Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (MAWVs) provide preventive health care that can help people stay healthy longer and catch potential health issues early, when they are most treatable, said Danielle Spree, a clinical care quality manager at University Medical Center.
MAWVs are yearly prevention-focused visits where patients and their primary-care providers develop a personalized health-care plan for the patient.
“They focus on preventive care and long-term needs, and topics that may have been missed during other office visits,” Spree said. “The visits also provide time for a dedicated conversation about patient barriers, such as risk for falls, depression and social isolation.”
Spree provided information about MAWVs during a Mini Medical School lecture in February. Mini Medical School is a collaborative program of UMC and OLLI that provides lectures by UMC health-care providers to OLLI members. The lectures are also open to the public.
MAWVs are covered by Medicare and there is no patient co-pay or deductible that has to be met. The visits can be performed by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse specialists and other medical professionals.
During a MAWV, patients complete a health-risk assessment form, providing demographic information, a self-assessment of health status, psychosocial and behavioral risks and their daily living activities.
“They help to address any concerns about the patient’s health and makes a five- to 10-year plan for preventive health care focusing on (screenings, including) breast cancer screenings, colon cancer screenings, flu vaccines and diabetic eye exams,” said Spree.
She said high-risk patients who receive MAWVs tend to have fewer hospitalizations and doctor visits, and their performance is significantly better on screening measures for falls, depression, vaccines and tobacco use.
MAWVs also provide opportunities to capture quality measures, which are tools that help doctors and other providers measure or quantify health-care processes, outcomes, patient perceptions and organizational structure, allowing them to continuously improve health care.
UMC clinics in Tuscaloosa, Northport, Demopolis and Carrollton provide MAWVs for patients. If you are interested in a MAWV, contact UMC in Tuscaloosa at (205) 348-1770, UMC-Northport at (205) 348-6700, UMC-Demopolis at (334) 654-8081 and UMC- Carrollton at (205) 463-1350.