Review of Opioid Use during the Initial Preventive Physical Examination (IPPE) and Annual Wellness Visit (AWV)
Published 08/30/2018
Medicare covers the following services for Medicare patients that meet certain eligibility requirements: the Initial Preventive Physical Examination (IPPE) (also known as the 'Welcome to Medicare' Preventive Visit) and the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV). These preventive benefits allow you to assess your patients’ health on an annual basis to help you determine if they have any risk factors and if they are eligible for other preventive services and screenings that Medicare covers. When reviewing the patient's medical and family history during these preventive services, Medicare would like to emphasize that review of opioid use is a routine component of this element, including opioid use disorders (OUD). If a patient is using opioids, assess the benefit from other, non-opioid pain therapies instead, even if the patient does not have OUD but is possibly at risk.