Routine Exams Drive Costs (USA Today)

In yesterday’s USA Today, there was an article by Rita Rubin called “Routine exams may need checkup“.  There were some interesting points:

• Use of routine check-ups varies by geography – 28.9% in northeast, 20.5% in south, 19.7% in midwest, and 16.0% in west.
• 44.4M adults had a preventative health exam in each of the years 2002-2004 for an annual cost of $7.8B per year.
• 3/4 of the people had seen a doctor during the previous year when other preventative tests could have occurred.

I guess the questions here are:

• Are these people healthier in the long run?
• Was the other doctor a specialist and willing / able to do preventative care?
• What other costs were avoided (if any) through prevention?
• Who should have regular visits?  (We can have a maintenance schedule for our car based on total miles.  Why can’t we have a published schedule for humans?  Or, why can we have indicators that trigger a visit?
• What do other countries do?  Does it work?
• Why do you have to see an MD for preventative care?  Couldn’t this be done at a MinuteClinic or with a Physician’s Assistant or a Nurse?