{"id":8275,"date":"2019-02-22T08:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T13:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/?p=8275"},"modified":"2019-02-18T15:27:19","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T20:27:19","slug":"do-you-need-a-primary-care-physician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/health-maintenance\/do-you-need-a-primary-care-physician\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need A Primary Care Physician?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>How to find the right doctor<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Talk to your friends and see who they trust.<\/li>\n<li>If the doctor you want isn\u2019t listed in an insurance network, call that doctor\u2019s office and check. Sometimes a physician\u2019s name is accidentally left out.<\/li>\n<li>Check to see how easy it is to contact the doctor during office hours and after hours.<\/li>\n<li>Look at the hospital the doctor is affiliated with and ask: Is it a hospital that you like?<\/li>\n<li>Set up an appointment to sit and talk with the doctor. Ask yourself: Does this person sound like the right physician for me?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 class=\"css-1i9vogi \">Here\u2019s Why You Need a Primary Care Physician<\/h1>\n<div>\n<article class=\"article-body css-ut2lnm e13ml3jd0\">\n<div class=\"css-nfljkw\">\n<p class=\"css-soovkr\">Sticking with the same doctor over years can help your health. But finding the right doctor can be difficult.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"css-zwi7lx\"><span class=\"css-rwmw5v\"><span class=\"css-1n9r2wu\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1y1uqn6\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/post.healthline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/doctor_and_patient-1296x728-header-1024x575.jpg?w=1155\" alt=\"\" \/><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"css-7zsy3 es8vms60\">A primary care physician can work with patients over years and potentially identify problems early.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you want to stay healthy, picking a good primary care physician can be key.<\/p>\n<p>In a\u00a0<a class=\"content-link broken_link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamainternalmedicine\/article-abstract\/2721037?guestAccessKey=0983f57a-7a4e-480a-b0b4-7bbcc2c6649b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a>\u00a0published last week, researchers found that American adults with primary care physicians are more likely to receive \u201chigh value\u201d services such as regular cancer screenings, diagnostic testing, diabetes checkups, and counseling, compared to those without primary care.<\/p>\n<p>These seemingly routine services can be lifesaving, especially in the case of cancer screening.<\/p>\n<p>But for many people, finding a primary care physician to see on a regular basis can be difficult. The research authors hope by drawing attention to the long-term benefits of primary care, medical and government officials can take steps to improve access to care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"onequarter-of-article\">Why staying with the same doctor can help your health<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-0\">\n<p>The report authors conducted what they call a first-of-its-kind comparison study by quantifying the experiences of 49,286 adults with primary care and 21,133 adults without. They wanted to see how Americans with similar health status, demographics, and other factors answered when asked about those primary care visits, including questions on the \u201cfour C\u2019s\u201d of primary care: first contact, comprehensive health care, and continuous and coordinated care.<\/p>\n<p>Those with primary care reported better patient experience and overall healthcare access compared to those who didn\u2019t see a primary care physician regularly, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine. Researchers said those experiences remained stable from 2002 to 2014.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur advance was to look at healthcare for Americans who were otherwise as similar as possible \u2014 but did or did not have primary care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Linder said the results validated what primary care physicians have known all along about the importance of consistent care when it comes to prevention. He and the co-authors of the study conclude the results should show why policymakers and health systems should consider increasing investments in primary care.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health-news\/why-you-need-a-primary-care-physican#Why-staying-with-the-same-doctor-can-help-your-health-\">https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health-news\/why-you-need-a-primary-care-physican#Why-staying-with-the-same-doctor-can-help-your-health-<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to find the right doctor Talk to your friends and see who they trust. If the doctor you want isn\u2019t listed in an insurance network, call that doctor\u2019s office and check. Sometimes a physician\u2019s name is accidentally left out. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/health-maintenance\/do-you-need-a-primary-care-physician\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9193321,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[313094],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-maintenance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paB9fc-29t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9193321"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8276,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8275\/revisions\/8276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}