7 ms·

A Five-Hour, $5k “Super Physical” Exam

75 points by RickJWagner 7y ago

alkonaut 7y ago
I didn't see anything mentioned in the article that you wouldn't get checked in a regular $250 yearly checkup... what was it that they did that made it cost $5k?
- tjpnz 7y ago
  It's not all that different to the annual medical everyone has to do in Japan - and all costs related to that are covered. You don't get the neurological or bone density scans but you can request them for a few hundred dollars. The larger Japanese clinics also have all the big scary science machines you would expect in a hospital, so you can get everything done on the same day.
- Aeolun 7y ago
  More than 10m with a doctor that isn’t looking to get you out of his office as soon as possible?
- James_Henry 7y ago
  The blood draw looks more comprehensive than you'd usually get in the US (the author mentions mercury for instance). Also, radiology is something that is usually done only if they find something wrong during a standard checkup or if the patient is complaining about something, and that is going to bump up the price to above the usual $250 or whatever. I've never heard of cognitive tests, comprehensive eye exams, DXA scans, or comprehensive hearing tests being part of a normal checkup. All of these things can be done but the costs would add up and they'd often be done by different doctors on different days and usually using different emr's that don't talk to each other. Also, the author points out that "the most valuable aspects of the exam, though, is time with an experienced physician who simply has nowhere else to be". This is something that you will not get in a $250 yearly checkup from my experience.
- y-c-o-m-b 7y ago
  Radiology alone can get you into the thousands in the US. For a 15 minute neck MRI, my insurance still paid over $1,000 with an initial cost listed over $3,000 IIRC. A yearly check up lasts about 10 minutes for me along with basic blood-work. They must be doing a considerable amount of testing for 5 hours. I'm actually surprised it's only 5k given the outrageous medical prices in the US.
sschueller 7y ago
I wonder how effective it would be to make an exam like this when you are at your healthiest as a baseline. Then when you are not doing that well your values can be compared to your baseline and not the average person.
petercooper 7y ago
I've had a similarly priced full day medical in the UK (with Preventicum) although it included (almost) full body MRI (less annoying than I thought it would be!), ultrasounds of abdominal organs, lung capacity tests, and various such things. I am very glad I did. While people are often warned away from such things due to the risk of finding things that could cause concern but which are not strictly dangerous, it has hugely put my mind at rest given some health problems I was having. It is also amazing to have full body medical grade MRI scans I can navigate on my computer(!) I can't think of a huge deal to say about the experience, but I am happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  I've often wondered about this - I don't know anyone myself in the UK who gets a 'yearly physical'. Even middle class people like this seems to be aimed at. I didn't even do one when I was in the military. I sort of assumed it was one of those things that people did in the movies as a plot device. Like normal people having a lawyer on retainer so they can say 'call my lawyer'. Is this something I should be doing? Why's isn't my surgery inviting me to do it if it's beneficial?
  - stephen_g 7y ago
    Same in Australia. Here you just go to the doctor when you notice something that’s not right. Apart from going to the dentist, really the only medical thing that most healthy people would do fairly regularly is a skin check/mole scan every couple of years, since melanoma is such a risk here.
  - 7777fps 7y ago
    It's not normal in the UK at all to have that kind of check-up, especially not pre-emptive MRIs. Screen too early and often can lead to too much preventative medicine and procedures, which ironically while preventing specific things aren't without their downsides and can cause an overall lower quality of life. Sometimes it can feel like the NHS swings the other way and is hesitant to refer for diagnosis even when there is an issue, but in general they try to balance things for everyone. Also, what can be beneficial for an individual may not be beneficial for society as a whole. That said, if something feels wrong, then please do keep on at your doctor to get a diagnosis. It can be feel like you have to borderline harass doctors to get referrals sometimes in the UK but if there is an issue then don't give up. I know I was on deaths' door when the hospital finally diagnosed me properly. My GP was still telling me I just had intercostal muscle pain and to take painkillers and come back later even after the hospital had figured it out.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Proven 7y ago
I haven't spent $5k on healthcare in my entire life
stareatgoats 7y ago
These types of magazines[0] seldom write something without getting paid by the topic. I don't have proof in this case, but it sure reads like an ad. [0] From their 'About' page: “the go-to news and luxury lifestyle recommendation platform for the affluent, on-the-go gent.”
- James_Henry 7y ago
  I would guess that the author received the screening for free on condition that they wrote about their experience. It definitely reads like an ad, but ads can often be useful to learn about interesting services and what they include.
- Aeolun 7y ago
  It kind of was an ad, but at least this one was well targeted. Of course I’m an affluent, on-the-go gent. I unfortunately do not have $5,000 lying around.
rblatz 7y ago
This sounds like the more accessible version of the Mayo Executive Health Program. https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/mayo-clinic-executive-health-program/home/orc-20252811 https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/mayo-clinic-e...
benguild 7y ago
You can do the same thing in Japan for less than $1000.
Mountain_Skies 7y ago
Wonder how this compares to the $2000 "Executive Exam" you can get in several medical tourism countries.
- rune1 7y ago
  Could you name any companies that offer that service? I think it should probably be just as good. Doctors are terribly expensive in the western world.
mavsman 7y ago
They didn't mention it at the start or end of the article but I do wonder if this post was paid for by the clinic that provides the exam.
PhantomGremlin 7y ago
I saw mention of "radiology services" but I didn't see any specific mention of a CT scan. I needed a CT scan recently. It wasn't for reasons of blood flow or anything like that. But the radiologist must have been bored (or perhaps concerned about liability) because he threw in this comment: No abdominal aortic aneurysm with mild circumferential atherosclerotic calcifications Wow. I didn't know that CT scans were useful in diagnosing atherosclerosis. There were all sorts of other similar tidbits in the report. If I were rich enough, I'd want a full body CT done, perhaps every year. It shouldn't be done too often because it's ionizing radiation.
ttymck 7y ago
So it's a technical interview for your body?

