4 Ways Seeing A Primary Care Physician Saves You Money In The Long Run
by Julia Gregory
Taking care of your health requires more than just the occasional trip to the hospital when emergency strikes. Finding a primary care provider and developing a relationship with them through regular visits is essential for good health, but it can also save you money over the course of your life. Discover how to trim your healthcare spending with the help of a primary care provider.
Catching Diseases Early
First, seeing a doctor regularly allows you to stick to a schedule of timely routine screening for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other life-threatening problems. By catching the earliest warning signs of a disease or condition, you can get the most effective treatments and spend less on care as well. For example, treating breast cancer caught at Stage 0 costs on average about half as much as treatment for a Stage 3 case. This also increases your chances of surviving cancer or a similarly serious condition.
Preventing Emergency Room Visits
People who don't have a designated doctor who handles most illnesses often turn to the emergency room when it's not absolutely necessary. Even if you're not the kind to visit the ER unless necessary, skipping physicals and routine appointments with your doctor could land you there and leave you with a big bill. Allowing little things like sinus infections that linger and unusual heart palpitations to go without attention will lead to a major medical emergency. Seeing your doctor for small ailments maintains your overall health, reducing the chances of an acute outbreak of something dangerous.
Condensing Multiple Appointments
Don't have a lot of free time for making appointments with half a dozen specialists on a monthly basis? Condense your care as much as possible by moving routine care over to a primary care physician and save money on travel expenses. They can work with any existing specialists to offer monitoring and maintenance visits without the need to travel to a different office. If there is an issue they can't handle, they'll verify that you really need to see the specialist. If you're paying out of pocket or have minimal insurance coverage for specialty practices, you'll really appreciate the savings on office visit fees too.
Advising on Testing
Finally, it's easy to end up with repeated medical tests when you're seeing a few different care providers for the same issue. Paying for multiple blood tests or x-rays is simply a waste of your money when they're unnecessary and redundant. Working with a single physician who oversees your entire healthcare routine is the best way to determine what tests are truly worth the cost.
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About Me
The decision to move one of my parents into assisted living was one of the most difficult I have ever made. I had extreme feelings of guilt that led to me being at the facility with my parent practically around the clock. It took a few months before I realized that I could not let my own life fall apart from the guilt I was feeling. I also learned that my parent was fine without me constantly hovering around. Since that time, I have had several friends express similar feelings of guilt. I started this blog to help others in the same situation understand not only their feelings about assisted living, but those of their parents.