Schedule a visit with your healthcare provider so you can benefit from the screening tests you need to stay health.
WHEN YOU’RE FEELING well, visiting your provider isn’t top of mind. But checking in with him or her once a year allows you to take advantage of important—often free—health screenings that can help you identify and potentially prevent chronic conditions, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Early Detection = Early Success
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases account for seven in 10 deaths among Americans every year. Routine screenings may detect those diseases early, when you might be able to manage them with simple lifestyle changes instead of medications or surgery.
For example, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings can help your provider identify heart disease, while regular blood sugar screenings can reveal impending Type 2 diabetes. Certain cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, can pinpoint cancer in its most treatable stages.
In addition, the Affordable Care Act includes screenings for depression, alcohol misuse, and tobacco use in its list of preventive services that must be covered at no cost to patients. Discussing those issues with your provider can help you live a life that is happier and healthier overall.
Exactly which screenings you need each year depends on your age, family history, health history, and lifestyle, and your primary care provider can recommend the screenings that will help you the most. The most important thing, however, is to get screened.
A primary care provider at Summit Healthcare can help you catch up with the screenings you need.
