Preventive Care for Families: Build a Routine at Every Age

Build preventive care for families. A routine for your whole family: screenings by age, mental health, Tricare, and same-week appointments in Portsmouth, VA.

What Preventive Care for Families Actually Means
Start Here: Your Family Health History
Preventive Care by Age
The Preventive Care Category Most Families Miss: Mental Health
Preventive Care for Military Families in Hampton Roads
How to Choose a Provider Who Can Care for Your Whole Family
Building the Routine: Practical Steps
Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Most families manage health reactively. A child spikes a fever. A parent’s knee gives out. Someone ends up in urgent care. The visit happens, the problem gets treated, and until the next problem surfaces, health goes back to the bottom of the priority list.

Preventive care works the opposite way. It catches what you cannot feel yet: elevated blood pressure before a heart attack, a cancer at Stage 1 instead of Stage 3, depression in a teenager before it compounds for years untreated. Research consistently shows that preventive care produces better health outcomes and costs families less over time than treating advanced disease. (Source: CDC, Preventive Care, 2025.)

Building a preventive care routine for your whole family does not require a complicated system. It requires knowing what each person needs at each stage of life, choosing a provider who can coordinate that care, and making the appointments before something goes wrong.

This guide walks through exactly that.

What Preventive Care for Families Actually Means And Why Most Families Skip It

Prevention Is Not Just About Annual Checkups

Preventive care covers a wider range of services than most families realize. According to the CDC, preventive care includes screening tests to check for diseases early, vaccines that reduce the risk of serious illness, counseling to support healthy decisions, and dental cleanings. (Source: CDC, Are You Up to Date on Your Preventive Care?, 2025.)

Most health insurance plans and Tricare for military families cover preventive services without a copay when those services carry an A or B rating from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). (Source: Congress.gov, USPSTF Recommendations with A and B Grades, 2025.) That means flu shots, blood pressure screenings, cholesterol panels, depression screenings, cancer screenings, and well-child visits typically cost families nothing out of pocket when delivered by an in-network provider.

The gap between what families are entitled to receive and what they actually schedule is large.

Why Families Tend to Delay Preventive Care And What It Costs Them

Research published in Healthline in 2025 cites data showing that only 8% of people in the United States received the preventive care recommended to them in a given year, and that preventive healthcare visits and screenings remained below pre-pandemic levels through 2022. (Source: Healthline, Preventive Health: What Is It and Why Is It Important?, 2025, citing peer-reviewed data.)

The reasons families delay are practical: busy schedules, confusion about which screenings are needed at which ages, and the assumption that feeling fine means nothing is wrong. That last assumption is the most dangerous. Hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and early-stage cancers produce few or no symptoms before they cause serious damage. Screenings exist precisely to fill the gap between how a person feels and what their body is actually doing.

The Difference Between Reactive Care and Preventive Care

Reactive care treats disease after it appears. Preventive care detects risk factors and early signs before symptoms disrupt daily life. A family that schedules annual well-child visits, keeps vaccines current, maintains a relationship with a primary care provider, and follows age-appropriate screening schedules is practicing preventive care. A family that only sees a doctor when something hurts is practicing reactive care.

The distinction matters because many of the conditions that shorten lives heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes are far more manageable when caught early. Your provider’s job at a preventive visit is not to find something wrong. It is to confirm that things are tracking normally and to flag anything that warrants closer attention before it becomes a problem.

Start Here: Your Family Health History Is the Foundation

How to Build a Family Health History in One Conversation

Your family health history is the single most useful tool for personalizing your family’s preventive care plan. It tells your provider which conditions to screen for earlier, which lifestyle factors carry higher risk for your family specifically, and which screenings are most likely to be clinically meaningful for each person.

A basic family health history covers first-degree relatives parents, siblings, and children and second-degree relatives where possible (grandparents, aunts, uncles). For each person, note major medical conditions, the age at which they were diagnosed, and cause of death if applicable.

The CDC recommends documenting chronic conditions including heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis, as well as ethnic background, since some conditions carry higher prevalence in specific populations. (Source: CDC, Are You Up to Date on Your Preventive Care?, 2025.)

A family gathering, a holiday meal, or a summer visit is a natural moment to have this conversation. Framing it around care rather than worry reduces resistance. “I’m trying to put together a health history for our family’s doctor appointments” is a less alarming opener than asking relatives to recount their medical problems.

