Is the Annual Checkup Dead?

Annual checkups are rituals in modern medicine—after driving across town, waiting in a doctor's office, quick blood pressure reading from the nurse, a stethoscope on your chest, blood work, and then you're out the door.  I personally perform this multiple times a day.

This 30-minute snapshot has long been the primary lens through which we assess an individual’s health—a single photo, captured during a rushed office visit.

But what if we stopped relying on snapshots?

What if we could see the full video of someone’s health—recorded quietly and continuously by the devices they already wear?

From smartwatches and rings to continuous glucose monitors and smart patches, wearables are shifting us from single moments to continuous monitoring. It’s not about replacing clinical care—it’s about upgrading from a photo to a movie of your health.

So, can 30 days of wearable data offer a more comprehensive and actionable assessment than a 30-minute office visit?

Lets Compare:

Blood Pressure by Hilo by Aktiia

• Office Visit: 1–2 readings (often skewed by stress or timing) or

• Wearable Data: Multiple daily readings—continuous monitoring coming soon with cuffless devices

Heart Rate & HRV by WHOOP

• Office Visit: Single resting pulse check or

• Wearable Data: 24/7 tracking, resting heart rate, HRV trends

Sleep Quality by ŌURA

• Office Visit: “How are you sleeping?” or

• Wearable Data: REM, deep, light sleep stages, total hours recorded nightly

Activity Tracking by Apple

• Office Visit: “Do you exercise?” or

• Wearable Data: Steps, workouts, calories burned, sedentary time tracked automatically

Stress Monitoring with the Happy Health

• Office Visit: "Anything bothering you?" or

• Wearable Data: Daily stress scores based on HRV and trends

Rhythm Monitoring by AliveCor

• Office Visit: Occasional ECG or

• Wearable Data: Passive arrhythmia detection from devices like Apple Watch and Kardia

Hormonal Health with Evie ring from Movano Health

• Office Visit: Symptom review or

• Wearable Data: Cycle tracking, hormonal phase monitoring, real-time pattern recognition over months

📸 30 minutes in the office gives you a snapshot.

🎥 30 days of wearables give you the movie.

The “New Wearable Integrated Physical Exam” isn’t a replacement—it’s an integration. It’s where the wisdom and clinical expertise of your physician meets the precision of continuous data from your wearable. Together, they create a more complete picture of your health