Should Senior Citizens Choose A Specialist Or Primary Care Physician?

A primary care physician is one who we generally approach when we fall ill. Only when they help us diagnose a particular problem that needs special treatment, do we approach a specialist. A primary care physician helps keep a regular check on our body condition and health with regular check-ups, tests, and immunizations. These physicians could be pediatricians, geriatricians, medical practitioners, or general internists. All of these physicians play a very important role in coordinating your health care. And, when they diagnose a particular condition that requires special treatment, they may themselves refer us to a specialist.

However, there are certain medical plans that don’t require the consultation of a primary care physician before seeking specialized care. Thus, many people may see a specialist as their main doctor rather than a primary care physician. So, the debate here is which option provides better outcomes – seeing a primary care physician before a specialist, or approaching a specialist right away.

To seek an answer, a research was done, where data from almost 4 million Medicare beneficiaries was studied, all of them who were senior citizens with two or more chronic conditions. Data was compared between the number of hospitalizations that the participants experienced, the deaths, and total medical costs for people who saw primary care physicians versus those who approached specialists firsthand. As per the study, more than 30% of participants used a specialist as their main doctor. All costs and hospitalizations were higher for those who saw specialists directly. Conversely, those who saw primary care physicians first had fewer hospitalizations and encountered lower costs. However, the health outcomes of both groups of participants were almost the same. Only the number of hospitalizations and the costs involved differed. However, this doesn’t mean that one must not rely on specialist care, because the treatment and kind of care required for every individual and health condition is different. But, what the study wants to show is that working with a primary care physician as the first healthcare contact can result in higher quality and more patient-centric care.

If you are looking for the finest kind of care for yourself, or any other senior citizen in your family, or anyone at all for that matter, Maitri Hospital’s general physician in Kota is the best choice for you. Here, you can be dealt with prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all kinds of treatments. Patients are managed and cared for with utmost nursing and nurturing, no matter what kind of undifferentiated or multi-system disease it may be. While all kinds of diseases and illnesses can be cured, the physicians here offer specialized services in treating dengue, chicken gunya, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and food poisoning. Apart from this, Maitri Hospital is also known for excellence in various other specialized fields of neurology, neuro surgery, urology, plastic surgery, paediatrics, neonatal care, orthopaedics, surgical gastroenterology, psychiatry, obstetrics, gynaecology, general surgery, ENT, ophthalmology, and much more. So, whatever your condition, whatever your age, whatever your ailment, Maitri Hospital has all the cure for you! 

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