Medicine's flashier advances, such as robot-assisted surgery and medications tailored to a person's genetics, tend to come in specialty areas, such as cancer treatment. But far more mundane medical feats, such as keeping a case of diabetes under control, can be just as life-saving. Primary health care involves caring for common maladies across a range of patient groups and organ systems.
Function
Primary health care cannot solve every medical problem, but it provides a broad base from which to start. Providers in this field dispense preventive care and educate patients on healthy lifestyles. They diagnose and treat common problems, including acute conditions such as a cold and chronic diseases such as diabetes, according to MedlinePlus, a health care information service maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine. Primary health care providers also serve a triage function, assessing your illness and, if necessary, referring you to a specialist.
Types
Several types of health care providers focus on primary care. Internists are physicians who have trained in internal medicine and can treat adults of all ages. Family practitioners tend to see both adults and children and may also deliver babies and perform minor surgery, according to MedlinePlus. Family practitioners have trained to take care of babies, children and teens. Some women see their obstetrician/gynecologists both for reproductive issues and primary care. Certain non-physicians, called nurse practitioners and physician assistants, also provide primary care, but they always work in consultation with doctors.
Selection
If you have health insurance, check whether you are limited to seeing certain providers. If you see a doctor who is not in your company's network, you may have to pay the full price of the care from your own pocket. When evaluating providers, determine whether their hours are convenient for your schedule, whether they are easy to reach and whether their communication style suits you, MedlinePlus recommends. For referrals, ask friends, family, neighbors and other health care providers such as your dentist or optometrist.
Problems
Throughout the world, and especially in developing nations, the functioning of primary health care systems is often far from ideal, according to the World Health Organization. They often "focus disproportionately on a narrow offer of specialized curative care" and on short-term results rather than prevention and long-term wellness. In addition, profit frequently takes center stage, according to WHO, in environments where the health care industry operates under little regulation.
Supply
In the United States, gaining access to a primary care physician could become difficult, with the supply of doctors failing to keep up with demand from an aging population. By 2025, the country could be short 35,000 to 45,000 adult care generalists, according to a study that researcher Jack Colwill and colleagues published in Health Affairs in April 2008. One reason for the low supply is that doctors-in-training know they can make more money, once they graduate, in specialty areas than in primary care. Family care physicians earn an average of about $173,000, Dr. Russ Robertson, chairman of the family and community medicine department at Northwestern University Medical School, said in April 2010. Specialists such as cardiologists and neurologists can make $300,000 to $500,000.
References
- MedlinePlus: Choosing a primary care provider
- World Health Organization: Primary Health Care--Now More than Ever
- Northwestern University: Experts predict severe shortage of health care providers in 2014
- Health Affairs: Will Generalist Physician Supply Meet Demands Of An Increasing And Aging Population?
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