Medicare beneficiaries are entitled to a free Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) once every 12 months, yet many seniors either don’t know it exists or confuse it with other types of appointments and miss its benefits entirely. This visit is not a routine physical examination. It is a structured preventive care appointment with a specific purpose: to assess your current health status, identify risks, update screenings, and create a personalized prevention plan.
At Dr. Maryam Khan’s primary care practice in Lutherville-Timonium, MD, the Annual Wellness Visit is provided to Medicare patients as a meaningful clinical service, not a perfunctory checkbox. Understanding what it includes, and what it does not, helps patients get the most from it.
What the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Includes
The AWV is defined by Medicare and must include specific components:
Health Risk Assessment
A detailed questionnaire covering your current medical conditions, medications, family history, functional status (ability to perform daily activities), mental health, and social circumstances. This forms the foundation of the personalized prevention plan developed during the visit.
Review of Vital Signs and Functional Measurements
Height, weight, blood pressure, and BMI are recorded. In addition, cognitive screening is performed using a validated tool, typically the Mini-Cog, MMSE, or MoCA, to identify early signs of cognitive impairment. A simple assessment of gait and balance is also conducted to identify fall risk.
Update of Medical and Surgical History
Dr. Khan reviews and updates your complete medical history, including hospitalizations, surgeries, and specialist care since the last visit. Medication reconciliation, ensuring the record reflects exactly what you are taking, including over-the-counter medications and supplements, is part of this review.
Preventive Screenings and Referrals
Based on your age, sex, and risk factors, Dr. Khan identifies which preventive screenings are due and, where appropriate, provides referrals or orders them. This may include:
• Colorectal cancer screening (colonoscopy, stool-based tests)
• Mammography for women
• DEXA bone density scan for eligible women
• Depression screening
• Diabetes screening if at risk
• Vision and hearing referral
• Tobacco cessation counseling if applicable
Fall Risk Evaluation
Fall risk assessment using validated clinical tools is a required component of the AWV. This identifies patients who would benefit from fall prevention interventions, physical therapy referral, or home safety evaluation. Dr. Khan uses this information to determine next steps if fall risk is elevated.
Advance Care Planning
The AWV is an appropriate time to discuss advance directives, your wishes for medical treatment if you are unable to speak for yourself. Medicare covers advance care planning conversations as a distinct billable service that can occur during the AWV. Dr. Khan takes this conversation seriously and uses it as an opportunity to ensure that her patients’ values and preferences are documented and understood.
Personalized Prevention Plan
Every AWV concludes with a written personalized prevention plan that summarizes risk factors identified, screenings ordered or recommended, and health goals established. This plan becomes part of the medical record and provides a roadmap for preventive care in the year ahead.
What the Annual Wellness Visit Is NOT
| The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit is not a comprehensive physical examination. It does not include a head-to-toe physical exam or laboratory work unless Medicare’s ‘Welcome to Medicare’ visit (a one-time visit for new Medicare enrollees) is combined. If you are experiencing symptoms or have medical problems requiring evaluation, those issues are addressed in a separate sick visit appointment, and Medicare cost-sharing may apply to that visit if it occurs on the same day as the AWV. |
The ‘Welcome to Medicare’ Preventive Visit
Distinct from the Annual Wellness Visit, the ‘Welcome to Medicare’ visit is a one-time benefit available within the first 12 months of Medicare Part B enrollment. It includes a review of your medical and social history, education and counseling about preventive services, a brief physical exam, and an electrocardiogram. New Medicare beneficiaries should schedule this visit as soon as they are eligible.
How to Make the Most of Your Annual Wellness Visit
• Bring a complete and current medication list, including all over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and supplements
• Bring your insurance cards and any Medicare supplement (Medigap) information
• Write down any health concerns you want to discuss, noting that problem-based concerns will be handled as a separate visit component
• Bring a family member if helpful, particularly to assist with memory-related components of the cognitive assessment
• If you’ve had any hospitalizations or specialist visits in the past year, bring discharge summaries or visit notes if available
Scheduling Your Annual Wellness Visit With Dr. Khan
Dr. Khan accepts Medicare and provides Annual Wellness Visits to her senior patients in Timonium, Lutherville, Towson, Cockeysville, and the surrounding Baltimore County area. The visit can be scheduled as a standalone appointment. Patients who have not previously established care with Dr. Khan are welcome to schedule a new patient appointment that includes the AWV.
| To schedule your Medicare Annual Wellness Visit with Dr. Maryam Khan, MD in Timonium, MD, call (443) 577-4010. Located at 1205 York Rd, Suite 11, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093. Medicare accepted. |