“We are embarking on what we are calling ‘the year of the physical,’” says Dr. Davide DeBellis, Internal Medicine specialist at Premier Medical Group. “Insurers, employers, and Medicare are offering a wide variety of financial incentives for patients to get a periodic physical examination, or check up, or health maintenance exam, as different plans call it.” Dr. DeBellis continues, “We call it a great opportunity to build your relationship with your physician, to establish baselines for good health, and to put in place preventive regimes that will serve you well throughout the year.”
The Affordable Care Act includes a provision for periodic health maintenance exams with no patient co-pay. It’s worth checking if your insurance offers these visits without member contribution. Medicare Part B offers a free “Welcome to Medicare” introductory visit within your first 12 months of coverage. This visit includes a review of your medical and social history related to your health and counseling about preventive services, including screenings, shots, and referrals for other care, if needed, all detailed in a written plan. After your first year, you are entitled to free annual “Wellness Visits” to follow up on your wellness plan.
Dr. DeBellis said that growing numbers of companies are implementing workplace wellness programs. These include incentives that reward workers for getting a check up, or going to the gym. According to the Wall Street Journal, “More employers are even tying wellness-program requirements to health-insurance premiums, offering discounts to those who achieve health goals or successfully complete company wellness programs.”
The whole point of a complete physical exam is for your physician to look you over from head to toe and do preventive health care. Dr. DeBellis points out that “many diseases are silent – high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), and even cancers like melanomas, breast, cervical, and colon cancer. If your physician knows your family history, can see your bloodwork, and does a physical exam, you are much more likely to have these conditions diagnosed and treated early.”
So why are some patients reluctant to make the call for an appointment for an annual visit? Most likely its concern about extra weight they are carrying or some other condition they want to “fix” before they see their provider. Dr. DeBellis offers reassurance, “We know nobody’s perfect. In fact, if patients do come to see us, we can help them get control of their health and wellness and set them on the right track.” These days, everybody’s pulling for the patient – there are receptive physicians who’ll be in their corner.
The Internal Medicine Division at Premier Medical Group includes highly experienced, and knowledgeable physicians who maintain offices in four locations in Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Newburgh and New Windsor and include other specialties including Pulmonology, Nephrology, Endocrinology and Geriatrics, Pediatrics and Family Practice. For appointments, please call 845-790-6100,