Preventative office visits are designed to keep you in your best health throughout your life. It is a good idea to come in for preventative office visits every year. During these visits, we will go over disease prevention, vaccine status, family history, your medical history and new developments in medicine. Here are a few examples:
Vaccines (the new Tdap for protection of Pertussis in adults as well as tetanus)
Baseline lab including:
Urinalysis (UA)
Complete Blood Count (CBC)
Cholesterol; now offering the VAP lipid profile (atherotech.com) - much more complete than just LDL and HDL. We simply send a tube of blood; insurance is billed and the patient never pays more than $39, even private pay!
Physicals can include pap test or prostate exam, depending on age and indication
Referral to a specialist will be made for colonoscopy screening at age 50 or younger if indicated
Mammograms and Bone Density are often referred to ARA or to Dr. Deborah O'connell Women's Imaging Center austinmammo.com
CIMT - Carotid Thickness is only referred to Texas Diabetes & Endo. This test shows if there are abnormally thick arteries: for example a 40 y.o. might have the arteries of of 70 y.o.(early atherosclerosis can be reversed ; this test is different from a simple carotid ultra sound that only shows advanced plaque)
Chemistry (measuring status of major organs, electrolytes, etc.)