Your guide to health screenings by age

Health screenings are an important part of preventive care. Screening tests look for signs of health problems or chronic diseases. They can often detect diseases before you experience symptoms. Diagnosing health problems early often means they’ll be easier to treat. Health screenings can be blood tests, imaging tests, physical exams or questionnaires. The screenings you…

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Taking Medication as Prescribed: Why It Matters

Emmanuel Kim, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacy specialist. Medication only works if you take it — and take it correctly. But about 50% of the time, prescription drugs aren’t effective because people don’t take them as prescribed. Experts agree that for medicine to work as expected, you need to stick (adhere) to the medication plan…

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Vaccines to Expect in an Annual Physical for Teens and Adults

Shreya Desai, MD is a board-certified primary care physician practicing family medicine at Inova Primary Care – Sterling. She believes in patient-centered care and has a special interest in preventive care and women’s health. When it comes to your health, prevention is the best cure. And vaccinations offer an easy way to practice prevention. But…

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Need More Exercise? 7 Tips to Help You Get Moving

Andrew Lam, MD is a board-certified primary care physician. Aaahh, exercise. You know you should do it. You even know it will make you feel great. But too often, it’s hard to get started and even tougher to keep an exercise habit going. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends adults get 150 minutes of moderately…

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Smoking cessation: 5 tips to help you quit for good

Quit Smoking for Good

Christian Machado, MD is a board-certified primary care physician practicing family medicine at Inova Primary Care – Annandale. He loves working with patients to understand what motivates them so he can help them work toward healthier lifestyle choices. Wanting to stop smoking is easy—approximately 68% of adult smokers say they want to quit. Around half of…

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How the Cures Act Enhances “People-Centered Care”

The 21st Century Cures Act goes into effect Monday, April 5, which mandates the timely release of all patient information from their medical record or inpatient chart. The Cures Act ensures that patients have full access to their electronic medical records and personal health information “without delay.” Inova patients currently have access to their personal…

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