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UnityPoint official: Check-ups help keep people healthy

Health care provider touts value of wellness visits

-Submitted photo
Misty Patterson, an advanced registered nurse practitioner, who is a provider at UnityPoint Clinic Kenyon Road Family Medicine, examines a patient during a visit.

It is easy to schedule an appointment to visit the doctor when you are sick, but annual wellness visits are just as important to keep healthy and avoid any long-term risks.

At UnityPoint Health, there is data that tracks information related to patients who have an annual wellness visit versus those that don’t.

And according to Jennifer Crimmins, regional vice president of clinic operations at UnityPoint Health, that data shows that patients are much more likely to complete recommended screenings when they have an annual check-in with their primary care provider.

“While it’s easy to call our physician or advanced practice provider when we have an acute illness, or need a refill of a medication — it feels harder to schedule a wellness visit,” Crimmins said. “But it’s possibly even more important. There is an old adage from Benjamin Franklin, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'” This saying rings true with the benefits of scheduling an appointment to see your primary care prevention for a wellness visit or an annual check up.

“The visits are essential to maintaining good health. Spending 30 to 60 minutes once a year can keep you healthy and reduce your chance of serious health conditions.”

One of the most important factors of getting a wellness check is for prevention.

“An annual wellness visit is about prevention and wellness instead of just addressing medical problems when they come up,” Crimmins said. “For those blessed with good health — it’s a gift to ourselves, our family members and friends to take the time to do an annual check-in and complete preventative screenings to help us stay well.”

Crimmins said there are many benefits to getting an annual wellness visit.

• Finding serious health conditions early before they cause a problem.

• Early treatment of health conditions, which increases the odds of a good outcome.

• Regular monitoring of existing issues, which lowers the risk of worsening symptoms.

• Staying up to date on vaccinations and screenings.

• Limiting costs associated with treating complicated/serious conditions that aren’t caught early enough.

• Getting referrals for other specialty services as needed.

Wellness visits are good for everyone of any age.

“Annual visits are best practice for patients of any age,” Crimmins said. “Kiddos under the age of 2 actually have more annual visits than recommended.”

According to Crimmins, UnityPoint Health patients who completed an annual wellness visit are less likely to be readmitted after a hospital stay.

“Our data shows that the risk adjusted readmission rate for the population of patients who didn’t complete an annual wellness visit was 10.23 percent, while the risk adjusted readmission rate for those with an annual wellness visit was over 7 percent,” Crimmins said. “UnityPoint patients who complete an annual wellness visit are more likely to have better control of chronic health conditions. For example, 76.5 percent of patients who completed an annual wellness visit also achieved Diabetes A1C control screening, compared to only 66.93 percent of patients who didn’t complete an annual wellness visit.”

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