Conditions treated
Annual Wellness Visits by Telehealth in Florida
An annual visit is the one appointment where nothing is wrong, which is exactly what makes it valuable. By video, it covers your history, the screenings you are due for, the labs worth checking, your medications, and whatever you have been meaning to bring up and never had time for.
What the visit covers
- Your history and anything that changed in the past year, including in your family
- Every medication and supplement you take, including the ones you started on your own
- Screenings you are due for based on your age, sex, and risk factors
- Labs worth checking, ordered to a draw site near you
- Vaccines you are behind on, and where to get them
- Sleep, stress, alcohol, activity, and anything affecting your health that is not a diagnosis
- The thing you have been putting off mentioning, which is often the most useful part
Screenings that get tracked
Recommendations shift with age and risk, and part of the visit is knowing which currently apply to you rather than guessing. Commonly in scope: blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes screening, colorectal cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, mammography, bone density, hepatitis C, and lung cancer screening for people with a significant smoking history.
Some of these are lab or imaging orders that can be placed after a video visit. Others require an in-person procedure, and you will leave knowing which is which and how to arrange it.
What a video visit cannot do
There is no hands-on physical examination and no vital signs taken by someone else. A home blood pressure cuff and a current weight cover a good deal of that gap, and you will be told when something genuinely needs an in-person exam.
Pap smears, breast and skin examinations, colonoscopy, and imaging are all in person. A telehealth wellness visit gets them ordered and scheduled rather than replacing them.
How to get the most out of it
Come with a list. Your questions, your current medications with doses, a recent blood pressure reading if you have a cuff, any results from other providers in the past year, and what has changed since the last time. Fifteen minutes of preparation makes a noticeable difference to what the visit is worth.
Questions about annual wellness visits
Does a telehealth wellness visit count as my annual physical?
It covers the history, screening review, risk assessment, medication review, and lab ordering. It does not include a hands-on physical examination, so if your employer or insurer requires a documented physical exam, check what they specifically require before booking.
Is this the same as a Medicare Annual Wellness Visit?
Medicare's Annual Wellness Visit has its own defined elements and rules. Ask when you request an appointment so the right visit type is scheduled.
What labs are typically ordered?
It depends on your age, history, and risk factors. Commonly a complete blood count, a metabolic panel, a lipid panel, an A1C, and thyroid testing where indicated, with others added based on your situation.
How long does it take?
Longer than a problem-focused visit, since there is more ground to cover. The time is set when you book.
I feel completely healthy. Is it worth it?
That is the ideal time for it. The conditions worth catching early, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, early diabetes, and several cancers, are silent at the stage where they are most treatable.
This page is general health information, not medical advice, and reading it does not create a provider-patient relationship. Decisions about your care should be made with a clinician who knows your history.
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Get annual wellness visits looked at
Request a video visit from anywhere in Florida. Same provider each time, in English or Spanish.