Executive Physicals: Good for Health & Business

What’s unique about an executive physical? Can it really identify potential health problems? Should you be offering executive physicals as one of your benefits for executives?

These are all great questions about an important topic: leadership health. Common benefits for executives include perks like reserved parking, incentive pay and much more. These can maximize productivity and drive performance. Executive physicals occupy a sweet spot in benefits for executives, so they deserve a closer look.

Executives, business owners and high-level employees often work long hours. The responsibility and demands of their positions expose them to high levels of stress. This work-related stress can take a toll on sleep quality and eat away at work-life balance. Over time, chronic stress can negatively affect health and well-being. According to recent research, stress can even shorten executives’ lives.¹

Chronic and high stress levels can also contribute to executive burnout, departure, early retirement and more. Turnover at any level can cause disruption, but executive turnover can have a ripple effect on employee morale, productivity and retention.

Given the stakes—for executives themselves, and for the business in general—it becomes easier to see why executive physicals are a valuable addition to executive benefits. With greater awareness of the connection between the workplace and employee well-being, employers and advisers are looking to incorporate benefits that prevent or identify illness before it becomes a serious threat to well-being—and to the business.

This is where the executive physical comes in.

What’s in an executive physical?

Executive physicals are head-to-toe physical exams that include a thorough review of patient health history, blood work, vision and hearing tests, and other exams and screenings to identify chronic health conditions or problems. Executive physicals are much more comprehensive than the standard annual physical exam covered by primary health insurance plans.

Once the exam is complete, the physician meets with the executive patient to review test results, recommend additional testing and discuss a care plan for any existing conditions or needs. This session may also include counseling about health habits. 

Executive physicals are offered by three types of medical providers: large hospital systems, regional health systems and concierge medical practices.

Not only are executive physicals more comprehensive than typical annual physical exams, but they also combine all screenings and exams into one visit. This is a time-saver for executives, business owners and leaders, whose time is valuable. Executive physicals do take leaders out of the office, but without the need for multiple appointments at various specialists, they are a more efficient and proactive approach to protecting executive health.

Coverage for executive physicals

To ensure coverage for comprehensive executive physicals, employers are turning to executive medical reimbursement plans. These supplemental health insurance plans can be layered over existing primary care plans to expand or enhance coverage and meet specific benefit expectations high-level employees have.

ArmadaCare’s Ultimate Health is one such plan, with coverage for executive physicals as well as other valuable benefits, including pre-exam navigation services. This navigation was designed to alleviate the leg work of finding geographical convenient locations that offer the appropriate screenings and exams for the members needs.

The support just doesn’t end there. Ultimate Health even offers the following post-exam support for executive health and productivity:

• TopDoc Connect: Member-to-physician specialist matching service
• Connect & Thrive: Personalized and confidential mental health and well-being support
• Coverage: Offers financial support for various out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, such as primary plan deductibles, Rx, wellness treatments and more.

Learn more about Ultimate Health and how it combines robust supplemental coverage with strategic health and wellness benefits to keep senior leaders and top performers healthy, productive and focused on the bottom line.