Women may wonder what to expect when going to their Well Woman Visit, or annual gynecology appointment. Depending on your age and medical history, the examination and evaluation during your visit may vary. Routine health visits can help find problems early and allow establishment of effective preventative measures to enable long term wellness.
In General, a well visit includes Pap smear ( if age more than 21 years), STD testing, contraception counseling and immunization discussion ( age specific). The well visit is indicated once a year for women of all age groups. The intervals for pap smears may vary depending on the past history of normal or abnormal pap smears.
Well-woman preventive care visit is recommended annually for adult women to obtain the recommended preventive services that are age and developmentally appropriate, including preconception care and many services necessary for prenatal care. The components of the visit entail the following:
- Pap smear (cervical cancer screening testing).
- High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing in women with normal cytology results.
- Counseling on sexually transmitted infections for all sexually active women
- Counseling and screening for human immune-deficiency virus infection for all sexually active women.
- All approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity,
- Comprehensive lactation support and counseling, by a trained provider during pregnancy and/or in the postpartum period, and costs for renting breastfeeding equipment.
- Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence.
- Screening for gestational diabetes.
If you have certain risk factors, you may need additional tests other than those recommended for your age group.
Under the Affordable Care Act, women’s preventive health care – such as mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, prenatal care, and other services – generally must be covered by health plans with no cost sharing.
A detailed description of age group specific well visit exams can be found at http://www.acog.org/About-ACOG/ACOG-Departments/Annual-Womens-Health-Care/Your-Annual-Health-Care-Visit.
Adeeti Gupta MD, FACOG