Everyone can benefit from a free health check-up, now called preventive health examination (EPS). Some diseases are silent for many years. This assessment makes it possible to detect them as soon as possible for optimal care. Early diagnosis always improves the prognosis. Who can benefit ? How to register ? When to carry out the preventive health examination and where to carry it out?
The preventive health examination concerns people affiliated to the general health insurance scheme (CPAM) or the Mutuelle sociale agricole (MSA). All insured persons and their dependents can have access to this report. Beneficiaries are people holding their rights through their relationship with an insured over 16 years of age. Some people are a priority: in a precarious situation or far from the health system.
How to benefit from it?
Some people will receive an invitation by mail. It is also possible to request the exam by contacting your fund. A convocation will then be sent specifying the date, place and time of the assessment. The summons will be accompanied by a medical questionnaire. It is important to fill it out before going to the appointment. The answers will guide the examinations to be carried out. Ideally, a check-up should be carried out every five years from the age of 40.
Where is the exam held?
It takes place in a health examination center (CES) approved by Social Security. There are 85 of them spread over the whole territory, in order to compensate for the difficulties in accessing healthcare for part of the population. The teams are made up of different professionals: reception agent, dentists, nursesdoctors.
How is the exam going ?
The assessment lasts about two and a half hours and takes place in a single location. The exam is totally free and takes place in complete privacy.
Its content depends on the patient’s age, gender and personal history (risk factors and family history). The examination may include a blood sample, a urine analysis, a test auditorya visual test, a cardiorespiratory test, imaging tests, cancer screeningsa consultation by a dentist…
On this occasion, the person also receives information on his health rights, explanations on the course of care, the existing aid for taking out a Complementary Health and information to adopt a healthier lifestyle (nutrition, exercise physical, smoking cessation). This is also the time to ask questions if you have any.
At the end of the assessment, the results are transmitted to the insured and to his attending physician if he has one. If necessary, consultations with specialists are scheduled, additional examinations are prescribed and a course of care is initiated. If necessary, the person is referred to a social worker, particularly on the financial aspects.
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