Why Executive Health Physicals Make Me Nuts

One of my patients recently had an executive physical. The eight-page report arrived in my in-basket. This happens regularly enough, two or three times a month, that it shouldn’t bother me anymore. This essay is about why it still does.

I joke that my practice has evolved to become a selective one. Though most of the patients I see have been with me for more than a decade, and arrived in my exam room by random chance, more recent additions to my practice are deliberate. I’ve been in my practice since 1997 and now, being the old, bald guy, any new patient I see is connected – either a family member of a patient or someone important to my institution. Some of these people work for companies that send them for executive physicals. This benefit is meant to make them feel valued and to protect their company’s human resource.¹

The patient that stimulated this rant has been seeing me for about 10 years. He is in his late 40’s. He has no medical problems, no particularly concerning family history, takes good care of himself, and has no worrisome symptoms. The eight-page report included the following: