Medical News: Survey: Is It Time to Abandon the Annual Checkup? - in Surveys, Surveys from MedPage Today:
"Survey: Is It Time to Abandon the Annual Checkup? By Marianne Mattera, Managing Editor, MedPage Today Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. September 28, 2007 13 Add Your Knowledge™ PostsAdditional Surveys Coverage Only about 20% of recommended preventive services such as mammography and cholesterol screening take place during annual well-patient visits to the doctor, according to an analysis of more than 8,400 checkups reported in the Sept. 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. (See: Preventive Health Examinations Offer Few Preventive Services) Yet, the annual cost for the estimated 64 million Americans who had preventive health visits during the study period was about $7.8 billion. Looking at the available physician supply and the average time spent on a preventive visit, the investigators determined that if every adult were to have an annual checkup, those visits would 'account for 41% of all direct patient time for primary care physicians.' "
Given those metrics, is it time to abandon the concept of a regular, annual preventive health visit?
Yes, they're too costly, in both time and money, and it doesn't seem as if patients are getting the recommended services anyway.
No, an annual preventive visit is valuable if for no other reason than it gives doctors and patients a face-to-face encounter periodically.
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