Developing a Wellness Plan with Your Primary Care Provider

January 30, 2023

Now that 2023 is upon us, it is a good time to begin or review your wellness plan. Alongside your weight and healthy eating goals, a wellness plan can include annual wellness visits and home monitoring devices.

What is an Annual Wellness Visit?

An annual wellness visit is a comprehensive review with a provider or clinician that focuses on your overall wellness including disease prevention. The Annual Wellness Visit differs from a physical exam in that the focus is to develop a personalized plan to improve your health and prevent disease. You will typically fill out a Health Risk Questionnaire and your provider will review it with you and create goals for the year ahead from that information.

Make the most of your health coverage. As part of the Affordable Care Act, all Marketplace health plans and many other insurance plans must cover preventative services such as blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, colorectal cancer screening, and immunizations such as tetanus and flu.

Some specific things that can be addressed during an annual wellness visit include:

• Medication Review
• Preventive Screenings
• Immunization Review
• Medical, Social, and Family History Reviews
• Advance care planning

Common covered screenings include:

• Cardiovascular disease screenings
• Diabetes screening
• Flu, COVID-19 and Pneumococcal vaccinations
• Screening Mammogram
• Prostate cancer screening

Annual wellness visits do not include the discussion or treatment of a specific health concern or condition, such as the cold or flu. If you would like to speak to your doctor about a specific health concern, please schedule a separate appointment with your provider or clinician.

If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, there are new tools available to help you manage your health.

“The Care Everyday program has made my patients’ lives easier and has allowed me and my staff to make better-informed decisions about patients’ overall care,” said Churlsun Han, MD, MSU Health Care Internal Medicine provider.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Mitchell Photography

Managing high blood pressure and other chronic conditions between visits

MSU Health Care offers the Care Everyday program to make sure you stay on track with your health numbers. For qualifying patients, the remote monitoring service provides a set of easy-to-use devices, like a blood pressure cuff, connected scale, or glucose monitor. A dedicated care manager will partner with your provider to keep an eye on your numbers, help you stay on track to meet your health goals and ensure you receive the proper care if your numbers start to go out of range.

Keeping your blood pressure controlled can reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. MSU Health Care patients enrolled in the Care Everyday program were able to improve their blood pressure and had a 66% increase in controlled blood pressure over the course of 180 days. Patients reduced their systolic blood pressure readings by 11.8 points and diastolic blood pressure readings by 7.97 points.

An Annual Wellness Visit with a personalized wellness plan created in conjunction with your provider or clinician creates a foundation for a healthy, positive year ahead. If you are interested in Care Everyday or any of MSU Health Care’s services, visit healthcare.msu.edu or call (844) 678-7883.