75 points by RickJWagner 7y ago

I didn't see anything mentioned in the article that you wouldn't get checked in a regular $250 yearly checkup... what was it that they did that made it cost $5k?

tjpnz 7y ago
It's not all that different to the annual medical everyone has to do in Japan - and all costs related to that are covered. You don't get the neurological or bone density scans but you can request them for a few hundred dollars. The larger Japanese clinics also have all the big scary science machines you would expect in a hospital, so you can get everything done on the same day.
Aeolun 7y ago
More than 10m with a doctor that isn’t looking to get you out of his office as soon as possible?
James_Henry 7y ago
The blood draw looks more comprehensive than you'd usually get in the US (the author mentions mercury for instance). Also, radiology is something that is usually done only if they find something wrong during a standard checkup or if the patient is complaining about something, and that is going to bump up the price to above the usual $250 or whatever. I've never heard of cognitive tests, comprehensive eye exams, DXA scans, or comprehensive hearing tests being part of a normal checkup. All of these things can be done but the costs would add up and they'd often be done by different doctors on different days and usually using different emr's that don't talk to each other. Also, the author points out that "the most valuable aspects of the exam, though, is time with an experienced physician who simply has nowhere else to be". This is something that you will not get in a $250 yearly checkup from my experience.
y-c-o-m-b 7y ago
Radiology alone can get you into the thousands in the US. For a 15 minute neck MRI, my insurance still paid over $1,000 with an initial cost listed over $3,000 IIRC. A yearly check up lasts about 10 minutes for me along with basic blood-work. They must be doing a considerable amount of testing for 5 hours. I'm actually surprised it's only 5k given the outrageous medical prices in the US.

sschueller 7y ago

I wonder how effective it would be to make an exam like this when you are at your healthiest as a baseline. Then when you are not doing that well your values can be compared to your baseline and not the average person.

