Annual Wellness Visits Improve Patient Care

You’ve heard the expression, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

For primary care providers, conducting an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) with your Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients now could save all parties involved significant future healthcare stress and costs.

While an AWV is different than a routine physical exam, the care goals are similar. An AWV is a one-on-one consultation with your patient that gives providers an opportunity to:

• Understand your patient’s current health status and medical history
• Obtain important vitals (height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, etc.)
• Identify and review potential health risks and patient family history dynamics
• Take a proactive approach to care, including scheduling future appointments or services
• Develop open communication and improve patient relationships

Options for ACN Participating Providers to Schedule an AWV

As a participating provider within ACN, there are two options available that support practices and relieves administrative burdens:

• • • If you’d like support in scheduling AWVs with your patients, ACN’s Care Coordination team can help your practice identify potential high-risk patients and schedule AWVs on your behalf.
    • If your schedule is full or filling up quickly, the Care Coordination team can also coordinate with a network mobile provider to conduct an AWV at a patient’s residence.

Please note that these options may require remote access to your practice’s scheduling software and may impact the Provider Rewards Program.

In either case, there is no cost to eligible patients or participating providers in scheduling and completing an AWV.

Please contact the Care Coordination concierge line at 602.406.7226 or email carecoordination@azcarenetwork.org for support in scheduling an AWV or with any questions you may have.