How important is the Annual Physical Exam?

How Important is the Annual Physical Exam?

The annual physical exam allows physicians to detect changes that could affect their patients’ health, but there are debates as to whether it is really necessary.

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Keeping good clinical records is an integral element of good professional practice and allows physicians to deliver quality healthcare. Medical transcription outsourcing is a feasible strategy to free physicians of their data entry tasks and ensuresthe electronic health record (EHR) is accurate and has up-to-date information. The annual physical exam allows physicians to detect changes that could affect the patient’s health and update the EHR with this information. But how important is the annual physical exam to people’s health? There are diverging views on the matter.

Purpose of the Annual Physical Exam People see their physician for different reasons – to check out unusual symptoms indicative of a new medical problem and get a proper diagnosis, to manage a chronic condition which continued care, and for regular maintenance check-ups and annual physical exams.

Recommended at least once a year for people over 50 years of age, the physical exam allows patients to: -

discuss any ongoing health concerns they may have

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determine the general status of their health

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check for potential diseases so they can be treated early

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detect risk factorsthat could become medical concerns in the future and get advice on how to manage them

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update vaccinations

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check cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels and start treatment if the levels are too high

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review and renew medical prescriptions

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adopt health behavior

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strengthen the relationship with their primary care physician

Diverging Views on the Necessity of the Annual Physical Exam Roughly one in five U.S. adults gets an annual physical or a preventive health examination. Major medical societies such as the American College of Physicians and the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists advocate regular check-ups. The author of a commentary published in the May 2017 issue of American Journal of Medicine notes, “As primary care physicians, we believe that by focusing the annual visit on patientphysician dialogue and relationship building, along with evidence-based activities, patients,

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physicians, and health systems will accrue value from a defined annual visit.” He points out that the value of the annual primary care visit can be measured in terms of avoided admissions, adverted emergency department, and prevention of costly illnesses.

However, there is an ongoing debate on the necessity of the annual physical exam. A January 2018 TIME article presented these arguments. Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an associate professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School believes that annual physicals take up physicians’ office hours and affect their ability to focus on sick patients.

He reports that their annual physical exam trials did not result in any improvements of longer and healthier lives for the subjects. Mehrotra points out that the annual physical exam may strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and benefit adults age 65 and above, but younger people don’t need it every year. Moreover, he says that physical exams involving mostly getting tests done, are “rushed, impersonal, and bureaucratic” affairs and don’t benefit patients. Also, routine testing is expensive and can cause unnecessary additional testing and anxiety. Physicians should spend more time discussing patient lifestyle and concerns than just ordering tests, says Mehrotra.

Many experts say that physicians following the guidelines laid out by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for older adults don’t have to be concerned about annual physicals for them. These guidelines specify the right age and frequency for cholesterol checks, blood lipid tests, mammograms and other screening services.

Advocates of the physical exam say critics overlook benefits that are important to patient care but are difficult to measure. Annual checkups allow physicians to learn about varied aspects of the patient’s life that may be affecting their health and well-being. One expert pointed out that eliminating these regular visits could compromise “the delivery of a comprehensive, whole-person approach to health care.".

However, even proponents of the routine physical say that healthy people probably don’t an annual health checkup. For instance, most people below the age of 40 are usually free from diseases that could be detected by a physical examination alone. They tend to have health problems that usually show specific signs or symptoms and prompt them to see their doctor.

Inrecent years, the American Medical Association and other similar groups have suggested that medical checkups be referred to as Periodic Health Assessments or Examinations and

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be restricted to every five years (for adults over 18) until age 40 and every one to three years thereafter. Those taking prescription medications would need more frequent assessments.

The bottom line: Patients who have health problems should not skip their annual physical. On the other hand, healthy people don’t necessarily need these exams.

They should focus on maintaining an open relationship with their physician and discuss any symptoms they are experiencing. This will allow the provider to develop a plan to help them avoid health problems in the future.

Documenting the Annual Physical Exam When it comes to billing annual physical exams, the documentation should show that elements of the annual preventive service were met. Physicians must specify diagnoses relating to each test or procedure and document history of present illness, review of systems, and physical examination. Medical transcription services are available to minimize the

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