Family Medicine & Primary Care: The Thin Line

Hospital professionals posing for a photo

The act of providing healthcare services that integrated and accessible to all is the best definition for primary care. Clinicians have the training to address most of the health issues that are within the community. They do this while building a good relationship with the patients and their families, adds one of Salem’s largest medical clinics. Family medicine approaches primary healthcare with both the social and community factors considered. That is a long stretch since it has to cover all issues around specialty medicine. Family medicine also takes up a central role here in being the primary guide for patients into the right healthcare system to adopt.

But, this family-oriented medicine system not only focuses on the clinical and healthcare aspects. It also majors on the behavioral and biological sciences for all age groups, genders, and diseases. And, the close relationship between patients and their families and the medics aims at improving health care delivery.

How Do Family Medicine Physicians Serve the Patients?

Primary care practices are the core of every medical clinic that offers family medicine. The medical practitioners here do perform routine procedures for ancillary services. But, they also provide general treatment, obstetric care, and special care for children and infants. Other medical services around this discipline include colonoscopy and Endoscopy, and family planning. Family medicine physicians can also offer vasectomy and the management of early stages of pregnancy. Conducting ultra-sound imaging, and skin modifications are also within their area of specialization.

The Importance of Primary Care

Female patient consulting a doctorThere is evidence that primary care not only extends lifespans but also improves quality of life in those years. It reduces the cases of untimely deaths, too. But that banks heavily on the quality of training, the level of experience, and primary care medics available to offer primary care services. The areas with a higher ratio of caregivers per patient have witnessed lesser deaths from heart diseases, cancer, and stroke. Further, this research has shown that healthcare costs in the US have a strong link to the accessibility of primary care services.

But, there is good news here. As a Salem-based medical clinic explains, there has been an overall reduction of treatment costs over the years. Further, the number of certified medical specialists offering family medicine has increased. That has resulted in a decrease in outpatient visits and reduced inpatient admissions. On a broader view, that means that the number of people seeking ER services and surgeries has significantly reduced, too.

Conclusion: Is Primary Care the Way to Go?

Primary care majors on better healthcare for the family and the entire community. That has made it one of the primary pillars of healthcare systems. Now, physicians in the primary care facet are emphasizing on patient-physician relationships. Typically, that is through choosing to change focus from the physician to the patient with the aim of improving access to healthcare. Both rural and urban communities now have more family care providers serving them. That has, in turn, reduced mortality among infants, increased birth rates, and raised immunization rates. And, with specialty care being part, primary care offers a fair distribution of medical services among the population.

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