From preventive care to managing chronic diseases, primary care physicians (PCPs) are essential members of every person’s healthcare team. They are often the first point of contact for questions about your health and who you turn to when health issues arise throughout your life.
Primary care physicians are also experts in helping you stay healthy and feeling your very best. By seeing your primary care physician every year for your annual wellness visit, you can ensure your long-term health is on the right track and catch any issues before they become more serious. Primary care physicians are healthcare providers who walk through long seasons of life with you and provide the highest levels of care for your entire family through every health obstacle that comes your way – whether it’s just a cold or a more serious diagnosis.
So, with how large of a role primary care providers play in your life and all of your family, you don’t want to spend years shopping around for the right primary care provider. We put together an easy list of items to think through and consider to guide you toward the best primary care provider for you and your family!
10 Steps to Finding the Right Primary Care Provider
- Read our Guide to Choosing Your Primary Care Physician
- Make a list of aspects to consider and rank them in order of importance to you. Things to consider could be proximity to your home, business hours, languages, gender and age of provider, services offered, and accepted insurance plans.
- Create a list of potential primary care physicians in your area.
- Ask friends, family members, or co-workers for their recommendations.
- Check your insurance plan to discover which providers and offices are in-network with your insurance.
- Look for highly recommended doctors on NextDoor or other local social media platforms.
- Compare the list of potential doctors with your list of top priorities. Remove the doctors who don’t meet your top requirements. Remember, you want a doctor who will be with you for years to come – not just a quick fix.
- Google the remaining doctors on your list and read other reviews.
- Look at the doctors’ or office’s website or social media to get an idea of educational sources they share, special interests they have, or even watch any videos that are available.
- Use the “Checklist: Questions to ask before your appointment” in our Guide to Choosing Your Primary Care Physician to determine what’s important to you.
- Compare your list of doctors to your list of “wants,” and determine who matches best.
- Make your final selection!
Once you have narrowed down to your final selection, call the office to make an appointment. You can prepare for your first appointment by jotting down questions you want to ask, gathering any relevant medical records you might need to share, and making an inventory of your current medications.
To browse Avance Care’s list of primary care providers, visit this page on our website.