What you should look for in a primary care doctor?

Undoubtedly, best medical care is provided only when the doctor is good and likewise patient feels comfortable while discussing their problem with them.

Also termed as primary care doctors, they are sometimes even referred as general practitioners from whom you can get medical help for any of your illnesses or sickness. Be it a case of flu, minor back pain or sinus infection, a primary care doctor is the right person to consult.

However, searching a reliable doctor whom you can trust upon is not an easy task, especially when there are so many doctors nowadays who have certification in their field but give fake promises in delivering best medical care. If you are facing a same situation (can’t find a reliable doctor), then here are few things that you must pay attention to, while searching for a doctor:

Accessibility

What if your child is having fever of 104 and doctor is not picking up your phone. Definitely, you would get annoyed and right away think of consulting another doctor. Therefore, foremost thing you would be searching in primary care doctors in Staten Island is accessibility when you or your loved one is suffering from an illness.

Prescribe medications properly

Patients usually urge their doctors to give them high dose of medications in order to get well soon. In such situation, doctor should be responsible enough to prescribe only those medications that are necessary. Alongside, they should properly explain the medications to the patient.

Interactive

The staff, as well as doctors needs to be good in communication with the patients. This is because if they find them rude then they won’t feel comfortable while telling their problem. In other words, good customer service should be available.

Consider patient important over his business

Amongst, the hoard of doctors, there are good, as well as bad specialists. They either consider their patient important or not over their business. They are best in giving explanation and making the patient confident about the recommendation they are making. In such situation, patient gets into the trap of a doctor and end up spending huge sum of money on his disease. Therefore, one must always looks out for specialists who treat them important instead of their business, and give them relevant advices.

Record keeping

Maintaining of medical records is crucial, so as to get right treatment for the illness. Hence, a proper track of record should be kept via the doctor or his staff, so that no sign of sloppiness is there.

Having discussed all the above factors you must have got an idea about important things to be looked in while searching in for primary care doctors.

Looking out for primary care doctors in Staten Island? Then make sure to consult one who is renowned amongst the people for delivering best medical care.

What types of doctors are considered physicians?

Be it hospitals, clinics or any other medical care facility centers; physicians play an important role in all of them. Right from diagnosing to treatment of illnesses; all are treated by the physicians. They merely not just provide treatment of diseases, but also teach them regarding the illnesses, its prevention and medications required for treatment.

As there is spread of numerous diseases, there have been variant doctors to provide treatment, who are specified in particular areas of medicine.
Basically, doctors are divided into categories:

Medical doctor (MD): These are trained specialists who have attained four years of medical school.

Doctor of osteopathy (DO): These are specialists who are skilled in treating musculoskeletal system.

Following is the categorization of the types of physicians group in New York and elsewhere around the world:

Primary care: Patients, who require general medical, care for their ailments like fever, cold, pains etc., they need to refer to primary care doctors. They are the ones who diagnose the patient’s illnesses and send them further for treatment to higher physicians.

General practitioners: Patients who require medical care at home they would be requiring family doctors who can be there with them at home all the time.

Dermatologists: People who have skin problems they need to consult dermatologists. They would diagnose the patient’s problem and provide best remedy for their skin issues. Few frequent skin problems which people are facing nowadays are skin cancer, rabies, psoriasis etc.

Anesthesiologists: These are physicians who monitor the patients who are undergoing surgery. They need to make sure that they remain steady during the procedure.

Surgeons: Patients who have serious ailments like heart problem, brain tumor, they need to undergo surgery and this is where surgeons come into picture. They would eliminate the injury or disease from the patient’s body.

Neurologists: People who have brain and central nervous system problems they need to consult neurologists. This is because no other surgeon or physician can treat brain related issues other than a neurologist.

Allopathic doctors: Usually, elders have the problems of bone ailments and skeletal system and they need to consult allopathic doctors who can provide physical therapy and bone strengthening medications.