Which Conditions Run in Families and Why Your Provider Needs to Know

Genetics do not determine outcomes. They shift probabilities. A family history of heart disease means your provider may recommend starting cholesterol screening earlier and monitoring blood pressure more closely. A family history of colorectal cancer may move your first colonoscopy from age 45 to age 40 or earlier. A family history of depression means your provider will watch for symptoms across every age group, including adolescents.

The CDC states directly that if you have a family history of chronic disease, you may have the most to gain from preventive care practices like regular checkups, vaccinations, and screening tests. (Source: CDC, 2025.)

How Family History Changes Your Screening Schedule

Standard screening guidelines represent average-risk recommendations. They are starting points, not fixed schedules. Your provider adjusts these timelines based on your family’s specific history. Bring your family health history document to every preventive care appointment and update it when something changes. Providers cannot personalize your care plan around information they do not have.

Integrated primary and psychiatric care

A family nurse practitioner kneeling to eye level with a young Asian boy during a well-child preventive care visit, while his mother watches reassuringly from a nearby chair.

Preventive Care by Age What Every Family Member Needs

Infants and Toddlers (Ages 0–4): Well-Child Visits, Vaccines, and Developmental Screening

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends a set schedule of well-child visits from birth through age 21, published as the Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule and updated most recently in 2024. For infants and toddlers, these visits are frequent at 3–5 days, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 24 months, and 30 months and cover growth monitoring, developmental screening, vision and hearing checks, and age-appropriate vaccinations. (Source: AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule, December 2023 revision, published June 2024.)

The 2025 immunization schedule from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), approved by the CDC, includes updated recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines, influenza, and meningococcal serogroup B vaccines for children through age 18. (Source: ACIP Immunization Schedule for Children and Adolescents, 2025, published in MMWR.)

Vaccinations at this stage are not optional maintenance items. They protect children before their immune systems can mount adequate responses to serious infections on their own. Staying current with the CDC-recommended schedule prevents infections that can cause lasting harm.

School-Age Children (Ages 5–11): Vision, Hearing, Blood Pressure, and Mental Health

School-age well visits shift focus to monitoring growth, screening blood pressure beginning around age 6, conducting vision and hearing assessments at least annually, and evaluating for learning or developmental concerns that may have gone undetected earlier. (Source: Suffolk Health, Preventive Health Checklists by Age, 2026.)

This age group also marks the beginning of behavioral and emotional screening. The USPSTF updated its recommendation in October 2022 to include screening for anxiety in children ages 8–18. (Source: AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule, December 2023 revision, citing USPSTF Anxiety in Children and Adolescents: Screening, October 2022.) Research published in Cureus in July 2024 confirmed the feasibility of routine anxiety screening in primary care for children starting at age 8, describing it as a clinically meaningful addition to well-child visits. (Source: Soliman et al., Cureus, 2024.)

Annual well visits at this stage also give parents a structured opportunity to discuss nutrition, physical activity, and screen use with a provider, conversations that shape long-term health habits.

Teenagers (Ages 12–17): Mental Health Screening, Vaccines, and Reproductive Health

The teen years bring physical change, social complexity, and the onset of many mental health conditions that, if caught early, respond well to treatment. The AAP recommends annual mental health screening for adolescents beginning at age 12, including screening for depression. (Source: AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule, 2024, Footnote 16.)

Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center confirms this standard: all adults and children starting at age 12 should be screened for depression, with the AAP recommending yearly screening from 12–21 and targeted screening for children 10 and older who are at higher risk. (Source: OSU Health, Health Screenings by Age, 2022, citing AAP guidelines.)

Key preventive services for teenagers include:

Annual blood pressure measurement
Depression and anxiety screening
Cholesterol screening once between ages 9 and 11 if not completed in late childhood
Reproductive health discussions appropriate to age and development
Screening for substance use risk
HPV vaccination series, completed between ages 11–12 with catch-up available through age 26
Updated meningococcal vaccinations per current ACIP schedule

Confidentiality is an important component of teen preventive care. Adolescents are more likely to disclose mental health concerns, substance use, or reproductive health questions when assured that some portions of their visit are private. Providers experienced with adolescent care navigate this balance routinely.

Young Adults (Ages 18–35): Establishing Baselines Before Chronic Conditions Develop

Young adulthood is the period when many adults fall out of routine care. If they are no longer on a parent’s insurance, do not yet have a primary care relationship, or feel too healthy to prioritize checkups, they often go years without preventive services.

