What your care team records at a structured review of a long-term condition

At a structured review of a long-term condition, your care team records a lot in the background: your history since the last visit, measurements, and what comes next. The exact contents vary by practice and insurer, so it helps to know what a review usually holds and what you can ask for. Your own record runs alongside, for example in the symptom diary in Sam, where a tap per day keeps your symptom and sick days, and your top symptoms appear in the monthly report.

This article explains what a structured review usually covers in the UK and the US and how routine reviews work. This is general information, not a substitute for a conversation with your own care team. What to gather beforehand is covered in how to prepare for the review.

How reviews are arranged

Both the UK and the US rely on structured reviews of long-term conditions.

In the UK, the NHS describes routine reviews for conditions such as diabetes, asthma and epilepsy, and arrangements can differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Diabetes UK describes the annual diabetes review as a set of checks that are part of routine NHS care. In the US, reviews depend on your insurer and your provider, with a yearly wellness visit under Medicare as one common example. The exact contents vary, so the practice is the best source for your own plan.

What a structured review records

A structured review brings together the things that tell your team how you are doing. Across conditions, the same basic areas recur. Diabetes UK lists the annual diabetes review as nine checks, including a blood test, a urine test, blood pressure, weight and height, a foot check, and whether you smoke.

The NHS describes similar reviews for other conditions. An asthma review checks that you use your inhalers correctly and that your action plan is current. The NHS also notes that people with epilepsy have check-ups at least once a year, with an agreed care plan. Across these, several areas appear again and again:

• Your history and any events since the last visit.
• Your symptoms and how they affect your daily life.
• Measurements such as blood pressure, weight and height.
• Lab results from blood or urine tests.
• Your current medicines and whether anything changed.
• A follow-up plan and the date of the next review.

Measurements and lab results

Routine measurements give your team a baseline they can compare over time. In the annual diabetes review, for example, Diabetes UK lists blood pressure and weight and height for a body mass index. It also lists a urine sample for signs of kidney disease. A blood test looks at your average blood sugar, cholesterol and kidney function.

Your team keeps these results in your record and uses them to see trends, not just single numbers. If a clinic asks you to measure something at home between visits, such as blood pressure, your own readings add to that picture. You can store test results and letters together in a Health Vault so you have your own copy.

Your history and symptoms since the last visit

The review also depends on what has happened since you were last seen. Your team will ask whether symptoms changed, whether you had any stays in hospital or urgent care, and how your daily life has been. What you say becomes part of the record, so a clear account matters.

This is where your own record earns its place. Between reviews, you feel the weeks in a way that is easy to forget by the appointment. For adults with type 1 diabetes, NICE guideline NG17 says an individual care plan is jointly agreed, reviewed annually and amended as needed. When you can say which weeks were hard, you help your team shape that plan. The doctor visit checklist for a chronic condition covers how to prepare those answers.

The follow-up plan at the end

A review rarely ends with measurements alone. Your team records what was agreed and what happens next, such as a new medicine, a referral, a test, or a change in how often you are seen. NICE's type 1 diabetes guideline, for example, recommends reviewing an individual care plan annually.

Two questions turn the plan into something useful. First, ask what was recorded as your goal for the next review. Second, ask when the next review is. Writing the answer down means you leave clear on the plan, rather than only on the results.

In the US: the yearly wellness visit

For people on Medicare, a yearly wellness visit is the closest structured review, and it is covered once every 12 months under Part B, though not within the first 12 months of Part B enrollment. Medicare says your provider takes routine measurements like height, weight and blood pressure, reviews your medical and family history and your current prescriptions, and gives you a written plan of screenings and vaccines you may need.

It is a preventive visit, not a full physical exam, and you may need to fill in a health risk assessment first. The value is the same as any review: your history, your measurements and a plan for the year ahead, all in one place.

If you have two or more serious chronic conditions, Part B may also pay for chronic care management, which includes a comprehensive care plan. Under Original Medicare you usually pay 20% coinsurance after the Part B deductible.

Seeing or copying your own records

You can usually ask for a copy of the notes from a review. In the UK, how you get your records, including any online view of parts of them, varies by practice and by nation, so ask your practice. In the US, HIPAA covers your right to request your records from your provider.

Ask how the practice prefers to share them, as a printout or a file. Keeping your own copies matters if you move, change practices, or need a full history later. The process is separate from the record you keep yourself, which stays your own copy that you choose to share. See getting a copy of your medical records for more.

Keep your own record in Sam alongside the team's review

You leave a review knowing what you reported, because you kept your own record too, instead of piecing the weeks together from memory.

• The symptom diary in Sam takes one tap per day, so your symptom days and sick days build up without extra effort.
• The monthly report lays out your top symptoms across a month, so you can compare what actually happened with what was recorded at the review.
• Your medication list keeps doses and intake, and you can store test results and letters in the Health Vault.

Sam is separate from your clinic's records and does not replace what your care team writes. It is your own copy to bring and to keep.

Try Sam for free

Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. The app does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition or health state. Always consult qualified professionals for medical decisions.

General information, not legal advice. Laws, deadlines and agency practice change, and your case may differ. Before applications, deadlines and conversations with employers, insurers or agencies, get advice from an adviser or lawyer. Legal state: October 2026.

Related reading

• Doctor visit checklist for a chronic condition
• Getting a copy of your medical records
• Medication list to bring to the doctor
• Medical ID on your phone for a chronic condition

Sources

Updated: October 2026

• Diabetes UK: Diabetes health checks (annual review)
• NHS: Asthma - Treatment (last reviewed 7 April 2025)
• NHS: Epilepsy - Diagnosis and treatment (last reviewed 6 March 2025)
• NICE: Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management (NG17)
• eCFR: 45 CFR 164.524, access of individuals to protected health information
• Medicare.gov: Yearly wellness visits and Chronic care management services