Primary care is basically your first interaction with the healthcare system for any need. Your primary care provider will be the person you go to for your annual visits. They will also be the person you ask questions of should you have a more serious medical concern.
They will make referrals to other healthcare providers. They will help you develop preventative care strategies that are specific to your lifestyle. It is important to feel comfortable with your primary care provider because they shape the direction of all of your other interactions with the healthcare system.
In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of what primary care providers do, who they are, and how their work fits in with the wider world of healthcare.
What is Primary Care’s Role in the Healthcare System?
As we mentioned in the introduction, the basic function of the primary care system is to handle the majority of patient problems— preferably early, and with relatively simple solutions. It is here that you might find out that you have high blood pressure, and receive a recommendation for what to do about it.
Year one, your primary care provider might ask that you lose weight, exercise more, avoid salty food, etc. If you follow all of their advice and come back the next year, still with high blood pressure, they may refer you to a specialist or simply prescribe a medication to manage your condition.
When you have basic questions, or just don’t feel 100%, you go to your primary care provider. Not only does this give you a centralized point of contact for any health concern, but it also helps support the infrastructure of your local healthcare system.
Emergency rooms would explode if everyone with basic healthcare needs used them for care. Incidentally, this does happen, often with people who don’t have the insurance required to establish a relationship with a primary care provider.
Young healthy people may only see their primary care provider for ten minutes every 1-2 years. The older you get, the more complex your health needs become, the more regularly you will wind up contacting them.
Naturally, it is important to feel comfortable with this person. How do you choose a good primary care provider?
First, Understand What You are Looking For
Undoubtedly at least one reader has been thinking “Why do they keep saying primary care provider? Why can’t they just say ‘doctor’?” And that is a reasonable question because most people are used to going to General Practitioners—primary care doctors.
But that isn’t your only option. In many communities, Physician Assistants or Nurse practitioners are doing basically the same tasks.
Good for them, you might now be thinking, but why would I want a nurse doing a doctor’s job when I could just as easily have the real thing?
Here’s a breakdown:
- Advanced Practice Nurses are Well-Trained– Most of them have about seven years of healthcare education under their belt, not to mention hundreds—maybe thousands—of hours of clinical experience under the belt. They can handle your high blood pressure.
- Advanced Practice Nurses Coordinate with Other Healthcare Professionals- In some states, this is a legal requirement. General practitioners have to sign off on all of their work. In other states, it happens organically. The nurse may have a question about their patient’s labs, so they call a specialist. Even when you see a general practitioner, things like this happen all the time.
- You may have seen one already and not even know it. It’s true! Many primary care practice staff have at least one advanced practice nurse. If you’ve ever gone to urgent care, or even your regular care provider on a day where your usual doctor was unable to see you, there is a reasonably high chance that the person you saw was an advanced practice nurse.
Most people never know the difference. Another benefit? They are often a little easier to see than a general practitioner. Who wouldn’t want to reduce the amount of time they spend waiting for healthcare’s wheels to turn, right?
Strengthening Healthcare Infrastructure
All primary care providers do this. Think about the complaints you have probably had with the healthcare system over the years.
- High costs.
- Not enough options.
- Long wait times.
- A lack of transparency.
Good primary care providers can eliminate some, or all of those concerns, either directly or as an extension of their work.
For example, good preventative care can cut back on the risk of a costly reactionary service. More Primary Care providers can expand your options while simultaneously reducing your wait times.
As for transparency—well. That one is a bit trickier. Many people feel like passengers in their own healthcare journey. They don’t know how their primary care provider is making choices, or even what their own lab work means.
To address that problem, you need to be a good advocate for yourself. Make sure that you speak up about your concerns, and directly state your expectations. When primary care providers are unclear, it usually isn’t because they are trying to be sneaky. It is because they are busy and they feel confident enough in their choices to not have to explain everything they are doing.
However, many people still want that explanation. If you fall into that category, the simplest thing is to ask questions and clearly state your preferences. Tell your primary care provider that you take a very active role in your own health. They will probably appreciate hearing that!
Conclusion
Becoming a primary care provider may take less time than you might assume. If you are interested in joining the frontlines as a healthcare worker but don’t think that the doctor’s life is right for you, you can always look into becoming a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.
These professionals usually have 5-7 years of college education, in the form of a BSN and MSN. From that point, they are able to write prescriptions, make diagnoses, and see patients almost the same way that a doctor would.
It’s a rewarding way to make a huge difference in your local healthcare system without becoming a doctor. If you are interested in getting started, there are dozens of online and traditional programs. Find the one that makes the most sense for you.
