Did you know people live longer in areas where there is greater access to primary care doctors? Without primary care, research shows that simple problems can progress to complicated medical conditions.

Primary care is essential to good health

Where do you go when you have a new health concern? Maybe you started experiencing headaches. This doesn’t mean you need to see a neurologist right away. After all, we don’t know why you are experiencing headaches, and the cause may be unrelated to your brain altogether.

In today’s health care system, you have many options for seeking health care services for a new concern. Those options include: a primary care office, urgent care center, virtual urgent telehealth service, or an emergency department.

First, it is best to call your primary care office, which is available to you 24/7 by calling the office phone number and speaking to a staff member or the provider on-call after hours. The primary care office can listen to your concern and provide a personalized response to your concern because they have access to your health history. There is no need to repeat your entire medical history to them—what a relief! 

Your doctor may quickly realize headache is a common side effect of a medication you are taking, or maybe they want you to check your blood sugar while you’re on the phone together because they know you have diabetes. If there is uncertainty, they can help you decide what level of care you need, whether that means coming to the office, to urgent care, or the emergency department. The advantage of primary care: personalized recommendations tailored to your health history. If you need hospital-level care, primary care can help you decide things such as whether you need an ambulance ride. They can also call the hospital to provide important background information to the emergency team that will help inform your care upon arrival.

In some cases, a new health concern may not even require you to leave your home. For example, maybe you have painful urination, but it’s a Friday afternoon with the office closing soon. Do you want to go to urgent care or sit in a hospital emergency department for hours waiting for a diagosis and medication? When your primary care doctor knows you well, they can often confidently review your symptoms and diagnose a urinary tract infection over the phone. They may be able to, sending a medication prescription request directly to your local pharmacy. 

Primary care providers understand the big picture

Who is the person in your life you run to with questions? (Otherwise known as your “go-to person.”) When it comes to your health, that person is your primary care provider.

It’s increasingly important to have a trusted professional looking out for you when it comes to your health needs.

Let’s say those headaches you were having turned out to be migraines. For a few years, your migraines were under good control with medication, but then the medications stopped working and your primary care doctor thinks it might be time to see a headache specialist. You called the headache specialist your doctor recommended but are told there is a 6-month wait for an appointment.

Thankfully, primary care offices also serve as your advocate. Your primary care provider can help to ensure the specialist receives your headache history, all the treatments you have tried, and talk to the specialist directly. As a bonus, this usually this results in a sooner appointment.

Primary care providers give tailored health support and advice

Did you know that primary care doctors undergo rigorous, specialized training in the prevention and management of chronic disease in a holistic way? After medical school, they receive a minimum of three years of training focused on how to address new and existing health concerns. This means  you can see one doctor for your acute health concerns but also for treatment of many long-term problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and many other conditions.

Also, they look for specific health risks that you or your family might have and make customized recommendations to prevent or delay the onset of these conditions. They can recommend the right time and place for various health screenings. These are personalized recommendations that consider your individual and family risk factors for certain treatable diseases and incorporate your preferences. 

It can be helpful to think of primary care doctors as the specialists who keep you healthy and focus on the big picture. They are the conductor of your health care services and your personal advocate, making sure you receive adequate follow-up care when you meet with a specialist.

With your headaches under better control, you can meet with your primary care doctor and check to make sure you are up to date on all the health prevention services we mentioned before.

Isn’t it nice to have someone keeping track of your health to-do list for you? Think of your primary care doctor as the person keeping track of your “health to-dos,” all focused on keeping you your healthiest self. It sounds to me like primary care can be your comprehensive one-stop destination, continuing to take care of your wellness even when your health is on track.

Why you should get back on track with your primary care provider

Your primary care doctor may send you to specialists from time to time. However, it is extremely important to check-in with your primary care office so they can review and harmonize the recommendations from multiple specialists. It is critical to make sure the different recommendations work together in sync to support your overall health goals. Ideally, you will build a long-term relationship with your primary care doctor, which means that your doctor will learn about what matters most to you and then be able to help you find health solutions that align with your goals.

Let’s look at the following scenario and see how primary care can help this person get back to better health.

Ms. Smith is a 70-year-old woman who saw her cardiologist and was found to have high blood pressure. She was subsequently started on a blood pressure medication, with a known side effect of leg swelling.

Ms. Smith became quite busy and forgot to schedule her 3-month follow-up with her primary care doctor, but thankfully she was going to see her kidney doctor soon. The kidney doctor saw that Ms. Smith’s legs were quite swollen and assumed it was due to her kidney disease, so she was started on a water pill to reduce the swelling.

Ms. Smith then became dizzy from the dehydration, so she went to an urgent care a few weeks later. The urgent care was just down the street from her home, but they did not have access to her medical records. Ms. Smith couldn’t remember all the medications she was taking to tell the urgent care center. The urgent care started her on a new medication to treat her dizziness.

After four months, three new medications and three new symptoms, Ms. Smith had an appointment at her primary care office. They thoroughly reviewed all her records, medications, and health problems. Together, they realized that the new problems were medication side effects. The primary care doctor was able to discontinue both the water pill and the dizziness medication and switch the blood pressure medication to one that doesn’t  cause swelling. Because she saw her primary care doctor, Ms. Smith’s leg swelling disappeared, and she was able to avoid unnecessary medications.

With regular visits with your primary care doctor you can help ensure organized medical care, improved quality of life, and aim to prevent future disease. Access to your primary care office may open the door for a longer, healthier life.

Haven’t seen your primary care doctor in while or maybe your need to find a new primary care? That’s OK—let’s get back on track!

Get to know Team Alice and the work they do to prevent medication harm

Inspired by the tragic death of Alice Brennan due to medication harm and system failure, members from three senior centers in Western New York joined forces with the Western New York Deprescribing Partnership and the University at Buffalo Primary Care Research Institute to form Team Alice. Their goal: to generate actionable lessons to protect others from medication harm. The senior center members, called Elder Voices, worked with members of Team Alice to generate messages on medication harm and the importance of self-advocacy. Their hope is to save the Alice’s of the world.

This is an article in a series from Team Alice, a project of The Center For Successful Aging at the University at Buffalo. Please visit Team Alice’s YouTube page for more information on medication safety.

Funding for this research was provided by RRF Foundation for Aging Grant #2019060 and USDeN NIA R24AG064025 subaward STE2196-17.