The technological advances and better facilities in medicine from the latter half of 20th Century has led to the increased assessment of the apparently healthy adults in America. In the general care terms, using the periodic health care measures and the routine screenings have been implemented on the general asymptomatic people to diagnose their disease. Adult physical and health assessment has become one of the major areas of focus in the US these days, in an effort to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates in the country.

So, why do health organizations think that having physical assessment would improve upon the clinical outcomes rather than waiting for symptoms to arise. Well, there are many reasons why adult health and physical assessment for an asymptomatic adult is better than doing the screening after the disease has attacked the individual.

1. Loss of time and money

Any adult when screened before the disease has majorly affected the individual could come for the tests at a convenient time. This cannot be obtained in case of a sick adult and he/she would have to miss work and come for emergency screening, thereby losing money.

2. Better options for insurance benefits

Most of the American insurance concerns do not provide the health and medical insurance once the disease has been diagnosed. Even though the Affordable Care Act, implemented from 23 March 2010 says there would be many exemptions from these stringent rules, it has been found that the chances of availing better health benefits only happens when the person has insured himself for the conditions of these diseases from before. Moreover, ACA is going to be effective from 2014 and has a long way to go in terms of its implementation.

3. Better awareness amongst individuals

Early physical assessment leads to a better awareness of the health factors in an individual, as the person knows what health risks he/she should be expecting in near future and how to avoid them. It is better to be fully prepared with the precautions than living on medications after the disease/illness has been diagnosed.

4. Not General health checks but the specialized ones
The panels of national experts do not recommend just the general health checks for the adult health and physical assessment. What they recommend is the special checkup of the conditions which may bring the major health issues into the fore. There is a strong emphasis on the health checks, which are focused and are guided in terms of patient- specific factors of risk. According to what the patient’s age, sex and existing conditions, these physical assessments are recommended.

5. Helps in preventing over-diagnosis

Once a certain physical condition has been experienced, it usually leads to a series of tests, which may bring in the conditions of over-diagnosis. To prevent an individual from unnecessarily being put into too many tests and over- diagnosis, it is better to have a pre-diagnosis early. Japan conducts a national test for all its citizens between the age of 40 and 74. USA and Canada too vouches for mass screenings of adult health and physical assessment before the symptom of the disease looms up before an individual.

6. Prepares the individuals to face health issues and hospitals

There are many people who fear from visiting the hospital or a medical practitioner. There is a common paranoia among individuals in meeting a health physician for early physical assessment. Once a person is not ill and goes and visits a doctor, the person finds more confidence in the physician and clinical surroundings in general. This helps the individual face the later conditions of any disease much calmly.

Author Bio: – Koustuv Roy is an expert career counselor having years of hands-on experience in adult health and physical assessment, nursing review programs and so on in the Canadian health sector. Here he offers a detailed analysis highlighting why early physical assessment is necessary for maintaining better adult health conditions.