Health Monitoring (Check-up)
The advancement of human societies, increased public welfare, and control of communicable diseases have led to a rise in life expectancy and human longevity. This has provided the necessary opportunity for the development of conditions such as heart disease, various types of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory diseases. On the other hand, factors like a sedentary lifestyle, overeating, poor diet, stress, and exposure to numerous pathogens have increased the predisposition to these illnesses.
In response, the field of medical science has seen remarkable progress. Through numerous studies and research, risk factors and predisposing factors for diseases have been identified, and various methods have been developed to minimize them. Today, the science of early identification of predisposing and preventive factors—and consequently delaying or completely preventing disease onset—along with early diagnosis and timely treatment to prevent serious complications or mortality, has advanced significantly and greatly contributed to the promotion of human health. Furthermore, the use of smart systems and web-based platforms, by increasing the speed and accuracy of calculations for early diagnosis, represents a major step forward in this field. However, we are still at the beginning of this journey, and these interventions have not yet become widespread or accessible to everyone.
Features of Health Monitoring
In general, health monitoring must be integrated and comprehensive, covering all parts of the body for all preventable diseases that can be diagnosed and treated early. Additionally, a monitoring program must include follow-up capabilities, meaning the individual should be continuously covered by the program and receive diagnostic and therapeutic interventions at appropriate and necessary times.
Contrary to popular belief, conducting laboratory and paraclinical tests alone is not effective in health monitoring. An individual’s medical history—including past illnesses, medication use, surgeries, etc.—and the family history of related diseases must also be reviewed.
Mental health is an important and inseparable part of general health and must be assessed in clients.
Furthermore, a personalized and unique preventive plan must be designed for each individual, and its implementation must be monitored. This principle is the foundation of any monitoring program. Essentially, if for any reason a preventive plan is not to be prescribed, or if the prevention and treatment of a positive finding or a discovered disease are not feasible, then a check-up for that specific issue should not be performed at all.
Implementing all the above conditions using traditional check-up and manual methods is not feasible and requires the use of various data mining and artificial intelligence models.
The Specialized Clinic for General Health Check-up and Cancer Screening at Ayatollah Yasrebi Hospital, through its dedicated health monitoring program, fulfills all the above conditions by leveraging artificial intelligence with its proprietary smart system. Ultimately, it provides the client with an Electronic Health Record (EHR), which is the result of recording, analyzing, and updating their clinical and paraclinical data, and is essential for planning each individual’s health journey.
This system includes various sections such as physical health, mental health, laboratory tests, paraclinical results, medication history, nutritional status, personal and demographic information, physician’s orders, recorded procedures, algorithms for early disease detection, and a summary of the record. It is web-based and has the capability to send electronic files, print a summary of the record, and allows for reporting and organizational access.
Actions of the Clinic’s Smart Health Check-up Program:
Clinical evaluations are performed for initial screening to identify disease risk factors based on questionnaires, checklists, medical history, and lifestyle (counseling on physical activity, tobacco use, nutrition, etc.), as well as personal or family history (for diseases like hereditary colorectal cancer, hereditary breast cancer, congenital diseases, etc.). This section is performed for all clients.
These services include:
- Visit with a Preventive Medicine Specialist / Initial risk factor assessment (medical history, family history review, blood pressure evaluation, lifestyle, etc.).
- Measurement of height and weight, calculation of Body Mass Index (BMI), and body composition analysis (total body fat percentage, visceral fat, muscle, bone, etc.) with interpretation of results.
- Mental health status screening and analysis.
- Vision screening (optometry).
- Hearing screening (audiometry).
- Creation of an Electronic Health Record, registration of check-up data, and scheduling the time and method of follow-up for one year.
- Visit with a Preventive Medicine Specialist for interpretation of results, prescription of a preventive plan, ordering of supplementary diagnostic tests, and providing opinions, lifestyle education, and suggestions for lifestyle changes.
- Preventive medicine counseling with interventions to reduce risk factors, including smoking, tobacco, alcohol, and others.
- Visit with a Preventive Medicine Specialist for an initial follow-up 6 months after the check-up to monitor the status of lifestyle changes and provide further education.
Paraclinical investigations, which vary based on age and gender, include:
- Laboratory Tests
- Abdominal and Pelvic Ultrasound
- Breast and Axilla Ultrasound (women over 35)
- Mammography (women over 40)
- Colonoscopy (over 50)
- Bone Densitometry (for women over 55 and men over 65)
These provided tests and paraclinical procedures are recommended based on credible and international scientific sources. It is understood that they can be added or removed at the request of the client/employer, and costs for clinical and paraclinical procedures are calculated based on official government tariffs.
The initial periodic health assessment identifies risk factors, after which subsequent check-ups are tailored to each individual based on their specific risk factors. In this case, it is no longer necessary to perform all tests and examinations; instead, these investigations are carried out in a targeted and personalized manner. This approach significantly increases the benefit and impact of the monitoring while seriously reducing costs.
Ultimately, the smart and continuous health monitoring program assesses and provides the individual with a result in their smart Electronic Health Record on the following:
- 10-year risk of heart attack and stroke
- Blood pressure status
- Risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes
- Risk of osteoporosis
- Risk of hereditary/genetic cancer and non-hereditary breast cancer
- Risk of cervical cancer
- Risk of colorectal cancer
- Thyroid function
- Body mass and composition
- Prostate health
- Liver and kidney function
- Blood cell composition
- Lipid profile
- Vitamin D levels
- Iron deficiency
- Mental health
- Vision and hearing status