Preventive Care

The Importance of Preventive Care

Almost everyone has heard the adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This can be especially true when it comes to preventive health care. Maintaining or improving your health is essential, so focusing on regular preventive care and following your doctor’s advice can help you stay healthy. Preventive care can help you avoid potentially serious health problems and/or obtain early diagnosis and treatment. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that chronic diseases cause 70% of American deaths each year. Many of these medical conditions can be prevented or slowed when identified and treated early through preventive health services.

What is Preventive Healthcare?

Preventive care focuses on maintaining your health and establishing your baseline health status. This can include getting the flu vaccine, pneumonia shots, other immunizations for diseases like measles, physical evaluations, lab work, x-rays, and routine screening tests to detect other health conditions.

As a board-certified medical professional in internal medicine, Dr. Kaur consistently recommends taking steps toward preventive care to catch any significant medical issues before it’s too late. Preventive care can take many forms. These are as simple as a self-breast exam, a self-testicular exam, and, of course, diet and exercise. We routinely advocate living a life with regular exercise, dietary restrictions, and proper amounts of sleep because these habits have been proven to help keep people healthy.

Common types of clinical preventive care services include:

• Blood pressure screening
• Cholesterol screening
• Type 2 diabetes screening for adults 40 to 70 who are obese or overweight
• Diet counseling for adults who are at higher risk for chronic serious diseases
• Hepatitis C screening for those at higher risk and one time for those born between 1945 and 1965
• Vaccinations for diphtheria, influenza, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal pneumonia, shingles and more
• Statin prevention medication for adults over 40 at high risk for heart disease or stroke
• Tobacco use screening and cessation intervention

We recommend additional clinical preventive services and diagnostic tests to accurately determine whether you may have other health concerns that require regular treatment. Some symptoms related to severe medical conditions can go unnoticed, and most people often don’t think of preventive care services until they succumb to illness. VIVAA’s expert, professional and courteous staff members work with Dr. Kaur to recommend many screening procedures, such as:

• Mammography: X-ray imaging to determine if you have breast cancer tumors that are hard to detect
• Colonoscopy: A long, flexible tube called a colonoscope is inserted into the rectum to detect abnormalities in the colon and rectum. This is a common procedure for screening for colorectal cancer
• PAP smears: The cervix is examined, cell samples are collected and examined under a microscope to check for cervical cancer
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm scan: An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a widening of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. This screening helps determine if the aorta has any bulging or dilation to prevent it from expanding and rupturing.
• Lung cancer screening: For high-risk adults 55-80 who are heavy smokers or have quit within the last 15 years

These screenings can give plenty of information about your current health situation so we can help you avoid future problems and live a healthier life. As your primary care provider, we can address these preventive care measures to ensure you’re taking all the right strides toward good overall health. The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance plans to pay for most preventive health screenings. That means you won’t have a co-pay or incur an additional cost for these preventive services.

During your preventive health care visit, Dr. Kaur will determine what routine tests or screens are appropriate for you based on your age, gender, overall health status, personal and family health history, and current symptoms or chronic health concerns.

We aim to provide each patient with customized health plans tailored to their needs. Our doctors on-staff believe in the good doctor-patient relationship necessary for effective care. VIVAA continuously operates in a compassionate, unrushed atmosphere that allows each patient the right amount of time to address their health issues. We promise to adequately support and encourage an active, healthy lifestyle while taking preventive care measures to ensure any medical problems will not fall under the radar. Our staff members are here to help you modify your current lifestyle for the better and remain a reliable resource for preventive care screenings.

All of these screenings can give plenty of information about your current health situation, so it’s important to get them performed by professionals promptly and avoid problems in the future. The primary care services we offer can address these preventive care measures to make sure you’re taking all the right strides towards good overall health. The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance companies to pay for most preventive health screenings. That means you won’t have a co-pay or incur an additional cost for these services.

During your preventive care visit, Dr. Kaur will determine what tests or screens are appropriate for you based on factors such as your age, gender, overall health status, personal health history and your current symptoms or chronic health concerns.

Our goal is to provide each patient with customized health plans tailored to their needs. All of our doctors on-staff believe in the good doctor-patient relationship that is necessary for effective care. VIVAA continuously operates in a compassionate, unrushed atmosphere that allows each patient the right amount of time to address all of their health issues. We promise to adequately support and encourage an active, healthy lifestyle while still taking preventive care measures to ensure any medical problems will not fly in under the radar. Our staff members are here to help you modify your current lifestyle for the better and remain a reliable resource for preventive care screenings.

The Benefits of Preventive Care

Initiating treatment or lifestyle changes before a chronic condition starts or is still in its early stages keeps you healthier and allows you to recover more quickly from illnesses. You will also have lower medical expenses through early detection because your symptoms will be more manageable and require less treatment. Health estimates that the average patient will get a return of $5.60 for every $1 spent on preventive health care.

What is the Difference Between Preventive Care and Diagnostic Care?

Essentially, preventive care detects health problems before symptoms develop, while diagnostic care is ordered to determine the cause of symptoms you already have. VIVAA administers preventive healthcare when you have no symptoms, normally during a routine physical. Some types of screening tests, such as colonoscopies, must be scheduled. Diagnostic care may result if a preventive screening detects abnormal results. The line between these types of care can be blurred with the same procedure classified differently depending on the situation. Screening for high blood pressure is preventive in some cases but becomes diagnostic, for example, when a patient comes in with symptoms or has an established condition of elevated blood pressure.

Early prevention is critical to crafting effective, long-term plans and nip medical issues in the bud. If your goal is to focus on overall health, you need the help of experienced medical professionals, which you can find here. Call or stop by VIVAA’s center in Bellevue, WA, and our staff members will be happy to assist you with any concerns and answer any questions about primary care services