Definition
The Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is a yearly Medicare Part B preventive visit in which a clinician and patient develop or update a personalized prevention plan, covered with no copayment or deductible when the provider accepts assignment.
The AWV was created by the Affordable Care Act and has been covered since 2011. A patient becomes eligible after more than 12 months of Part B coverage, provided they have not had a "Welcome to Medicare" preventive visit or an AWV in the past 12 months. It is billed as an initial visit (HCPCS G0438) or a subsequent visit (G0439).
The AWV is not a head-to-toe physical exam. Its elements include a health risk assessment; a review of medical and family history and current medications; routine measurements such as weight and blood pressure; detection of cognitive impairment; a review of risk factors for depression and of functional ability and safety; and a written screening schedule and personalized prevention plan. Advance care planning can be added at the patient's discretion.
For practices and plans, the AWV is a natural point to close care gaps, since it sets the screenings a patient is due for, and many eligible beneficiaries do not have one each year. That makes AWV scheduling and reminders a recurring outreach workflow. Wellness checkup calls are among the call types the FCC's healthcare exemption lists, subject to its conditions.
How Consig handles it
Consig turns scheduling outreach, including reminders, rebooking, recall, and no-show follow-up, into live conversational calls that confirm or move the appointment and hand off to schedulers when needed, with consent and state calling rules enforced on every call. See appointment scheduling and reminders.