How Proactive Approach to Health Helps
When it comes to health and wellness, unfortunately, most people don’t seek out a doctor unless they feel sick or something is wrong. Taking a proactive approach to healthcare can benefit your overall health, lower health care costs, and in some extreme cases, could save your life. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Here is information about the benefits of preventative health care and how to put it into practice.
Keeping healthy people healthy
The benefits of preventative care not only help your daily wellness but impact your wallet as well. Here’s how:
Improves your long-term health: Preventive care helps catch potential problems before they become issues. Wellness checks, screenings, or immunizations strengthen your body against preventable diseases or possible health complications. These things also provide you and your doctor insight, so it’s easier to treat issues that arise.
Live an active life: It’s important to stay active, but perhaps the type or amount of activity has changed over time. This is especially true as people age. Preventative care can help identify underlying conditions or find alternative ways to keep you as active as possible to keep you in good health.
Pay less over time: Practicing preventive health care lowers the long-term cost of disease management when you catch problems early. Additionally, it saves you money because most insurance plans will cover preventative services. Insurance companies prefer these measures over the cost of frequent trips to emergency rooms or urgent care.
Practicing preventative care
In addition to scheduling regular checkups, continuing regular exercise, eating healthy, reducing tobacco and alcohol use, and working to lose excess weight is important because it impacts overall health and lowers risk factors.
Annual physicals and checkups should include checks to:
Blood pressure
Heart rate
Height
Weight
Cholesterol
Glucose levels
Blood work may also be included to check for any deficiencies.
Depending on gender, age, and health history, health screenings should include:
Type 2 diabetes
Cervical cancer
Breast cancer
Prostate cancer
Colorectal cancer
High cholesterol
Osteoporosis
Mental health
Pap tests and breast exams for women
Take responsibility for your good health by talking to your healthcare provider, doctor, or pharmacist about preventative health care measures. They are more than happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have, provide information, and recommend tests or vaccinations that are most appropriate for your individual medical needs.
The Bridgewell Medical teams can help patients, and work with their providers and health plans to determine how to make the best proactive preventative care options.
