PREVENTION ATTENTION

    Lifestyle counseling, and other wellness measures can save lives but doctors could be falling short when it comes to making sure you are up-to-date on the services you may need.  In a study published in January 2012 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed nearly 500 visits to 64 family practice and internal-medicine physicians.  On average, the patients who were 50 to 80 years old, were due for five to six preventive services but typically received only three.

   Doctors missed the chance to do two-thirds of immunizations that were due, more than half of counsel, and more than a quarter of screening tests. More often missed were flu shots and vision screening. Eight of 10 patients who qualified for those services didn’t get them.

   Even people who regularly see a doctor for a chronic illness often don’t get prevention-related advice.  In a national survey published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, more than one-fifth of respondents with a chronic illness said they received no prevention advice like exercise and nutrition from their doctor in the past year. 

   It appears that wellness gets squeezed.  There are several reasons for this.  According to Consumers Reports on Health, doctors make more money treating problems than preventing them.  A study published in 2011 found that the Medicare Program, for instance, paid doctors fully for coordinating and doing only one of the 15 preventive services that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force considers necessary for people 65 years and older. 

So find a primary-care doctor whom you can trust to coordinate your wellness care.  Keep good records.  Some doctors give patients online access to their personalized health records.  Every year or two schedule visits specifically for prevention but according to a 2010 survey, doctors said they had to schedule many more patients to spend adequate time with each one.  So decide in advance what your main questions are and write it down to make the most of your limited time with your doctor.  Given time constraints of most doctors, some practices have shifted to newer and more holistic care models, including exercise programs and type of food consumed for required for maximum nourishment.