Annual Wellness Visits Available for Medicare Patients

For healthcare providers at South Central Regional Medical Center, the ultimate goal is to have a healthier community. South Central’s Population Health program aims to achieve this goal by encouraging individuals to schedule an annual wellness visit with their primary care physician. Annual wellness visits are excellent appointments to create a personalized prevention plan to eliminate or control health risks and factors.

Cornise Miller, RN, for Population Health explains who qualifies for the program. “As a population health nurse, I take a proactive step in my patient’s healthcare. Annual wellness visits are covered for patients at no charge who have been enrolled in the Medicare Part B plan for over 12 months.”

If a patient qualifies, the original Medicare covers the Annual Wellness Visit at 100% of the Medicare-approved amount when you receive the service from a participating provider. Miller states, “This means you pay nothing (no deductible or coinsurance). Medicare Advantage Plans are required to cover AWVs without applying deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance when you see an in-network provider and meet Medicare’s eligibility requirements for the service.”

During the course of your AWV, your provider may discover and need to investigate or treat a new or existing problem. This additional care is considered diagnostic, meaning your provider is treating you because of certain symptoms or risk factors. Medicare may bill you for any diagnostic care you receive during a preventive visit.

Miller states, “For a Medicare wellness visit, we sit down and talk with the patients for about 15 minutes to get a good history intake.  We discuss their diagnosis, their medications and we discuss any test that may need to be scheduled. We look for preventative measures to help keep the patient healthy. These preventative screenings are mammograms, DEXA scans, CT lung scans for smokers, colonoscopies, PSAs for men on a 1 to 3 year basis, smoking cessation classes, diabetes training and more.”

Using preventative screenings, the healthcare provider is able to identify a problem before it occurs. South Central is pleased to take a proactive approach to an individual’s healthcare.

Miller states, “Patients really seem to appreciate the fact that we care about their health.  Being able to possibly identify a problem before it becomes a major problem is a win for the patient and for the healthcare provider.”

South Central encourages Medicare beneficiaries to take the first step and speak to your primary care provider about this program. South Central Clinics that provide this Medicare wellness visit include:

Ellisville Medical Clinic – 601-477-3550

Laurel Family Clinic – 601-428-0577

South Central Internal Medicine – 601-649-2863

Contact a clinic today to enroll or to learn more.