Do Medicare Annual Wellness Visits improve quality Yes, data suggests

Many practices across the nation have been slow to provide visits.

Medicare Annual Wellness Visits were created as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Despite being a free preventive service to Medicare participants, many practices across the nation have been slow to provide these in substantial numbers, often citing lack of time or lack of value added.

Baptist Health’s Value-Based Care team has worked with Humana to obtain data on Annual Wellness Visits and Preventive Screenings. By and large, the number of care gaps closed for patients who completed an Annual Wellness Visit were higher than for the patients who did not complete one.