Good Samaritan Announces Medicare Annual Wellness Clinic

Good Samaritan is proud to announce the Medicare Annual Wellness Clinic. A number of preventive services are available free or at low cost to people with Medicare, one of them is the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit. The Annual Wellness Visit is a yearly checkup that Medicare covers for most enrollees. The visit is intended to help people with Medicare maintain good health by catching signs of disease early on and taking a preventive approach to health care.

“We are so excited to be looking at health from a wellness and prevention perspective rather than an illness perspective,” stated Susan Yochum, RN, Medicare Annual Wellness Clinic. “One of the most important features of the Medicare Annual Wellness visit is the personalized prevention plan it will provide that will help patients move toward prevention and decreased risk of disease rather than management of a disease.”

It is important to understand that the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit is not a full head-to-toe physical exam. It’s a visit that focuses on the patient rather than a specific problem. Looking at risk factors and health history including some age-appropriate screenings helps identify early conditions that can lead to a chronic disease.

During or before the visit, the patient will be asked to complete a health risk assessment. The assessment is a questionnaire that asks about a patient’s health status, injury risks, and urgent health needs.

The first annual wellness visit will be the most comprehensive. In addition to completing the health risk assessment, the provider will:

• Record height, weight, blood pressure and other basic measurements
• Assess functional ability and safety risks
• Ask about medical and family history
• Document all medications
• Screen for cognitive impairment and depression
• Schedule any overdue screenings or immunizations
• Provide any appropriate referrals
• Provide the patient with a preventative health plan

The patient’s primary care provider will be notified of the results of all findings, orders or referrals made by the Medicare Annual Wellness provider. Any follow-up visits will be made with the patient’s regular primary care provider.

Patients on Medicare or those who know someone who is, be sure to have them take advantage of this FREE benefit. Call 812-885-6766 for more information or to schedule an appointment. The Medicare Annual Wellness Clinic is located at the Medical Center of Vincennes (MCV) Suite I.