Know Why Primary Care is Important for Your Health

Primary care has emerged to be the most indispensable part of the healthcare sector.

Primary care physicians provide preventive, remedial, or rehabilitative health-related care in an organized way, which fulfills the general medical necessities of the patients. These healthcare professionals serve as the first contact to provide medical care to the patient population.

The primary care physicians (PCP) also collaborate with the other specialists to provide optimum care to his/her patient pool. Primary care providers cater to patients of all ages, varied economic status, gender, residential location, and physical, and mental health problems.

Doctors practicing family medicine, internal medicine, nurses, pediatricians, general OB/GYN, gerontology, behavioral health physicians, and more fall under the primary care of the health management system.

In addition to these, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and other people associated with the healthcare business, who meet the general medical needs of the patient population, are also a part of primary care.

Primary care covers the treatment of chronic diseases, like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression and over-anxiety, thyroid dysfunction, back pain, and arthritis. It also includes basic maternal and child health care, family planning, and vaccinations.

Importance of Primary Care in the Health Management System

Primary care is a vital part of our health care system. It helps us undertake preventive measures to ward off serious health problems through routine check-ups.

Regular check-ups through primary care have helped primary care physicians reduce the possibility of premature death to as low as 19 percent compared to those who do not engage with a PCP and consult only with specialists for their treatment.

The specialists enter the scenario only when advanced treatment is needed to counter a severe condition. However, primary care provides regular preventive and illness care to the patients stopping the condition from reaching an acute stage.

People, who go to primary care providers, have provided proven results of saving 33 percent on healthcare costs compared to people who visit specialists only. It has been seen that those who consult primary caregivers remain out of emergency rooms, where the care cost is four times higher than that of other outpatient care services. It takes an average of four to five hours of visits for a patient to complete the treatment process, whereas, in primary care, one hour visit is enough.

The primary care visit cost varies approximately from $50 to $150. However, emergency room treatment costs vary from $1,233 to $2,168, approximately.

A study conducted in a North Carolina ER reveals that approximately 60 percent of the initial health issues are treated in a primary care unit leading to 320 to 720 percent of savings.

If any disease is diagnosed at an initial stage during annual check-ups and is provided with the right care, then the treatment expenses are lowered compared to an advanced level of medical care for critical illness. Patients diagnosed at a matured stage of any disease are compelled to go to specialists, which raises their overall treatment costs.

Effects of Primary Care on Patient Health

Research has proven that people who chose primary care as their basic health care option and go for frequent check-ups have led them to better health outcomes.

Even in areas where more primary care physicians reside, the resident population was observed to be healthier than in the areas with a low number of PCPs.

The features of primary care visibly show that its treatment procedures are favorable and result in better health. Primary care has significantly reduced the mortality rates, especially the infant mortality rate, low birth weight, and mortality from heart ailments, stroke, and cancer.

Benefits of Primary Care on the Patient Pool

Enlisted below are the major benefits of Primary Care:

• Primary care increases access to the health services for the deprived population.
• It contributes to the quality of clinical care as primary care is very effective for the treatment of some diseases like diabetes. Primary care practitioners target multiple aspects of health care, as compared to specialty care that adheres to the treatment guidelines of the specific disease.
• Primary care has made a great impact on patient treatment by giving importance to preventive care. It has yielded positive results by early management of health problems, which is taken under control before the patient requires hospitalization or emergency services.
• Primary care provides appropriate care to the patients as the primary care physiciansattend to overall aspects of the patient’s health rather than the treatment of a specific disease.
• Primary care has reduced unnecessary access to specialty care.

In Conclusion

The reach of primary care to more and more people has become mandatory to ensure improved health conditions. The rising demand for primary care can be met by increasing the use of electronic medical records and other information technologies; and by depending more on primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and other non-medical professionals for health-related services. Added to these, teamwork will also help in meeting the rising demands of primary care.