How to Find a Good Primary Care Physician?

How to Find a Good Primary Care Physician_

How do you distinguish a bad doctor from a good one? This question is important, because, according to studies, patients who feel that they have found an excellent specialist are recovering much faster. However, all patients have their own requirements for physicians.

Therefore, Trust Pharmacy has prepared for you a list of signs by which you can identify a good primary care physician. In the end, we will also talk about the distinguishing features that may seem to be the doctor’s shortcomings.

10 Signs of a Good Primary Care Physician

1. The doctor is serious and categorical

Often the doctor has a huge responsibility. And despite the fact that we would like him/her to be soft and gentle, he/she has a right to be strict with us and not leave room for a sense of humor.

Thus, the doctor not only maintains his/her own concentration at work but also sets up the patient in a serious way. After all, health is not to be trifled with.
However, this does not mean that a good doctor cannot have a sense of humor. Therefore, before drawing conclusions, check out a few more features below.

2. The doctor is not afraid to show his/her doubts

A good primary care doctor is not a specialist who makes a diagnosis in the first minutes of meeting a patient. A physician who really wants to completely cure may say “I don’t know,” “I need to read about it,” or “Let’s monitor your condition.”

Ultimately, you will benefit from such caution.

3. The doctor gives you all the necessary information.

It is logical that the knowledge of the doctor and patient about how the body is structured and what processes take place in it are different. A good specialist will tell everything that he/she knows about the patient’s condition and warn about all the risks associated with the treatment or its absence. After meeting with such a doctor, patients usually have no questions about their condition.

4. The doctor speaks a language you understand

This one also follows from the previous paragraph: you must understand what the doctor tells you. The abundance of special terminology in the speech of physicians is often not a sign of professionalism but a desire to hide their uncertainty behind complex words.

This is especially true for doctors working with children. Dry facts and edifications in their case are meaningless. It is important for them to make the child want to listen.

5. The doctor remembers you

It is clear that doctors contact a huge number of people every day and cannot keep in mind the names of all patients and every word they said. But if you have been observed by one specialist for a long time, and he/she is still leafing through your medical history from the very beginning to remember who you are, it’s a warning sign.
Although the doctor is not required to remember all the details, it’s a big advantage if he/she recognizes you and remembers details about your health.

6. The doctor hears you

Many patients play the goat: they make diagnoses based on tests in journals or are guided by the advice of people who have nothing to do with medicine. But this does not mean that the doctor can skip all their words.

If the physician hears what is bothering you, asks clarifying questions, responds to every symptom that you have voiced, and does not silently nod his/her head, filling out papers, then you have come to a good primary care specialist.

7. The doctor hears not only you

During inpatient treatment, doctors periodically have to contact the patient’s loved ones. A good specialist does not avoid such meetings but, on the contrary, uses communication with the patient’s visitors to get to the bottom of the truth.

8. The doctor does not neglect the opinion of narrow specialists

A good therapist can work in a team and will not try to act alone. If such a doctor doubts his/her findings, he/she will consult with colleagues, without worrying about his/her reputation.

9. The doctor is looking for a source of problems

A good primary care provider will cure you of the disease, and the perfect one will prevent its recurrence. Therefore, another sign of an excellent specialist is the desire not only to eliminate the disease but also to find out its causes.

10. The doctor is not trying to please you

Compliments, smiling ear to ear and off-topic conversation are tricks used by doctors who simply want to avoid negative feedback from patients. If the doctor is confident in his/her professionalism, he/she will not try to please patients at all costs. Actions speak louder than words.

Things that should not scare you

  • The doctor raised his/her voice. The health care provider is often limited by the authority in relation to patients; he/she cannot make some important decisions instead of the patient. Therefore, if a doctor raises his/her voice in the hope of admonishing you, perhaps he/she is really worried about your future;
  • The specialist spent less time on you than you expected. Yes, sometimes it takes more than one day to make an accurate diagnosis. However, most of this time the physician is collecting anamnesis, conducting tests and necessary examinations. And direct communication with the patient can be very short;
  • The doctor is not answering the phone. Primary care physicians may give patients their phone number but often patients neglect elementary ethics, calling doctors after hours and several times per day. If the doctor does not answer the phone, look at the clock: maybe he or she is sleeping? Or maybe the doctor is accepting another patient and will call you back at the end of the examination.

When searching for a good health care provider, you can also use a “Find a doctor near you” service. We wish you strong health but if some occur, we hope this article will assist you in finding an excellent physician who will help you!

Finally, we want to note that before criticizing the doctor, it is advisable to make sure that you are a good patient: value the time of your specialist, do not make your own diagnoses, follow all the instructions and do not neglect the disease.