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Doctors say health assessments can be good for a few, but unnecessary for most

JANESVILLE — Preventive health screenings can be lifesavers for some people.

For others, they can provide peace of mind, a health screening company says.

Local doctors say preventive health screenings can be a waste of money for many others.

Life Line Screening bills itself as the leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings in the nation. The company uses ultrasound equipment to conduct packages of tests focusing on cardiovascular risks.

Life Line, based in Ohio, has conducted tests in Rock and Walworth counties and has screenings planned in the area in the coming months.

“One of the major reasons that people like to come to us is because of convenience,” Life Line spokeswoman Joelle Reizes said. “Another is cost.”

A typical package to assess risk of stroke, vascular disease and irregular heart rhythm is $149. Add in some blood work or other tests, and the price is about $200, Reizes said.

“That is a very, very affordable price,” she said.

The company partners with churches, libraries or YMCAs to host testing, she said.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Janesville, for example, will host a Life Line screening in March.

Heather Rude, administrative assistant at the church, said the service is something the church can provide to people if they’re interested. The church receives no payment from the company, and the screening is open to the public.

The average age of people screened is 62, Reizes said. The company targets people with health risks and those 50 and older. That’s the age when disease becomes more prevalent, she said.

Are they needed?

Life Line’s literature tells readers that doctors often don’t order the screenings offered by Life Line because Medicare and insurance companies typically won’t cover preventive screenings without symptoms.

And if you’re having symptoms of a stroke, it’s really too late, Reizes said.

“Most strokes come out of the blue,” she said. “Only about 15 percent of strokes are preceded by warning signs.”

She cites a study in Neurology, the official scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, that says most stroke patients don’t get a warning.

Dr. Paul Volkert, a cardiologist at Mercy Regional Heart and Vascular Center, said people can spend their money on what they want.

“But does it add anything to your health? I would say, if the average person is seeing a doctor on a regular basis … most of this should be getting done anyways,” he said.

He points to a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that says available evidence does not support screening asymptomatic people for cardiovascular disease.

“We have a really well-developed and established medical system to assist our patients with prevention of vascular disease such as stroke,” said Dr. Marcus Chacon, a stroke neurologist at UW Health in Madison. “There’s no real great reason to go outside that system.”

If a person wants to do something outside of the medical field, he suggests increasing the level of physical activity.

Chacon also points to the latest study in the Journal of the American Heart Association that followed 1,153 asymptomatic patients for three years, resulting in one patient who had a minor stroke.

“I think there’s good evidence if we just address known risk factors on a regular basis with proven medication, (it) is far more beneficial to an individual or to a population for preventing stroke than if we do random testing on patients who do not have symptoms,” he said.

Patients who have risk factors for disease would qualify for screening covered by insurance, Volkert said, but “insurance is not going to pay for every single screening test that some company has devised.”

When a patient visits Mercy, the computer system shows the physician the patient’s history, and a screening program sorts through old records to alert the doctor for possible screenings, he said.

A note would pop up, for example, saying that a woman needs a breast cancer screening, or a person with a certain age and weight needs glucose screening for diabetes, he said.

“Now the screening process has become automatic,” he said.

Physicians also follow screening guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology that take into account overall health costs not only to save lives, but to save money, he said.

Between 8 and 10 percent of Life Line patients screened show some kind of disease, Reizes said.

“The rest of the people, what they really get out of it is reassurance,” she said.

Any screening test is going to have its successes, but they can be few and far between, Volkert said.

If 100 people are screened and it reveals risks in two people, “you can talk about those two people,” he said. “But you’re not going to talk about those 98 people who had a very low chance of having a disease.”

Reizes said when patients receive screening results that show risks, they can provide them to their doctors, who can then order diagnostic tests covered by insurance.

“It’s a little gap in the health care system we can help (fill),” she said.