This is the stage for establishing baselines. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose measured now provide reference points against which future readings are compared. Identifying that a 28-year-old’s blood pressure runs consistently at 130/85 matters clinically even if that number does not yet meet the threshold for treatment because it establishes a trend.

Key preventive services for young adults include:

Blood pressure screening at least every two years if normal, more frequently if elevated (Source: OSU Health, 2022, citing USPSTF guidelines)
Cholesterol testing starting in the early 20s, with frequency based on individual risk
Depression screening the USPSTF recommends depression screening for all adults
STI screening based on sexual activity and risk factors
Ongoing annual flu vaccination
Mental health screening, particularly given the documented rise in anxiety and depression in adults ages 18–25 (Source: NIMH, 2021 NSDUH data)

Cervical cancer screening for women begins at age 21, with Pap smears recommended every three years for those with normal results. (Source: Welia Health, Preventive Screenings by Age, 2026, citing USPSTF guidelines.)

Adults in Midlife (Ages 35–64): Cancer Screenings, Heart Health, and Chronic Disease Prevention

Midlife is when the cumulative effects of genetics and lifestyle become measurable. Blood pressure that ran slightly high in one’s 30s may cross into hypertension by the mid-40s. Cholesterol trends become risk factors. Cancer screenings that were not yet indicated become clinically essential.

Key preventive services for adults in this age range:

Blood pressure: Annual screening for adults 40 and over, and for those at increased risk at any age. (Source: OSU Health, 2022.)
Cholesterol and lipid panel: Frequency based on previous results and risk factors
Diabetes screening: Recommended starting at age 35 for adults who are overweight (Source: Healthline, 2025, citing USPSTF)
Colorectal cancer screening: Starting at age 45 for average-risk adults; earlier for those with family history. Screening type and interval depend on the method chosen. (Source: OSU Health, 2022.)
Breast cancer screening (mammogram): Recommendations vary by organization. The USPSTF recommends biennial mammography starting at age 40 for average-risk women, with shared decision-making. Women with family history may need to start earlier.
Cervical cancer screening: Women may transition from Pap smear alone to co-testing with HPV testing starting at age 30, per USPSTF guidelines.
Mental health: Depression screening continues annually across all adult age groups.
Lung cancer screening: Annual low-dose CT scan recommended for adults ages 50–80 who have a history of heavy smoking and currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years. (Source: CDC, 2025.)

Midlife is also when the connection between mental and physical health becomes most clinically visible. Chronic stress raises blood pressure and cortisol levels. Untreated depression correlates with higher rates of cardiovascular disease. A preventive care routine that includes both physical and mental health screenings catches what single-specialty care misses.

Seniors (Ages 65+): Bone Density, Cognitive Screening, and Fall Prevention

Preventive care in the senior years shifts focus from establishing baselines to preserving function and independence. Conditions that were monitored become conditions that are actively managed, and new screenings specific to aging become relevant.

Key preventive services for adults 65 and older:

Osteoporosis screening: DEXA scan recommended for women at age 65, or earlier for those with risk factors such as low body weight, smoking history, or family history of osteoporosis. Men may need screening depending on their risk profile. (Source: Welia Health, 2026, citing USPSTF.)
Cognitive screening: Mayo Clinic geriatricians recommend cognitive assessment particularly for patients with a history of falls, which can be an early presentation of a cognitive problem as a routine component of senior preventive care. (Source: Mayo Clinic Press, Staying Ahead of Aging podcast, 2025.)
Colorectal cancer screening: Continued through age 75 for average-risk adults; individual decision-making from 76–85; generally discontinued after 85. (Source: OSU Health, 2022.)
Cervical cancer screening: Women with a history of normal screenings may discontinue after age 65. (Source: OSU Health, 2022.)
Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening: One-time ultrasound screening for men ages 65–75 who have ever smoked. (Source: Welia Health, 2026.)
Fall prevention: Assessment of fall risk, medication review, and referrals to physical therapy where indicated
Ongoing depression screening: No upper age limit on mental health screening; depression is common and frequently underdiagnosed in older adults.

Annual wellness visits for Medicare beneficiaries are covered at no cost-sharing. These visits differ from standard physical exams they include a personalized prevention plan, health risk assessment, and review of current medications and screenings. Providers experienced in senior care use this visit to coordinate all preventive services into a single, manageable plan.

