Are Annual Physical Exams Necessary

Recently a physician reporter for the New York Times, Elisabeth Rosenthal, argued in the cover article of the Sunday Review that routine physicals are in many ways pointless, and perhaps even dangerous.  In the article, entitled “Let’s Not Get Physicals,” Dr. Rosenthal goes on to point out that many routine tests performed during physicals --EKG’s, pap smears and blood work, are unnecessary. In my opinion, Dr. Rosenthal’s front page skepticism of the utility of the annual ritual misses the key point and sets a dangerous tone.  As every good primary care physician knows, the key benefit of an annual check-up (aka “physical”) is not the litany of tests ordered, but the opportunity it provides to do a complete review of a patient’s medical history and risk factors.  The “annual physical” also provides an opportunity for healthy people to get to know their physicians and vice versa, so that when illness arises, as it always will, the physician will understand a patient’s personality and healthy baseline.  

After years of criticism by proponents of prevention Medicare recently started to cover an annual exam, which is referred to as a “Wellness Exam.”  The Medicare preventive exam, which became a covered benefit in 2011, emphasizes history-taking as opposed to testing, which in my view is appropriate.   The Affordable Care Act also regulates the provision of preventive care by health plans requiring that plans provide a core set of preventive services without requiring a co-pay, co-insurance, or deductible.

While the physician author of the New York Times piece surely understands many of her own personal risk factors for disease and also the signs and symptoms of potentially serious underlying conditions, the general public does not have this expert knowledge. Why shun a once a year, hour-long (or, as is more often the case these days, 20 minute-long) visit to a medical expert to review one’s personal health profile, risk factors and family history?  I suppose that Dr. Rosenthal’s point is to de-emphasize the testing component.  In my view, if anything many individuals could benefit from more frequent (biannual or quarterly) preventive checks to keep them on track with their health goals and risk factors—perhaps this would keep more folks out of the ER and hospital.  As to the “testing” component of the annual physical, the visit provides an opportunity for patient and physician to discuss the state of the art, information that the patient might be reading online, and the evidence for and against screening for particular conditions. Which screening tests health insurance should pay for is a separate question. The issue here may be semantic—should it be called a "physical,"  a "wellness visit," or a "preventive check-up--" but, let’s not get rid of the annual visit.