It can be difficult to understand the difference between Urgent Care and Primary Care.
Everyone desires good health. Therefore, it is essential to understand the medical options you have. Oftentimes, people confuse urgent care and primary care health services. Your understanding of these healthcare choices will help you access the appropriate healthcare for you and your family.
In this discussion, we explore the differences between Primary Care and Urgent Care.
What is Primary Care?
It is an integrated and continuing health care service. Primary care helps people live healthy lives. This form of health care thrives on relationship building between a healthcare provider and the patient – read what is a primary care physician, and what do they do for more understanding.
Essentially, primary care takes care of your health from conception to birth to adulthood and on into the golden years. It handles a variety of health issues from the common cold to chronic health issues.
What is Urgent Care?
Urgent Care delivers mobile healthcare services. The providers can work outside of a health facility, usually for emergency reasons. Treatments can include minor surgery, injuries, cuts, aches and pains, etc.
Both health care services play a complementary role rather than competitive. However, there are distinct differences that set them apart. You need both health care systems available in your quest for complete healthcare.
Primary Care vs. Urgent Care
Though Urgent Care centers play a vital role in your health, they do not replace the Primary Care doctor for the following reasons.
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Long term relationships
A primary care provider is a friend of the family. There is a bond between your primary care doctor and your entire family. Such a bond makes the primary care provider familiar with the health history of every member of the family they care for. Thus, a relationship with the primary care provider is long-term, while this is not so with the urgent care provider.
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Wait Times
The wait time is a major difference between primary care and urgent care providers. The use of primary care is mostly for early detection and prevention of a major health issue from happening. Appointments are made for these visits and wait times can be short depending on your primary care office. However, urgent care is often utilized to handle health emergencies. There are sometimes long wait times at urgent care centers.
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Personalization
The primary care provider offers more personalized health services than the urgent care provider. Primary care doctors have a long-term relationship with the patient and is familiar with their health history. The urgent care provider often first comes in contact with a patient only at the point of health care need.
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Cost
The cost of accessing urgent care can be high compared to primary care depending on the type of treatment and insurance coverage. Since the consideration of a primary care provider is your total wellbeing, insurance providers usually cover more for well patient visits and regular screenings.
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Follow up
The focus of a primary care provider is to build a relationship with their patient. Your primary care doctor will follow-up on your health progress and build your medical history.
The urgent care provider will only treat you for the case presented. You can continue with your primary care provider after seeing the urgent care provider.
Primary Care or Urgent Care – which should you choose?
If you live in Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, or La Quinta and the surrounding cities who should you choose between a primary care and urgent care provider?
Life is not without emergencies. However, we can draw lessons from those around us. These lessons have taught us to deal with emergencies by prevention.
Since primary care providers deliver integrated health care services as the first-line health provider, they help to avoid many health emergencies.
Usually, you can help encourage your own holistic health by choosing the best primary care doctor. The right primary care provider will stay with you and your family to prevent urgent medical issues.
We’re happy to help!
You can gain more insight by talking with seasoned primary care doctors whose goal it is to see you stay healthy.
Learn how to find and select a primary care doctor or schedule a free consultation with the doctors at Coachella Valley Direct Primary Care Physicians in Rancho Mirage Ca.
Coachella Valley Direct Primary Care Physicians, located in Rancho Mirage California, and serving the entire Coachella Valley, for all their primary healthcare needs. Offering in office, and virtual appointments. The membership program allows you to have full access, without long waiting, high unexpected healthcare costs, and doctors who work with you to help you live the best optimum life possible.
For one low monthly fee, you avoid waiting, office visit fees, and a referral network to all specialists necessary to meet your needs.
Our website – https://coachellavalleydpc.com/
Call us direct 760-642-5549
Serving Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella.
