Medicare annual wellness visits do not adequately meet the wellness needs of the diverse population of U.S. adults, according to research conducted at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Physicians at the medical school weighed the opportunities gained and lost through the one-size-fits-all approach to Medicare annual wellness visits, according to a Sept. 6 news release.
Annual medical visits address disease prevention and the promotion of health and wellness and are an important part of medical care for older adults. Medicare initiated annual wellness visits as part of the program 10 years ago.
John Batsis, MD, associate professor in the division of geriatric medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said there is a missed opportunity to use the Medicare annual wellness visit in a manner to optimize quality of life and physical function among the millions of older adults in the United States.
"The current structure of the AWV is likely most helpful in community-dwelling older adults who are at lower risk of functional decline and who may have longer periods of disability-free illnesses. Yet we know that health promotion and prevention measures can be offered across various stages of the aging process, and importantly they differ based on age, function, and socioeconomic status," Dr Batsis said.
More than 60 million Americans are eligible for the Medicare annual wellness visit at no cost.