Q. Does Medicare or insurance cover your professional health screenings?
A. Medicare does not currently allow for coverage of our health screenings. Insurance coverage varies from policy to policy. We will provide you with a detailed receipt that can be submitted to your insurance company to determine coverage. You should also make a copy of your results to send along. All insurance policies are different based on your individual coverage.
Q. I have a doctor. Why do I need Life Line Screening?
A. Life Line Screening is not trying to replace your doctor. We are simply trying to provide you and your doctor with more information that can help you to reduce your risk for complications from vascular disease and osteoporosis. Life Line Screening is a non-referral service. We want you to work with your personal physician to detect things like peripheral vascular disease.
Q. Can my physician do this type of general health screening as part of my routine physical?
A. No. Most physicians can only order diagnostic tests if you are experiencing symptoms. They are not able to order them as a preventive measure. Most insurance providers do not cover the cost of "preventive" health screenings. Our goal is to identify individuals with significant disease through the health screening process, before a problem occurs.
Q. How long does it take to have the screenings done?
A. Each professional health screening takes less than ten minutes depending on the level of disease, your vascular anatomy and your body type. If you are having all four of our screenings, we recommend that you allocate one hour of your time.
Q. I work; can I get a later appointment?
A. We try to accommodate working people with early times and times available during lunch hour. We often have later appointments available and some health screenings are offered on Saturdays.
Q. Where does Life Line Screening set up?
A. We have over 90 ultrasound teams that provide screenings nationwide. We use facilities such as churches, senior centers, civic buildings, YMCAs, corporations, etc. All screenings are performed on the property, inside the building. Depending on the size of the community, a 40'x40' room is required without steps, six tables and approximately 25 chairs.
Q. Are you a "for profit" or "not for profit" organization?
A. We are a "for profit" organization, as is your doctor or dentist. Our goal is to make prevention affordable by offering our Complete Wellness Package including our stroke/carotid artery, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral arterial disease/peripheral vascular disease, and osteoporosis screenings (all four of our tests at a discounted package price) for $139 or less (depending on location).
Q. How often should I have these general health screenings done?
A. Many of our customers come back on a yearly basis. This is a personal decision based on your family history, age and other risk factors and the results of your screenings. Since plaque buildup is a progressive disease, many people feel comfortable being screened annually as part of their preventive healthcare regimen.
Q. When will I receive my general health screening results?
A. Your results will be mailed within 21 days.
Q. Why does it take so long to get the results after a health screening?
A. If we find a condition that is life threatening, we will notify you the day of the health screening. Otherwise, your results must be read by one of our board certified physicians and be sent on for processing and mailing.
Q. Who reads the health screenings, only the ultrasound team?
A. The general health screening results are read and interpreted by a board certified physician. Our doctors include vascular surgeons, cardiologists, and radiologists.
Q. At what age should I be screened?
A. The National Stroke Association (NSA) states that your risk of stroke doubles when you reach your 50's. We also see people in their 40's. If someone has a family history of stroke or AAA, we will screen them at a younger age.
Q. Do I get the results of my general health screenings or do they go directly to my doctor?
A. The results of your health screening will be sent to you. If your results are within the normal range, you will receive a letter explaining the results along with a written report of these results for you to share with your doctor. If we recommend further evaluation, you will receive a letter explaining your results, a written report of the screening results and the pictures of the arteries scanned so that you can follow up with your personal physician. We will also include a letter, questionnaire and critique for both you and your doctor, so we can better monitor our quality and professionalism.
Q. Will I get my pictures back?
A. You will receive printed images of your screenings only if we are recommending that you see your own physician for further evaluation. Otherwise you will receive a detailed written report.
Q. Why don't your results give percentages of blockages?
A. Our tests are screening in nature. If your results indicate severe disease, we refer you back to your own physician who may then order appropriate testing to give you the percentage of blockage. Our goal is simply to identify a potential problem before it causes any harm.