Oncologists: Cancer is a very common disease nowadays. And for treatment of cancer, patient needs to visit oncologist who is specialized in treating cancerous diseases.

Gynecologists: Women who are pregnant and have other health care issues they need to visit gynecologists. They too are physicians but only treat women’s.

Having a look at the above types of physicians, you must have got an idea that there are various types of experts who are specialized in different areas of medicine.

Importance of PCPs in ensuring healthy lives

Primary care physicians or doctor is a very general term, especially in the United States of America. Majority of people, before seeking help of a medical specialist for any particular health problem, would first like to visit a primary doctor. These professionals are sometimes also referred to as family doctors

In the USA, as a part of insurance plan, the patient is generally required to present the referral from a primary doctor before the person could seek medical help from specialist in the concerned medical area. That is why; it is a major requirement that people have to visit these professionals first in order to get their health problems diagnosed. One of the best ways to contact a PCP is by getting in touch with one of the physicians groups in a city like NY.

The major role of a PCP is to figure out the nature and reason of the medical issue by carrying out diagnosis. Apart from diagnosing, these doctors are trained at treating minor health issues such as ulcer, flu, cold, fever, etc. So for all the minor health issues, seeking their help is the best option instead of visiting a specialist.

Primary care doctors are also expert at administering medication and necessary vaccinations, if the situation is manageable. They may also conduct tests such as blood tests, x-ray, urine tests and other minor health tests. Apart from that, they can read and interpret results from these tests administered. So, depending on the complexity and severity of the medical issues, a PCP will have to send the patient to the concerned specialist if the situation demands it.

A primary doctor also specializes in providing preventive health care. One of their major functions is to ensure general health of their patients by administering tests on a regular basis. They are responsible for teaching people how to lead a healthy life by following healthy lifestyle choice, balanced diet, regular exercising and by avoiding alcohol and smoking. As per the studies conducted, people who generally visit primary doctors are more ready and prepared to fight dangerous medical conditions that include life threatening diseases such as cancer.

People generally like to visit a particular primary care doctor, whom they may also refer to as their family doctor. Since these professionals play an important role in ensuring a healthy lifestyle, a knowledgeable doctor should be chosen. If you live in Staten Island and are looking for primary doctors, you can visit a website to find out a physicians group in your area.

Questions that’ll help you find good primary care doctors

There are times when you or any of your loved ones is in any medical emergency and you cannot rush to a hospital. This is where primary care doctors come into picture.

But, it’s quite a difficult task to search a physician when there are so many primary care doctors in Staten Island. One need to find someone whom we can trust upon completely and tell our health issues comfortably. So, in regard to this here are some important questions that would help you find a good doctor. Let’s have a look-

Do they ensure optimal quality of healthcare?

The first and foremost thing to be checked about physician is the quality of healthcare provided by them. Right from making patients comfortable for the treatment, till the completion of the procedure all things are needed to be taken care of by the physician. Aside providing treatment they must also have good speaking skills, which would make the patients comfortable (as without giving a second thought patients would tell their health problem instantly to them).

How many years of experience do they have?

After attaining education in the field of allergy, dermatology, endocrinology, podiatry (including diabetic foot), rheumatology and pediatric pulmonary critical care the next most important thing to be checked is the experience of the doctor in the respective field. This would help give you an idea about the skills of the specialist.

However, there are many medical care people who just have experience but not skilled in their work. So, one must make sure that along with experience they are skilled in their work.

Do they have credentials to support their work?

Aside ensuring about the experience one must also confirm about the credentials of the doctor. This is because most of the medical candidates undergo training program and right away start with their business, but people not having right credentials would be lacking somewhere in their work. The education provided by the schools and colleges is incomparable from those provided by the training institutes. Thus on the whole make sure that the Physicians in Staten Island are board certified.

What their past patients have to say about them?

Besides checking the experience and credential another viable option to check whether the physician is good or not is via contacting their past patients. They would clearly tell you about their experience with the physician.