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Health Matters: Providence Saint John's Health Center | 5 S tudies show that Americans have been reluctant to resume regular preventive health visits and screening tests since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, screenings and checkups save lives. At Providence Saint John's Health Center, keeping you healthy is our primary goal. Our large network of primary care doctors and specialists offer the full range of preventive health services and screening tests designed to catch and treat problems at an early stage. We spoke with Mark R. Needham, MD, about the need to resume your preventive health care routines. Dr. Needham is president of Santa Monica Family Physicians and has been practicing medicine since 1984. Since the start of the pandemic, have you seen a drop in appointments for preventive care and health screenings? Patients have definitely postponed their doctor visits. Saint John's Physician Partners—about 200 physicians affiliated with Providence Saint John's—keeps track of tens of thousands of patients in our database. That data shows that in the past two years we had more difficulty in achieving our screening goals. For example, we aim for 75% of our patients receiving colon cancer screening. We've had a big challenge doing that in the past two years. In the year prior to the start of the COVID pandemic, we achieved about 78% of patients receiving depression screening, but that fell to about 50% to 60% in recent years. Some patients have used telehealth visits for preventive care. Is that sufficient? Video visits are a good workaround. For the past two years, probably 15% of our visits are done over Zoom. But patients should come into the office for two reasons. One is for some chronic or acute problem that can't be overlooked. The second reason is that if patients are not in the office, I can't do such things as blood pressure screening and a physical examination. Is it safe to come into the office or a screening center or lab? Yes. The risk of not getting regular preventive care outweighs the risk of getting COVID. There is very little risk of getting COVID by coming to the office, particularly if people have had their COVID vaccines and a booster. Avoiding the office was a better argument to make in 2020, before we were all vaccinated. I think, unfortunately, the anxiety that was so prevalent about COVID in 2020 has carried over into 2022. Why are screenings so important? Screenings can save lives. For example, my dad was around 55 or 60 when he finally had a colonoscopy, at my wife's urging. It turns out that he had a giant precancerous polyp. My wife urging my dad to get the colonoscopy probably saved his life. Because I knew my dad had a predisposition to it, I started screening at 45 and had a precancerous polyp removed, too. When polyps are detected and removed, your risk of getting colon cancer decreases. You can also tell your family members of a possible inherited risk, and they can get screened. Do people avoid cancer screenings because they are afraid of the results? Some people think screening is a nuisance. But screening is empowering. I think part of being a family doctor is to convey to people that screenings often lead to good outcomes. Because we have such high mammography screening rates now, we have very low rates of patients presenting with advanced breast cancer. The same is true of Pap smears. If we detect human papillomavirus, the virus that causes cervical cancer, the patient can have more careful follow-ups, such as having a colposcopy [visual examination of the cervix] and maybe a biopsy, to stay ahead of cervical cancer. Are screening tests largely reliable? Yes. In fact, in the case of mammography and Pap smears, we use artificial intelligence—computer-aided technology to do pattern recognition. These tests have a high sensitivity rate. What if you've lost track of which screenings and exams you're due for—or overdue for? We have electronic health records and keep track of what people need. If you're not sure, call us. Our operators are on duty! For more information on scheduling preventive health care and screening tests, call 888-HEALING (432-5464).

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