How Often Should You See Your Primary Care Physician?

Our bodies are constantly changing. Growing up, you may have visited your primary care physician every year for height and weight checks, vaccines and when you got sick. Once people reach adulthood, it may seem less important to visit the doctor because your body is not changing as much as when you were a child.

While adults’ health concerns have changed since their teens, their bodies are still changing and preventative healthcare remains just as important. Preventative care can save money, decrease hospital stays and enable you to remain healthy for years to come.

This is why seeing your primary care physician each year is important. Frequent visits give your doctor important health information. They also allow your doctor to offer preventative healthcare and manage chronic health issues.

How often you should see your family doctor depends on a number of factors, including your age, medical history, personal and family risk factors and chronic conditions.

At Personalized Hematology Oncology, our skilled physicians provide primary care for adults, including patients with long-term conditions requiring ongoing treatment.

This article will discuss how frequently you should visit your primary care physician, the benefits of regular appointments and the risks of putting off routine physical exams.

How often you visit your primary care physician depends on your health, age and medical conditions

Your unique healthcare needs dictate how often you should be seen by your primary care provider.

Most healthy adults should visit their family doctor once a year for an annual wellness check. At this appointment, your physician will review your health history, perform a physical examination, review your blood test and discuss changes in your health or health concerns.

Patients with certain family medical histories and/or who reach age milestones may require additional visits and screenings. Once your primary care physician has seen you, they will tell you when to schedule regular health checkups and follow-up visits.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society, the following cancer screenings begin at these age milestones:

• Age 21 – Cervical cancer screenings (Pap smears) for women
• Age 40 to 50 – Prostate cancer screenings for men
• Age 40 to 45 – Breast cancer screenings (mammograms) for women
• Age 45 – Colorectal cancer screenings for men and women
• Age 65 – Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease screenings

As people age, healthcare needs become more complex. You may need to see your doctor more often to manage these issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people over 65 years of age go to the doctor more than twice as often as people under 44 years of age.

Cancer survivors may also need to visit their doctor more often. Since our practice specializes in hematology and oncology treatments, we tailor our primary care for cancer survivors, cancer patients and hematology patients.

We understand the unique health challenges these patients face on a daily basis, and we couple that with our knowledge of primary medicine to provide high-quality care. We help our cancer patients beat the disease and focus on their long-term health needs.

Benefits of proactive primary care

Just like cars need regular maintenance to safely stay on the road, your body needs regular health checkups to maintain chronic conditions and stay healthy.

A recent study found regular visits to a primary care physician have long-term benefits, including lower healthcare costs, fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospitalizations and better management of chronic health conditions. The study notes that regular visits allow physicians to proactively and thoughtfully address issues before they become critical problems.

Preventative medicine is an important reason to visit your doctor regularly. When you see your physician every year, they are often able to pinpoint health issues and treat them early. Early treatment and monitoring of health concerns can help reduce damage, better manage care and potentially heal the body.

Regular appointments keep you up-to-date on vaccines and age-appropriate screenings. They also allow your doctor to discuss other aspects of your life that impact your health, like stress levels, sleep quality and quantity, diet and exercise and your work and social life.

For people with existing health conditions, regular checkups enable your doctor to monitor and consistently treat health problems. This will provide an elevated quality of life and the potential for less serious treatments, which can save money as well.

Your doctor will also be able to advise you on how to improve your daily habits to prevent health issues and live longer. He or she may advise you to lose weight or take medications to prevent high cholesterol or high blood pressure. By following their advice, you could prevent heart disease, stroke or even the need for joint replacements.

Another benefit of routine visits is the relationship you can form with your physician. By seeing your doctor at least once a year, you will feel more comfortable contacting them if a health issue does arise.

Risks of putting off routine health screenings

The risks of putting off a regular annual primary care visit are sobering.

A recent study found that people who rarely visited their primary care doctor had more emergency room visits and hospitalizations. They also had higher healthcare costs than those who saw their doctor regularly. The lack of routine visits allowed problems to worsen and caused more significant events to occur.

When your primary care doctor hasn’t seen you in a while, they may need to respond to changes in your body. These changes could have been treated or prevented if they had seen you sooner. Diseases may have progressed and become more serious. Treatments may need to be more drastic or invasive.

Neglecting your health can have many negative consequences. We have seen patients who delayed annual well-checks and cancer screenings. Treating cancer when it has progressed can be much more challenging than when caught early.

Often, older adults suffer from mental health decline, whether depression, dementia or Alzheimer’s. When seen regularly, physicians can prescribe treatments to help relieve or slow the progression.

Schedule your primary care appointment

The benefits of regularly seeing your primary care physician are substantial, especially for adults 55 and over. Regular visits can prevent serious diseases, treat chronic conditions, and save time and money.

Personalized Hematology-Oncology encourages you to take a proactive approach to your health by scheduling a primary care appointment. Our care team focuses on listening and relationship-building. We offer excellent care for all adults, including those over 55 years of age, cancer patients and cancer survivors.

Don’t wait for a health issue to arise – schedule your annual wellness checkup and preventative screenings today by calling 919-825-4637.