Make the Most of Your Annual Checkup
by Nellie S. Huang for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
October, 2016
“You feel fine. You rarely get sick. So do you really need an annual physical?
If you’re completely healthy, a ‘well’ visit once a year won’t improve on perfection. But feeling healthy and staying healthy are two different things, says David Meyers, chief medical officer for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. That’s where a regular visit, if not a head-to-toe annual physical, comes in. Nowadays, these appointments are preventive and goal-oriented. You and your doctor will make key decisions to keep you healthy, such as whether you should take a cholesterol-lowering drug or whether you need a colonoscopy.
The focus is on ongoing care, and the actual exam “is the least important thing that happens,” says Jack Der-Sarkissian, a Kaiser Permanente family physician in Hollywood, Calif. Your doctor will still read your vital signs, scan for skin cancer and perform other tests you’d expect. But it’s the resulting game plan that counts most. Der-Sarkissian equates a preventive visit with a meeting with your investment adviser. You should leave your doctor’s office with a goal of where you want to be, healthwise, in 10 years and an action plan to achieve it.”