What Is Preventive Care? Here’s Our Definition

Perhaps you’ve heard the terms “preventive care” and “preventative medicine” bounce around in the media. Are they trends? Concepts popularized by social media?

Stopping healthcare issues before they start is more than a flash in the pan. Preventive care predates colonial America — when Ben Franklin famously noted, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Yet, historically, conventional healthcare systems spend more resources on diagnosis and treatment than on preventing disease.

How can typical, insurance-based healthcare practices concentrate on prevention when they’re preoccupied with urgent injuries and late-stage illnesses?

In a concierge practice, things are different.

At Signature Healthcare, we don’t practice preventive care because it’s trendy. Preventive health is the bedrock of our philosophy. Our mission is twofold: to prevent disease, or to detect issues early, before they hurt a patient’s quality of life.

Because our physicians serve a limited number of patients, we’re able to personalize treatment for every patient we serve. Our examinations, testing, and recommendations follow national guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and other medical societies.

The Physical Exam

Before your first visit to Signature Healthcare, your concierge doctor carefully reviews your medical history. Your in-person visit is comprehensive; together, you review in depth your family’s health history and elements of your lifestyle.

Also essential is your comprehensive annual physical, which may include:

• Testing and evaluation of blood sugars, blood pressure, and cholesterol
• Recommended cancer screenings based on your age and potential risk factors, including mammography or colorectal screening
• Counseling on topics such as tobacco and alcohol use or proper sleep hygiene
• Possible additional testing, like cognitive function, sexually transmitted disease, or mental health screening

If we test you for, say, type 2 diabetes, that testing is considered preventive. If your bloodwork shows your blood sugar is routinely high, we move on to treatment. We may advise lifestyle modifications alone or enhance treatment by adding medication to your regimen.

Most importantly, we catch a serious disease early on — with the opportunity to stop it in its tracks and prevent related complications like heart disease, kidney failure, or nerve damage.

More Than Diagnostics

Preventive care provides more than simple standard screenings can deliver. It’s an opportunity to establish a partnership with our patients to help them live their longest, healthiest lives.

We take the time to help our patients understand their test results and how our recommendations will improve their quality of life. When patients grasp the “why and how,” it’s easier for them to stay on a consistent path to great health.

Our strong clinical team includes experienced physicians, each paired with a registered nurse who collaborates with them to get to know each patient. To give our physicians and nurses plenty of time to chat with patients, we offer much longer appointment times than conventional practices do.

When you call our office, you’ll speak with a member of our support staff rather than a robot. This way, our staff can gather records and other information before your appointment and, post-appointment, coordinate testing and referrals to specialists.

Signature Healthcare also provides a range of caring support services:

• We recognize that injury prevention is essential and offer extra support through a fitness evaluation or physical therapy referral.
• We help you connect with experienced home health aides, especially if you’re acting as a caregiver to an aging relative and are burned out.
• We include nutrition and fitness consultations in our annual physicals.
• We offer access to a mental health therapist and a doctor of integrative medicine.
• We provide interested patients with further health data, such as:
  • Blood testing via GRAIL Galleri^®, a multi-cancer early detection screening test
  • Pharmacogenetics testing to pinpoint medication choices best suited to your physiology
  • Body composition analysis to inform weight loss, muscle strengthening, and nutrition

Your Roadmap and Action Plan

Patients join Signature Healthcare at various stages in their health journey. Some have experienced complex medical issues or helped a family member through theirs. Others notice small changes in their body or health over time and choose a preventive approach to continue living their healthiest life.

Your physician works directly with you to create the foundation for your healthcare: a personalized roadmap and action plan that put you on a great trajectory to continued good health.

The concierge physicians at Signature Healthcare welcome the opportunity to develop a meaningful preventive care plan for you and your family. Contact us for a friendly discussion and to get started!