The Preventive Care Category Most Families Miss: Mental Health

Why Mental Health Belongs in Every Family’s Preventive Care Routine

Mental health screening is not a specialty service or an add-on for families dealing with visible problems. It is a core component of preventive care that applies across every age group, recommended by the same evidence-based bodies that set physical health screening standards.

The USPSTF recommends depression screening for all adults. The AAP recommends annual depression screening for adolescents starting at age 12. Anxiety screening is now recommended by the USPSTF for children ages 8–18, following the October 2022 guideline update. (Source: AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule, December 2023 revision.)

Despite these recommendations, mental health screenings remain the most frequently skipped component of preventive care. Families that schedule annual physicals and keep vaccines current often have no established relationship with a mental health provider and no regular mental health screening in place.

Mental Health Screenings by Age: What to Ask Your Provider

At each stage of life, the relevant mental health screen differs:

Children ages 8–11: Anxiety screening using validated tools such as the SCARED (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders). (Source: Soliman et al., Cureus, 2024.)
Adolescents ages 12–21: Annual depression screening using the PHQ-A or equivalent validated tool; anxiety screening; substance use assessment
Adults 18+: Annual depression screening (PHQ-2 or PHQ-9); anxiety screening; substance use assessment; PTSD screening where clinically indicated
Veterans: Regardless of age or sex, VA preventive care guidelines screen for depression, PTSD, alcohol abuse, and military sexual trauma at every preventive care contact. (Source: VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Healthy Living, 2024.)

If your current primary care provider does not include mental health screening as part of routine preventive care, ask directly: “Are depression and anxiety screenings part of my annual visit?” A practice that integrates psychiatric and primary care provides this automatically.

When Physical Symptoms Are Actually a Mental Health Signal

Anxiety and depression produce physical symptoms that lead patients to primary care before they reach a mental health provider. Unexplained fatigue, chronic headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, and persistent pain with no clear organic cause are documented presentations of both anxiety and depression. (Source: NIMH, Depression Publication, 2024.)

A preventive care model that separates physical and mental health evaluations misses this overlap. Practices that coordinate both, where a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner share patient information, identify these presentations earlier and provide more complete care.

Signs of depression in adults | Anxiety treatment Portsmouth Virginia

A clinician in a private counseling room having a calm, attentive conversation with a
white teenage girl during a mental health screening as part of a preventive care
appointment.

Preventive Care for Military Families in Hampton Roads

How Military Life Changes Your Family’s Preventive Care Needs

Hampton Roads is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, and several other major military installations. The active-duty and veteran population in Portsmouth and the surrounding area represents a large share of the families seeking preventive care in this region, and their needs differ from civilian families in specific ways.

Frequent relocation disrupts continuity of care. A family that moves every two to three years changes primary care providers repeatedly, often losing documentation of previous screenings, vaccination records, and established care relationships. Rebuilding that continuity takes time, and screenings that were current at the previous duty station may have lapsed during the transition.

Deployment cycles affect every family member, not only the service member. Spouses managing households and children alone during deployments carry significant stress loads. Children of deployed parents show higher rates of anxiety and behavioral concerns. Reintegration after deployment carries its own distinct clinical picture. (Source: VA National Center for PTSD.)

What Tricare Covers for Preventive Care And How to Use It

Tricare covers a broad range of preventive services for active-duty service members, their dependents, and eligible veterans and retirees. According to Tricare’s official benefits documentation, covered preventive services include vaccinations for flu, tetanus, and other diseases; preventive screenings including mammograms and colonoscopies; and well-child visits including vaccinations. (Source: MilitaryBenefit.org, Does TRICARE Cover Everything?, citing official Tricare benefits.)

Effective January 1, 2025, Tricare permanently added digital breast tomosynthesis (3D mammography) as a covered preventive service not subject to cost-sharing, per the Federal Register notice of Tricare Plan Program Changes for Calendar Year 2025. (Source: Federal Register, TRICARE Notice of TRICARE Plan Program Changes for CY 2025, November 8, 2024.)

Preventive services with A or B USPSTF ratings are covered without cost-sharing for Tricare Prime enrollees. Tricare Select enrollees have cost-sharing requirements that vary by group and coverage year. Active-duty family members enrolled in Tricare Prime pay nothing when care goes through their Primary Care Manager.

