Annual "Heart Health Assessment" (Medicare item 699 or 177)

Don Medical clinic offers an Annual Heart Health Assessment to all patients aged 30 to 74.

• 1.4 million Australians have a high chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years. Many are unaware of this risk
• Regular heart health checks with your GP help you better understand your risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next five years
• Your GP and nurse can support you to make positive changes to lower this risk

Do you know what your risk of having a heart attack or stroke is? Having a regular Heart Health Check with your GP will help you better understand your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Most importantly, your GP and nurse can support you to lower this risk. A Heart Health Check is a 20-30 minute check-up with your GP to assess your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

This appointment usually includes the following

• Time with the practice Nurse to measure your BP, height weight, BMI etc. Followed by a review with the GP.
• An ECG - this measures your heart rhythm and allows us to compare to previous records
• A Blood test to assess your Cholesterol levels and Blood glucose levels
• A "Cardio-vascular Disease" (CVD) score will be calculated to determine your "risk" of developing cardiac disease over the next 5 years
• A "Diabetes Risk" assessment. This calculates your "risk" of developing diabetes over the next 5 years.
• Discussion on ways to reduce your risk with lifestyle changes

We see these annual "check ups" as a great way to check in and compare to the year before and improve your outcomes in the long term. If we don't measure it we cannot monitor it. Early intervention and prevention is far better than cure.

These Heart Health Assessments are billed to the patient and you will receive a Medicare rebate back. Pensioners and Concession card holders will attract a concession fee.

For more information HEART FOUNDATION