A family practice provider is a doctor, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse practitioner who cares for the health and well-being of you and your entire family. That’s why you want to choose a provider with whom you can build a rewarding relationship.
The first steps in finding a family practitioner include researching top providers in your area, making a list of your top choices, and narrowing down the list based on your preferences. Once you’ve narrowed down your list, you want to evaluate each provider to decide who is the best fit for you. To do this, it’s best to make an appointment with each potential provider and ask them a few questions.
Let’s discuss a few questions you should ask potential family practice providers to decide the best one for you and your family.
How Do You Handle Emergencies and Acute Care?
Your family practice provider will be your first point of contact when you or any of your family members are sick with a sudden, or acute condition. Even if you have an emergency, you still want to see your family practitioner after receiving care from an emergency service provider to let your doctor know what’s going on.
This is why it is important to ask the family practice provider how they handle urgent matters when they arise. It’s also important to ask if you can call them directly when having an urgent medical problem after their office hours. In order to get the best care, you want a family care provider who can see you/your sick family member the same day or the next day for an urgent matter.
Will You Collaborate with My Specialist?
If you have a preexisting chronic health condition, it’s highly likely that you’re already seeing a specialist. In an ideal situation, your family medicine provider should collaborate with your specialist to keep track of any changes in your health problem and manage them.
So, you must ask your potential family medicine provider if they will reach out to your specialist and collaborate with them to manage your chronic health problem. Also, ask if the family practitioner will be able to find you a specialist after identifying a serious health problem that needs care from a specialist.
What Are Family Practice Provider’s Office Policies?
It is crucial to know the policies of your family practice provider’s office so that you know when you can reach out to the provider and how far in advance you must make an appointment.
You can ask your potential family medicine provider about the days/hours they are available to see patients, times when your family medicine provider takes phone calls, and if they accept questions by email.
Also, ask if your family practice provider makes house calls and the best way to reach them in an emergency.
What Kind of Insurance Do You Accept?
This is an extremely important question if you don’t want to pay for your family practice provider’ services out of pocket. Ask what kind of insurance the family practice provider accepts if additional testing that is part of annual screening is covered, and how the additional services are billed.
Will You Keep My Health Information Private?
Generally, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires all healthcare providers, including your potential family practice provider, to keep their medical information confidential. However, in some cases, the government requires family doctors to report certain data. For example, they are required to file birth and death certificates, use patient information to protect public health in case of a disease outbreak, or report certain illnesses to certain organizations so that they can analyze the nation’s overall health.
If you are concerned about the privacy of your health information, ask your potential family practitioner if your information will be private or if it will be shared with an electronic medical record company, government, or anyone else.
Family Practice Near Me in Irmo, SC
At SC Internal Medicine Associates & Rehabilitation, our team of highly skilled family medicine providers includes board-certified doctors, certified physician assistants, and certified advanced practice nurse practitioners. We provide a wide range of services to maintain the health of our patients and their family members of all ages and gender. Our trained and compassionate providers care for their patient’s health and wellbeing and answer their questions to make them confident in the quality of care they receive
To make an appointment with us call our friendly staff at (803) 749-1111 or fill out our easy-to-use appointment request form. We look forward to treating you and your family!
