining the best care possible.

Understanding the difference between a preventive test and a diagnostic test

A preventative test is ordered before you have any symptoms of the disease and is used to screen for the disease. This would include a fasting blood sugar test on your annual exam to screen for diabetes.

However, a diagnostic test is performed to either diagnose a medical condition or to monitor an already diagnosed disease. Using the same example, this would be when your doctor orders a fasting blood sugar test to determine if a new medication is helping your diabetes control (i.e., diabetes has already been diagnosed).

Why does this matter? Insurance companies will often pay for a preventative test without requiring a copay or deductible. But for diagnostic tests, according to your specific insurance plan, a copay or deductible could apply to the service.

In Summary

Preventative care is one of the most influential measures one can take on their health and is a major focus of Complete Health practitioners. These services are used to identify areas needing improvement and detect diseases when they are easier to treat. This allows our patients to live healthier, longer lives and reduce their overall healthcare spending.