My Checklist

Much of what doctors do is a mystery. Nowhere is this ambiguity as great as in the routine checkup or the “healthy visit.” If we have a cough, we know what to expect — the doctor will ask us some questions about how it started, what we are coughing up, whether we have a fever and then will listen to our chests and maybe order an xray. But what is our doctor supposed to do when we’re feeling fine and are coming in for a general checkup? Many people are surprised to learn that just as clinical trials are done to study a new drug for cancer doctors and scientists rigorously study approaches to preventive health care, from cancer screenings to vaccines and even whether and how to best counsel people about weight loss. Even more surprisingly, professional organizations and other respected institutions actually evaluate all of these data and put forth recommendations about which preventive health services doctors should be providing healthy patients who come in for regular checkups.

Unfortunately, these recommendations are written for doctors and often do not get out to the public in a consistent, comprehensive, and accessible way. Occasionally we hear that mammograms are recommended for all women ages 40 and older or that people over 60 should get vaccinated against shingles but these messages are few and far between and are difficult to utilize to improve our health care.

That’s why together, a good friend of mine, Gaurav Singal, and I have developed a simple online tool that helps you see at-a-glance which preventive health services are recommended for you. After answering basic questions about your health, the site provides you with a personalized checklist that you can print out and take to the doctor. With this checklist in hand, you can make sure you get the full benefit of those screening, prevention, and counseling services that are proven to help people like you and are recommended by the experts.

The checklist tool is based on the guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the gold-standard in preventive health care. It is not meant to be a substitute for medical advice from a health professional. You should consult a physician before taking any action suggested to you by your personalized checklist.

Happy prevention!

-  Shantanu Nundy, M.D.

To access the checklist tool go to: www.myhealthchecklist.org.