Well visits to physicians are important part of staying healthy
Published on Saturday, February 1, 2025
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
The best time to find a doctor is when you’re well, experts from the University of Mississippi Medical Center say. Stopping in for a wellness check-up with a physician is an essential part of establishing a medical home and having a more complete and accurate medical record.
“Relationships matter in your health care, just like everywhere else,” said Dr. Zeb Henson, professor of medicine and pediatrics. “When we have a regular physician, we have someone who knows our story and our past problems, and someone who can discern if we are significantly different, better or worse, today than we were in some time past. Plus, it instills a sense of trust as your regular physician cares for you and listens to your concerns.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees, noting that well visits can help patients stay healthy and catch any problems early. Screening tests, counseling and vaccinations, often a part of wellness visits, can prevent some diseases and lead to early discovery of others.
The study “Understanding the Value of the Wellness Visit: A Descriptive Study,” published in 2021 in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, also found that wellness visits can lead to improved health.
“Wellness visits are an important time for patients and clinicians to discuss prevention strategies and to deliver recommended clinical preventive services, leading to the identification of previously unrecognized diagnoses. This will improve patients’ health. Policies and incentives that promote wellness visits are important, and efforts are needed to deliver them to those most in need,” the study concluded.
Having a medical home and a primary care physician is the key to avoiding health crises later, said Dr. Jasmine Kency, associate professor of medicine and medical director of UMMC’s Office of Patient Experience.
“Many chronic medical problems in their early stages are asymptomatic. Early detection of these medical problems and controlling these chronic medical conditions can reduce our risk of complications of these diseases,” Kency said. “A great example is hypertension. Many people with hypertension do not have symptoms. We know that long-standing hypertension, particularly poorly controlled hypertension, can lead to heart disease, kidney disease and stroke. Prediabetes is similar.”
The parts of a wellness visit – checking blood pressure, heart rate and weight/BMI – can alert physicians to potential problems that may be asymptomatic.
"During your yearly wellness, not only do we check those numbers, but we screen for additional medical problems like diabetes and high cholesterol,” she said. “We also make sure that your cancer screenings are up to date such as colonoscopies, Pap smears and mammograms. Knowing your numbers can lead to early detection and addressing these problems sooner rather than later. We also make sure you have the latest immunizations such as pneumonia, influenza, COVID and shingles, just to name a few. It gives the patient the opportunity to share their concerns with their doctors.”
For patients who already have chronic illnesses, Kency said, “your medical home can serve as a bridge between you and your specialists. They are a part of your health care team, and they can assist with coordinating care. It also can assess potential complications of your chronic illnesses and address them quickly.”
Dr. Tobe Momah, associate professor of family medicine, said wellness visits and tests can help patients adjust their habits to improve their health.
“Wellness visits also offer patients and providers an opportunity to assess the trajectory of a patient's health and move the needle in the right direction accordingly,” he said. “It could be through counsel that enables the patient to make lifestyle changes or through an intervention (such as colonoscopy, Pap smear, mammogram, aorta ultrasound or CT lung scan) that offers an impetus for their health.”
Henson said routine maintenance is part of our daily lives in other areas.
“I think most of us recognize the importance of checkups in most every aspect of life,” he said. “We get our oil changed and tires checked; we get our air conditioning serviced and our roof looked at. Well visits serve that purpose for patients. They allow diseases, if present, to be detected before treatments are limited. It kind of resonates with the idea of deferred maintenance — if we wait too long to make sure all the systems are well, then we end up, oftentimes, having to do a lot more to correct a problem.”
Henson said the relationship between physician and patient has to be based on trust.
“Trust is key,” he said. “Chances are patients will feel great when they go for a wellness visit, so if you hear, ‘Even though you feel fine, you need these tests done,’ you want to make sure you’re hearing it from someone you trust, someone who has listened to you, and someone who is empathizing with you.”
For general internal medicine appointments, call 601-984-5660 for appointments at UMMC Colony Park South in Ridgeland or UMMC Grants Ferry in Flowood. UMMC family medicine appointments are available at the Lakeland Family Medicine Center in Jackson by calling 601-984-6800 or at the Flowood Family Medicine Center, 601-815-5700.
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Dr. Kency can be heard on Southern Remedy on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.
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