Update on Sports Physicals

Dear Families,

The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) requires all participating athletes to have a medical clearance in order to participate in CHSAA sports – from practice to competition. There are two ways to accomplish this: through your annual well child check visit or through a traditional sports physical.  

For the insured, the well child check is the most convenient and affordable means to accomplish this. In addition to being cleared for sports, the well child visit provides the opportunity for a full, comprehensive history and physical that includes age appropriate medical screening and education, assurance that growth and maturity milestones are being reached, and management and updates for medications and immunizations. The well child checks can be scheduled in both the Meeker Family Health Center (MFHC) and in the Colorado Advanced Orthopedics Sports Medicine and Spine (CAO) Sports Medicine clinic.

The traditional sports physical is a more targeted visit focusing on screening for problems that could increase an athlete’s risk for injury, illness, or death. These are not nearly as comprehensive as the well child check visits, but they do provide the opportunity to screen for problems that are most likely to raise concerns for athletic participation.  

In the past, PMC has provided free sports physicals over two different days to provide a service to the community. As the minimum requirements for sports physical participation have increased, PMC and CAO feel that the traditional method of providing this service is now a disservice to the community. This is for two main reasons. First, in order to “check all of the boxes” required by CHSAA, these physicals have to be performed so quickly that it is too easy to overlook important problems needing to be addressed. Consequently, the quality of medical care would be lowered by attempting to continue providing this service the way we have been providing it, and we all feel this to be an unacceptable disservice to the community we love.  Second, some of these requirements necessitate an environment that would allow immediate scheduling and follow up actions that are impossible to provide in the manner we have traditionally provided these physicals. 

However, we also fully understand that attaining the well child check in one of our clinics is not feasible for everyone, for a variety of reasons.  That is why we are still offering two other avenues for this care.  We are offering traditional sports physicals (that do not include immunizations or other aspects of the full well child check) for $97 through the CAO Sports Medicine clinic. We are also offering the uninsured an opportunity for free well child checks/sports physicals with immunizations in conjunction with the Rio Blanco County Public Health Department (RBCPH) located at the Fairfield Center, 200 Main Street.  

These options are offered by appointment, and these appointments allow us to schedule adequate time to provide a thorough medical and sports history and physical as well as prescribe, manage, and update medications and immunizations as necessary. To schedule one of these appointments, please call one of our clinics.  

Currently, there are openings available for the free well child checks on Tuesday, August 20th, between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the RBCPH Department with Dr. Grant. Please call the CAO Sports Medicine Clinic to schedule these appointments.

In summary, your athlete can receive a sports medical clearance through the annual well child check (provided in both the MFHC and the CAO Sports Medicine Clinic), through a free well child check at Rio Blanco County Public Health Department in conjunction with one of our providers, or through a traditional sports physical in the CAO Sports Medicine Clinic for $97.

Sincerely,

Dr. Justin Grant, DO

Sports Medicine Director

Meeker Family Health Clinic : (970) 878-4014

Colorado Advanced Orthopedics, Sports Medicine & Spine Clinic: (970) 878-9752