Health check packages are easy to buy and surprisingly hard to choose between. The names rarely tell you what is in them, and more tests is not automatically better — every additional test carries a chance of an incidental abnormal result that leads to further investigation for nothing.
The useful question is what you are trying to find out.
If you have no particular symptom
A general screen is a reasonable baseline: blood count, kidney and liver function, glucose, lipids and thyroid, with vitamin levels commonly included. It establishes where you sit now, which makes any future result far easier to interpret.
Our Smart Essential, Smart Total and Smart Extra Health packages sit on this spectrum, differing in how much they include.
If you have a specific question
A targeted panel is more useful than a broad screen when you already know what you are asking.
- Persistent tiredness — the fatigue panel
- Family history of diabetes, or a raised reading — the diabetic panel
- Hair shedding — the hair loss panel
- Heart risk, or a cholesterol result to follow up — the cardiac panel
- Feeling run down with no clear cause — the essential vitamins panel
- Routine age-related screening — well man or well woman
What a package does not include
A blood panel is not a full health check. Blood pressure, weight, examination, cervical screening and imaging all sit outside it, and none of them is replaced by a set of numbers.
It also does not include the most valuable part: someone qualified explaining what the results mean for you specifically.
How often is sensible
For a healthy adult with no risk factors, a baseline and then every couple of years is reasonable. More frequently where there are risk factors, a chronic condition or a result being monitored. Your doctor will tell you when to repeat rather than leaving you to guess.
Common questions
Which health check package should I choose?
If you have no specific concern, a general screen establishes a baseline. If you have a particular question — tiredness, hair loss, heart risk, diabetes — a targeted panel answers it better than a broad one.
Do I need to fast for a blood test package?
It depends on what is included. Lipids and glucose are sometimes taken fasting, while HbA1c and thyroid tests are not. We will tell you what your particular package requires when you book.
How often should I have a health check?
For a healthy adult, a baseline and then roughly every two years is reasonable. More often where there are risk factors or something specific being monitored.
This article is general health information, not medical advice, and does not replace a consultation. Care at Smart Care Polyclinic is provided by DHA-licensed clinicians.