petercooper 7y ago

I've had a similarly priced full day medical in the UK (with Preventicum) although it included (almost) full body MRI (less annoying than I thought it would be!), ultrasounds of abdominal organs, lung capacity tests, and various such things. I am very glad I did. While people are often warned away from such things due to the risk of finding things that could cause concern but which are not strictly dangerous, it has hugely put my mind at rest given some health problems I was having. It is also amazing to have full body medical grade MRI scans I can navigate on my computer(!) I can't think of a huge deal to say about the experience, but I am happy to answer questions if anyone has any.

chrisseaton 7y ago
I've often wondered about this - I don't know anyone myself in the UK who gets a 'yearly physical'. Even middle class people like this seems to be aimed at. I didn't even do one when I was in the military. I sort of assumed it was one of those things that people did in the movies as a plot device. Like normal people having a lawyer on retainer so they can say 'call my lawyer'. Is this something I should be doing? Why's isn't my surgery inviting me to do it if it's beneficial?
- stephen_g 7y ago
  Same in Australia. Here you just go to the doctor when you notice something that’s not right. Apart from going to the dentist, really the only medical thing that most healthy people would do fairly regularly is a skin check/mole scan every couple of years, since melanoma is such a risk here.
- 7777fps 7y ago
  It's not normal in the UK at all to have that kind of check-up, especially not pre-emptive MRIs. Screen too early and often can lead to too much preventative medicine and procedures, which ironically while preventing specific things aren't without their downsides and can cause an overall lower quality of life. Sometimes it can feel like the NHS swings the other way and is hesitant to refer for diagnosis even when there is an issue, but in general they try to balance things for everyone. Also, what can be beneficial for an individual may not be beneficial for society as a whole. That said, if something feels wrong, then please do keep on at your doctor to get a diagnosis. It can be feel like you have to borderline harass doctors to get referrals sometimes in the UK but if there is an issue then don't give up. I know I was on deaths' door when the hospital finally diagnosed me properly. My GP was still telling me I just had intercostal muscle pain and to take painkillers and come back later even after the hospital had figured it out.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Proven 7y ago

I haven't spent $5k on healthcare in my entire life

stareatgoats 7y ago

These types of magazines[0] seldom write something without getting paid by the topic. I don't have proof in this case, but it sure reads like an ad. [0] From their 'About' page: “the go-to news and luxury lifestyle recommendation platform for the affluent, on-the-go gent.”

James_Henry 7y ago
I would guess that the author received the screening for free on condition that they wrote about their experience. It definitely reads like an ad, but ads can often be useful to learn about interesting services and what they include.
Aeolun 7y ago
It kind of was an ad, but at least this one was well targeted. Of course I’m an affluent, on-the-go gent. I unfortunately do not have $5,000 lying around.

rblatz 7y ago

This sounds like the more accessible version of the Mayo Executive Health Program. https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/mayo-clinic-executive-health-program/home/orc-20252811 https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/mayo-clinic-e...

benguild 7y ago

You can do the same thing in Japan for less than $1000.

Mountain_Skies 7y ago

Wonder how this compares to the $2000 "Executive Exam" you can get in several medical tourism countries.

rune1 7y ago
Could you name any companies that offer that service? I think it should probably be just as good. Doctors are terribly expensive in the western world.

mavsman 7y ago

They didn't mention it at the start or end of the article but I do wonder if this post was paid for by the clinic that provides the exam.

PhantomGremlin 7y ago

I saw mention of "radiology services" but I didn't see any specific mention of a CT scan. I needed a CT scan recently. It wasn't for reasons of blood flow or anything like that. But the radiologist must have been bored (or perhaps concerned about liability) because he threw in this comment: No abdominal aortic aneurysm with mild circumferential atherosclerotic calcifications Wow. I didn't know that CT scans were useful in diagnosing atherosclerosis. There were all sorts of other similar tidbits in the report. If I were rich enough, I'd want a full body CT done, perhaps every year. It shouldn't be done too often because it's ionizing radiation.

ttymck 7y ago

So it's a technical interview for your body?