Spring 2023 3 Why is primary care so important? Having a primary care provider (PCP) is a great investment in your health. A PCP is a physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or other provider that you see for your main healthcare needs. Here are four things you should know about PCPs: 1Your PCP can help you avoid health problems. Your PCP can give you regular checkups and preventive services to help you stay healthy. These include annual wellness visits, health screenings and healthy lifestyle counseling. Some health problems don’t have symptoms at first. Your PCP can check for these problems, before they become harder to treat. “It is important to have a PCP even when you feel like you do not need one,” says Theo Zemanuel, D.O., a family medicine physician at Texas Health Huguley. “That is the ideal time to begin implementing healthy lifestyle changes. It is much more difficult to backtrack and try to implement healthy changes to your life when there is already a significant problem at hand.” 2Your PCP can help you manage your overall health. Your PCP can treat unexpected injuries and illnesses as well as chronic diseases. If you need to see other specialists to manage your health, your PCP can refer you and coordinate your care. 3PCPs build relationships that boost their patients’ wellbeing. “I enjoy seeing my patients continue to evolve and ideally march toward an improved sense of overall health and wellness,” Dr. Zemanuel says. 4Having a PCP may help you save money. People who have a PCP tend to spend less on healthcare overall. Good reasons for a yearly visit In addition to your yearly physical, your PCP can help you with: Healthy lifestyle goals, like losing excess weight. Staying safe and preventing injuries if you or your child plans to participate in sports or recreational activities. Family planning goals, if desired. Looking for a PCP? Search by specialty, location and more in our directory. Go to Texas HealthHuguley.org and select “Find Providers.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzIxMDA=