Preventative Care Tips
Preventative Care Tips: What to take to your appointment and important questions to ask
Four things to take to your annual visit:
Your health insurance card and photo ID
A list of all medications you take, including over-the-counter medications.
Health history notes
Questions and concerns, making a list and including any symptoms is helpful for preventative care
Helpful questions to ask your doctor during your checkup:
What vaccines, medical tests or screenings do I need?
When can I expect the results from screenings and tests?
Does my family health history raise my risk for any heath problems?
What are some steps you think I should take to stay healthy?
Do you have any follow up instructions for me? (Bonus: Ask for the follow up in writing.)
When should I scheduled my next appointment?
Why Is Preventive Care Important?
Many people think of going to the doctor as something we do when we aren’t feeling well or when we need treatment for a specific medical condition.
Preventive care is very important to help you stay healthy and detect health problems early on, before they cause other issues or become more difficult to treat.
Many people think of going to the doctor as something we do when we aren’t feeling well or when we need treatment for a specific medical condition.
Preventive care is very important to help you stay healthy and detect health problems early on, before they cause other issues or become more difficult to treat. However, one study found that only 8% of adults in the United States who are 35 years and older received the preventive care recommended to them.
The goal of preventive care can help you live a longer, healthier life.
What is Preventative Care?
Preventative care or preventative health includes annual wellness exams or physicals, as well as screenings and immunizations.
These are routine visits you receive in order to maintain your health. During these visits, there is a set of health services meant to screen and possibly identify health issues before symptoms develop.
Adult preventive healthcare typically includes screenings for conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. For children, preventive healthcare includes yearly checkups, vaccinations, and screenings for certain conditions.
Scheduling your routine visit allows your physician to evaluate your health when you are symptom free and gives you an opportunity to ask questions in-person.
Preventive health services offer significant health benefits, and are covered by most insurance companies. In other words, participating in preventive care usually won’t cost you anything. In fact, if any conditions are identified, early treatment will likely save you money on healthcare costs in the future.