Q. How long has Life Line Screening been a mobile health screening service?
A. Life Line Screening has been in operation since 1993. Services are offered throughout the continental United States. Our national headquarters are located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Q. What type of equipment is used for your health screenings?
A. Life Line Screening offers an affordable, high quality screening through the use of state-of-the-art Doppler color flow ultrasound technology. We use the same ultrasound technology found in most hospitals.
Q. What are the qualifications of your ultrasound teams?
A. Our highly skilled and experienced sonographers have all completed formal training programs in ultrasound and clinical rotations in a hospital environment as well as specialized training from Life Line Screening Clinical Managers and National Trainers.
Q. Being a mobile operation, how can we be sure that your equipment is up to our standards?
A. We have full support plans for all of our imaging equipment with preventive maintenance performed two times a year. All machines perform a self-diagnostic check and continually recalibrate throughout the day.
Q. Can I have the health screenings if I have a pacemaker?
A. A pacemaker will not interfere with the screenings.
Q. Why are your tests shorter than those performed in hospitals?
A. Our aim is to identify those individuals with significant disease that require a more costly comprehensive diagnostic exam. With our qualified technologists and state-of-the-art ultrasound machines, we are able to actually visualize the inside of the arteries, measure the velocity of the blood going through these arteries, and categorize the degree of the disease using abbreviated and accurate protocols.
Q. How can your company afford to do these professional health screenings for such a low cost?
A. Our health screenings are done on a volume basis so the cost of equipment and staff is spread across a large number of people as opposed to two or three tests per day as performed elsewhere.
Q. I am concerned about privacy. How private is the testing area?
A. We use privacy screens to help separate the testing area from the waiting area.
Q. Can I eat or drink anything before these screenings?
A. It is important that you do not eat or drink anything but water at least four hours prior to the Abdominal Aortic Screening to lessen the interference of intestinal gas.
Q. Why should I have these tests done if I have no symptoms?
A. Unfortunately, your body's warning signs often come too late. Since more than half of the individuals who have a stroke show no symptoms prior to the attack, it is important to have a screening to identify problems before symptoms arise and potentially avoid a serious problem. The vast majority of individuals who have an abdominal aortic aneurysm also have no symptoms. The mortality rate of a ruptured AAA is greater than 80%. Osteoporosis is another "silent" disease that can be detected, prevented and treated. It is not an inevitable fact of aging. We want to motivate individuals to become aware of signs and symptoms and to modify lifestyles for personal health and wellness. These are some of the reasons why these health screenings are so important.
Q. Is Life Line Screening insured?
A. Yes. Life Line Screening is also a member of the Better Business Bureau and the Wellness Council of Ohio.
Q. How accurate are your health screenings?
A. Ultrasound is the most accurate technology we have that is safe, non-invasive and allows us to look directly into the carotid arteries to visualize plaque build up. Our adherence to a strict protocol, highly qualified technologists, state-of-the-art equipment and board certified interpreting physicians make our health screenings extremely accurate.
Q. What is the difference between a general health screening and a diagnostic study?
A. The objective of a preventative health screening is to separate the normal from the abnormal or questionable findings and send the person with the abnormal finding on for further follow-up studies to quantify the extent of the disease. The idea of a screening study is it should be inexpensive, readily available and very reliable with few false negatives. No study is 100% accurate. We should be willing to accept a false positive once in a while as a minor downside to not missing anything. That is the nature of any health screening study, whether it is a nuclear bone scan, PAP smear, or mammogram. It is better to check out an abnormal appearing or questionable finding and be safe rather than sorry.
Q. Are you affiliated with any hospital?
A. We often partner with local hospitals but your medical information is private. We are a non-referral vascular screening service. All information and general health screening results are sent directly back to you to share with your own physician.
Q. What happens when a problem is identified?
A. When our interpreting physician determines there is an abnormal finding, the individual will receive either a printout of the diseased artery, if applicable, or other documentation of our findings along with a "Dear Doctor" letter advising that individual to follow-up with his/her own personal physician. A research letter is also given for the physician's follow-up of the individual screened.