The practical challenge for military families is finding a Tricare-accepting provider outside the Military Treatment Facility network, particularly one that provides both primary care and mental health services, accepts Tricare for both, and does not have months-long wait times for new patients. Paramount Health & Wellness accepts Tricare and offers integrated primary and psychiatric care with same-week appointments for new patients.

Screening for PTSD, Depression, and Stress in Veterans and Their Families

The VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention recommends that all veterans be screened for alcohol abuse, depression, high blood pressure, HIV, military sexual trauma, obesity, PTSD, and tobacco use, regardless of age, sex, health status, or family history. (Source: VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Get Recommended Screening Tests and Immunizations, 2024.)

Research estimates that 14% to 16% of U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq were affected by PTSD or depression. (Source: StatPearls / NCBI Bookshelf, Veteran and Military Mental Health Issues, 2023.) These conditions often co-occur, and treating one without screening for the other produces incomplete outcomes.

For military families in Hampton Roads, preventive mental health screening is not an optional conversation. It is a recommended standard of care that a qualified provider will include automatically for the veteran, for the spouse, and for the children.

How to Choose a Provider Who Can Care for Your Whole Family

What to Look for in a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)

A Family Nurse Practitioner holds an advanced nursing degree with training that spans all age groups from newborns through geriatric patients. FNPs can diagnose conditions, order and interpret diagnostic tests, prescribe medications, and manage chronic conditions in Virginia with full practice authority.

For families, the practical benefit of an FNP is continuity across generations. One provider who knows your family’s health history, tracks your children through adolescence, manages your parents’ chronic conditions, and coordinates your own screenings provides a fundamentally different kind of care than a family that sees different specialists for every stage of life.

When evaluating an FNP or family medicine provider, confirm:

Do they see patients across the full age range, including children, adults, and seniors?
What is the typical wait time for a new patient appointment?
Do they accept your insurance, including Tricare or Medicare?
Can they order and review screening tests in-house or with a consistent referral network?
Do they document and track your family health history as part of ongoing care?

Why Integrated Primary and Psychiatric Care Matters for Families

A practice that coordinates primary care and psychiatric care under one roof closes the gap that routine screenings frequently identify. When a teenage patient’s annual visit reveals depression symptoms, the next step is not a months-long referral queue — it is a warm handoff to a psychiatric provider in the same practice who has access to that patient’s existing health record.

This coordination matters for physical health too. Adults whose depression goes untreated face measurably higher rates of cardiovascular disease. Children whose anxiety goes unaddressed develop avoidance patterns that compound over time. The integration of mental and physical health care is not a specialty offering; it is what comprehensive preventive care requires.

Paramount Health & Wellness combines Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner services in one Portsmouth, Virginia practice. Patients do not navigate separate referral systems, separate insurance approvals, or separate health records for their physical and mental health needs.

Questions to Ask Before Booking Your Family’s First Preventive Visit

Before committing to a practice as your family’s primary care home, ask:

Does this practice see all the ages in my family?
How does the practice handle mental health screening? Is it built into routine visits?
What happens if my annual exam reveals a mental health concern? Is there a psychiatric provider in the practice or a fast referral pathway?
Does the practice accept Tricare, Medicare, or my commercial insurance?
How far out is the first available appointment for new patients?
Is telehealth available if I cannot make it in person?

A practice with same-week availability, Tricare acceptance, and integrated psychiatric care eliminates three of the most common barriers families face when trying to build a consistent preventive care routine.

Preventive care for families. A Black military family — father holding an insurance card, mother, and young daughter —
checking in at the reception desk of a civilian medical practice that accepts Tricare
for preventive care in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Building the Routine: Practical Steps to Keep Your Family’s Preventive Care on Track

Create a Simple Family Health Calendar

Track every family member’s preventive care schedule in a single shared document or calendar. Include:

Last annual physical or well-child visit date and next due date
Vaccines received and next recommended doses by age
Screening dates (last mammogram, colonoscopy, cholesterol panel, depression screen) and when each is next due
Provider name, phone number, and patient portal login for each family member

Reviewing this document once a year in January, at the start of a new school year, or on a birthday prevents screenings from lapsing without anyone noticing. A child who went to a well-child visit at age 10 and then went three years without one skipped the adolescent mental health screening window entirely. A simple calendar prevents that.

How to Talk to Kids and Teens About Preventive Visits

Children who understand why they are going to the doctor are less anxious about the visit and more likely to participate honestly in screenings. For younger children, frame preventive visits around growth and learning how their body works. For adolescents, explain that the visit is confidential in relevant areas and that the provider’s job is to help, not to judge.

