What to Consider When Choosing a Primary Care Physician?

With a primary care doctor, you’ll have the most fundamental kind of healthcare. This means you’ll be able to get treatment for common injuries and illnesses, advice to help you avoid those issues in the first place, tests to check for or manage chronic conditions, and referrals to see specialists. These services are invaluable, as they’ll help you stay healthy and even improve your health.

Also, as your primary care doctor learns more about you, the doctor will be better able to identify any health issues that come up. And by identifying issues and preventing them from becoming costly, your doctor will help lower the cost of your healthcare. All this could apply to your family too if you get a general/family doctor!

The term “primary care physician” refers to a doctor who provides the kind of fundamental care we mentioned earlier. This doctor can specialize in taking care of adults or children, exclusively, or can choose not to specialize in anything at all. The kind of doctor that doesn’t specialize is a general practice doctor or a family doctor. Anyone of any age can go see one of these doctors.

If what you want is a more specialized kind of primary healthcare for yourself or a loved one, then you might want to consider one of the following:

• An internal medicine doctor/internist/geriatrician – This kind of doctor specializes in treating adults and seniors.
• A pediatrician – A specialist in treating children.
• An OB-GYN – Specializes in obstetrics (pregnancy) and gynecology (female reproductive health) but also general healthcare.

You can narrow your choice down by looking for specialization or certain characteristics in a physician. Do you want a general physician who can care for your entire family or a kind of specialist? Also, it may be important to you to find a physician who’s very compassionate and trustworthy. You can trust your instincts when you meet a physician for a consultation. A consultation is the best way to find out whether a physician would be right for you. Beforehand, consider making a list of questions to ask the physician.

You might also want to consider the following about a physician:

• Is the doctor located near you for convenient access?
• What is the doctor’s availability like?
• Can the physician meet any special needs you have? (If applicable.)
• Is the doctor in your health insurance network? (This may help you keep your costs down.)
• Is it a group practice or an individual practice? (This may affect how often you’ll see the physician.)

Some people look for advice and a recommendation from family or friends. Also, the city or state you live in might have an online service for finding a primary care physician near you. Of course, you could just come to see one of our doctors here at the office of Dr. Pedro Ylisastigui MD! We can provide geriatric care, pediatric care, women’s healthcare, and general healthcare, and we’re very compassionate in what we do. Connect with our clinic to learn more about us.

Visit us at 1150 Lee Blvd. #4 Lehigh Acres, FL 33936 for more information. Contact us to get specialized and comprehensive care. We serve patients from Lehigh Acres FL, Fort Myers FL, Gateway FL, Alva FL, Buckingham FL, Tice FL, Villas FL, Cape Coral FL, Matlacha FL, and Suncoast Estates FL.

We look forward to your visit with us soon!