Reasons why you should have a family physician on your speed dial

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread and cold and flu season nears, you might wonder what to do if you or a loved one start feeling sick. While you might be tempted to wait it out or go to the hospital’s emergency department due to this, hoping you will get better.

However, it would be wise to avoid the emergency department of your local hospital to prevent the spread of germs. Not to mention to prevent yourself from contracting the Coronavirus. Therefore, whenever you feel ill or sick, the best thing to do here is to contact your family physician first, right from the comfort of your own home.

There are many benefits of having a family physician on speed dial. After all, healthcare is an urgent matter and requires constant and vigilant attention.

After all, when you’re sick, the last thing you would want to do is wait inside an emergency department in hopes that someone might give you the medical attention you deserve.

For severe medical emergencies, you won’t have any other option but to visit your local hospital’s emergency department. However, having a family physician on speed dial will allow you to keep your health in check, amongst other benefits. So, with that in mind, let us look at why every individual should have a family physician on speed.

It allows you to monitor and maintain your health.

Preventative care is always better than finding a cure for something, be it any disease or medical condition. This rings true and is one of the best reasons why having a primary care physician on speed is critical.

After all, it gets you one step closer to health preservation. So, whether you have a family nurse who completed an online MSN FNP program or a doctor in the family who recently became an MD, having a healthcare professional to rely on during emergencies gives you the peace of mind you deserve.

Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, health checkups shouldn’t be performed only for treating an already existing medical condition. Instead, they are there to provide you with expert advice on how to live a healthy life as a whole.

Moreover, while having a family physician on speed dial, you’ll receive practical dietary and health suggestions to keep yourself in tip-top condition.

It allows continuity in healthcare. 

With a family physician on speed dial, you can rest assured that you will always have someone recounting your medical history. As a result, your physician’s clinic or hospital will have them archived and ready for utilization whenever required.

This is also the case for ensuring that your appointment/health checkups go as smoothly as possible. You will no longer have to summarize your medical information, including details of the medication you are taking currently or took in the past.

In the end, having a primary care physician, be it a nurse or a doctor, on speed dial ensures continuity in healthcare.

It will allow you to save time.

Instead of traveling to a hospital or clinic when you’re not feeling well, you can call up your family physician and ask them to visit you while you stay at home. Doing so will allow you to save the time and effort needed to travel to a physical healthcare facility, especially if you aren’t physically capable of doing so.

Because telehealth visits are entirely virtual, you’ll spend most of your time conversing with your family physician face-to-face. After all, technology has advanced leaps and bounds, making this a reality for us.

So, whether you get in touch with your family physician through a Zoom or Skype video call, ensure that you are ready to accept their advice. Otherwise, it won’t do you any good whatsoever.

It allows you to keep the lines of communication open. 

Having a primary care physician on speed dial ensures smooth and hassle-free two-way communication. You will feel more comfortable talking to someone who has prior knowledge of your health condition. Not to mention, you will receive excellent customer service, or in today’s case, ‘patient service’ from your family physician and their attending staff too.

Your family physician’s office or clinic will never frighten you nor intimidate you compared to when you visit a hospital, and everywhere you see are new faces. Instead, you’ll be most comfortable whenever the time comes for your monthly health checkup or a medical examination.

It allows you to detect medical conditions early. 

Most severe, chronic medical conditions start early on with no visible signs or symptoms. Such is the case because our eyes are trained only to pinpoint these symptoms, not until they worsen and start to wreak havoc inside our bodies.

Here, a family physician can step in. by keeping your family physician on speed dial, you can visit their office or ask them to come to your home and give you personalized health checkups.

Doing so enables them to screen you for medical conditions and treat them before they become worse and become something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.

In the end, preventative care is a must if you want to avoid severe medical conditions, and your family physician can help you identify and impeded them with urgency.

It will allow you to know whether you should visit the ER or not. 

Are you experiencing symptoms severe enough to calling medical emergency services? Should you ask someone to drive you to your local hospital’s ER? While it is advisable to avoid emergency rooms these days, mainly due to the COVID-19outbreak, you will have to go to a hospital in case of severe medical emergencies.

That said, this is where having a family physician on speed dial will come in handy. When you call them up and explain the symptoms you’re experiencing, they’ll help you identify whether you should go to the hospital ASAP.So, call them up if you feel ill or sick, and they will advise you what to do next.

Conclusion. 

Having a family physician on speed dial is a blessing in disguise that most individuals don’t acknowledge. In fact, when you establish a lasting relationship with your family physician, they will gain a better understanding of your health history and help you live a healthy and happy life.

After all, when you have someone on speed dial who knows you inside out, you can rest assured that you’re in good hands as far as healthcare is concerned!