Three preventive visits
| Code | Visit | When |
|---|---|---|
| G0402 | Welcome to Medicare preventive visit | Once, within 12 months of Part B enrollment |
| G0438 | Initial Annual Wellness Visit | Once, after the first 12 months of Part B |
| G0439 | Subsequent Annual Wellness Visit | Yearly after that |
Medicare waives the Part B deductible and coinsurance for these visits, which makes them easy to explain to patients. Services added during the visit may still have cost sharing.
What the visit covers
The AWV is a prevention plan, not a physical exam. It typically includes:
- A health risk assessment
- Medical and family history, current providers, and medications
- Height, weight, BMI, and blood pressure
- A cognitive assessment and a review of depression risk and functional ability
- A written screening schedule and personalized prevention advice
- Optional advance care planning
See the CMS AWV page for the full list for each visit type.
Why it matters for APCM
Initiating visit
New APCM patients, or patients not seen in the past three years, need an initiating visit. An AWV or Welcome to Medicare visit can serve that role.
Natural consent moment
The visit is a good time to explain APCM, answer questions, and document consent.
Better tiering
An updated problem list and history make APCM level selection more accurate.
They stack
When both are separately furnished and documented, the AWV and APCM can be billed for the same patient.
An AWV outreach workflow
- Find who is due. Use Part B enrollment and prior visit dates to list patients eligible for each visit type.
- Reach out. Call or message due patients and book the visit.
- Prepare. Send the health risk assessment ahead of time so the visit runs on schedule.
- Enroll. After the visit, start APCM for patients who consent.