This panel is different than the previous panels I have offered, and is the result of my continued desire to offer the most clinically useful blood work aimed at keeping my patients healthy and screening for certain serious medical conditions. As an independent physician I am able to assess the most recent medical studies and quickly adapt to that information by adjusting my offerings. I can add blood tests that I find useful in my practice. The current Primary Prevention Evaluation blood panel represents, in my mind, an extremely useful battery of tests that is not available in other concierge practices.

New Offerings

The CA125, which I have included in my panel for women, is normally used to determine the condition of patients suffering from ovarian cancer, as 80 to 90% of those with ovarian cancer in advanced stages will have this enzyme in their blood as a marker. The screening process may not be precise enough to use in women for cancer screening, particularly premenopausal women, since many other circumstances can cause the levels of CA125 to increase. The CA125, therefore, is not an ideal test to use for screening the general female population for ovarian or gynecological cancer, but when used in conjunction with a careful family and medical history, physical exam, other blood work, and in keeping all of the above factors in mind, can be a useful tool in a concierge practice with a focus on prevention.

I have added a total testosterone level to the male panel because of recent studies that suggest that decreased levels, especially in diabetic men, lead to an increase in cardiovascular morbidity. In addition, many symptoms in men such as impotence, fatigue, and irritability may be associated with decreased hormone levels, and improve with hormone therapy.

As I hope I have demonstrated, the panel of blood work I currently offer in my Primary Prevention Evaluation represents a vast improvement and additional screening value than the panel I had previously offered. This was only made possible by becoming an independent concierge physician. I am happy to improve the value of your membership in the Primary Prevention Program - The Key To Good Health by offering such improvements to the annual blood panel.