Providers experienced with adolescent care will screen for depression, anxiety, and substance use in age-appropriate ways that do not require teenagers to initiate the conversation themselves. Your role as a parent is to get them to the appointment. The provider handles the rest.

What to Bring to Every Preventive Care Appointment

Arrive at each preventive care visit with:

Your family health history document, updated with any new diagnoses or deaths since the last visit
A complete list of current medications and supplements for each family member
Insurance card and photo ID
A list of any symptoms, concerns, or questions you want to raise, written down in advance, since it is easy to forget in the room
Vaccine records for children if the practice does not have them on file

Preventive visits are time-limited. Coming prepared means the provider spends the appointment on clinical evaluation rather than administrative intake.

Frequently Asked Questions About Preventive Care for Families

What preventive care is covered by insurance for families?

Most health insurance plans cover preventive services with an A or B rating from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force at no cost-sharing, meaning no copay or deductible applies. This includes well-child visits, vaccines, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, cancer screenings, depression screenings, and more. Tricare covers the same range of preventive services for eligible military families, with no cost-sharing for active-duty family members enrolled in Tricare Prime receiving care through their Primary Care Manager. Confirm specific coverage with your insurer before your visit. (Source: Congress.gov, USPSTF A and B Recommendations, 2025; Tricare.mil.)

How often should my family have preventive care appointments?

Frequency varies by age and health status. Infants and toddlers follow a visit schedule set by the AAP that includes multiple visits per year in the first two years of life. School-age children and teenagers have annual well visits. Adults generally have preventive care visits annually, though some screenings occur every two to three years if previous results were normal. Seniors with Medicare are entitled to an annual wellness visit at no cost. Your provider will tell you which screenings are due at each visit and how often each should recur.

At what age should children start mental health screenings?

The AAP recommends behavioral and social-emotional screening beginning in early childhood, with structured anxiety screening starting at age 8 per the 2022 USPSTF recommendation. Depression screening begins annually at age 12. (Source: AAP Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule, December 2023 revision; USPSTF, Anxiety in Children and Adolescents: Screening, October 2022.) These screenings happen during routine well-child visits and do not require a separate mental health appointment.

Does Tricare cover preventive care for military families?

Yes. Tricare covers preventive services including well-child visits, immunizations, cancer screenings, and depression screenings for eligible beneficiaries. Active-duty family members enrolled in Tricare Prime pay nothing for preventive services received through their Primary Care Manager. As of January 1, 2025, Tricare permanently covers digital breast tomosynthesis (3D mammography) as a clinical preventive service not subject to cost-sharing. Retirees and their families enrolled in Tricare Prime or Select have cost-sharing obligations that vary by group. Visit tricare.mil for the most current benefits information. (Source: Federal Register, Tricare Notice of Plan Program Changes for CY 2025, November 8, 2024.)

Can one provider handle preventive care for every member of my family?

A Family Nurse Practitioner with a full-lifespan scope of practice can manage preventive care for patients from infancy through senior years. At Paramount Health & Wellness, our FNP sees patients across all age groups, which means one clinical team maintains your family’s health history over time and coordinates care rather than passing your family between separate providers for different life stages. When a preventive screening reveals a mental health concern, our integrated Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner is in the same practice: no separate referral, no separate records system, no separate insurance approval process.

Your Family’s Health Starts Before Anyone Gets Sick

Building a preventive care routine is not a one-time project. It is a year-round commitment that pays off most clearly when nothing dramatic happens, when the blood pressure stays controlled, when the cancer screen comes back clear, when the teenager’s anxiety gets identified and addressed at 14 instead of suffering in silence until 24.

The families in Portsmouth and Hampton Roads who get the most from preventive care have one thing in common: a provider who knows them across time and coordinates their care proactively. That provider should accept their insurance, see everyone in the family, and address mental health as a standard part of every visit.

Paramount Health & Wellness offers same-week appointments for new patients in Portsmouth, Virginia. We accept Tricare, Medicare, and most major commercial insurance plans. Our integrated practice combines Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner services, which means your family’s physical and mental health are managed as one picture, not two separate records in two separate offices.

Call our Portsmouth office at +1 (757) 809-7807 or book your first appointment. Telehealth appointments are available for patients across Virginia.

How to Build a Preventive Care Routine for Your Whole Family

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