Primary care is the first point of contact between patients and the healthcare system, providing people with access to the information and resources they need to achieve optimal health outcomes.
Primary care providers typically work with a wide range of patients and have a comprehensive knowledge of the various physical, psychological and social conditions that may affect their patients.
What is the purpose of primary care?
The primary goal of healthcare is to improve the health of the population by facilitating access to care. It also focuses on the person as a whole, and not on the specific disease of their organ, system or pathology. It aims to improve your overall health and well-being by preventing or treating possible health problems.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), primary health care providers play a number of important roles in achieving this goal. These include:
More comprehensive on healthcare
- Preventing social inequalities in healthcare
- The organization of health services to meet health needs
- Promote the integration of health and healthcare into public policy in all sectors
- Contributing to the effective development of healthcare leaders
- Increased involvement of all those with an interest in health, be it patients, doctors, medical staff or paramedics
They are also in a unique position to understand and study the natural course of the disease and the patient’s family environment, as well as to treat and to monitor chronic or recurrent health problems.
Benefits of primary care
Properly implemented, primary care is very beneficial to the health of patients, as well as financially reducing the burden on the public health system. This is partly due to fewer hospitals and lower demand for secondary and tertiary health services.
Other benefits of primary health care include:
- Improving access to health services
- Improving the quality of healthcare
- Emphasis on preventative health
- Early intervention to prevent the development of health problems
- Better relationships with patients
- Less need for specialized care
Economic benefits in various forms related to jobs
However, the benefits of primary care are also influenced by a number of obstacles. The general shortage of practitioners is a major challenge, and the new demand for doctors is growing faster than supply. In addition, the standard of care varies between different occupational groups, regions and countries.
Primary care providers
There are several types of primary care providers that are responsible for the ongoing care of patients. Each of them can be a point of contact in the healthcare system to the patient for advice or referral.
- General Practitioner
- Altra
- Family doctor
- Doctor of Internal Medicine
- Gynecologist
- Gynecologist
- Geriatrics
- Pediatrician
Each of the professional groups, as a rule, has a certain group of patients for whom it is most suitable. They have a deeper understanding of the health problems that affect the patients.
The general practitioner or general practitioner is the most common type of general practitioner and has the most knowledge about the clinical picture of their patients and the greatest differences in their group patients.
It is important to point out that doctors who are not engaged in primary care do not provide the same comprehensive and ongoing care as doctors of certain specialties. Non-primary health care providers provide a number of services at the primary care level, such as diet and lifestyle changes for diabetics and heart patients.
