What Is Primary Care?

Primary care is routine and regular health care you receive from a dedicated professional. Primary care providers, also known as PCPs or general care physicians, are your “personal doctor.” Some PCPs are physicians, and others are nurse practitioners or physician assistants with advanced training. When you have a primary physician, you see them for annual checkups, seasonal vaccines, sick visits and more. There are a few different kinds of primary care providers.

Family Medicine

Some primary care practitioners specialize in family medicine. They see people of all ages, from babies to adults. Consider choosing a family doctor if you want to bring your whole family to the same doctor or allow your children to see the same provider as they grow into adulthood.

Geriatrics

Geriatric medicine is senior care. Adults over the age of 60 may benefit from seeing a geriatrician. These PCPs have experience treating geriatric health conditions like dementia, arthritis and fall-related injuries.

Internal Medicine

Internal medicine is another kind of primary care. Internal medicine providers offer all of the services a family medicine specialist does, but they treat adults only. General internists are especially good at helping you manage chronic or complex health conditions that require referrals and coordination between specialists.

Pediatrics 

Pediatricians are primary care doctors who treat children. Because pediatricians only see kids, they’re particularly good at diagnosing and treating illnesses that affect young people. This includes emotional, physical and behavioral problems that can develop during childhood. 

Women’s Health 

Women’s health providers, also known as gynecologists, or OB-GYNS, can also be primary care providers. Usually, women’s health specialists choose to focus on only female reproductive health and pregnancy care. However, they’re qualified to be a PCP and sometimes choose to offer full primary care services in addition to women’s health services. Unless your gynecologist specifically offers primary care, you’ll need to see a PCP in addition to your women’s health provider.

What Can a Primary Care Provider Do? 

• Advance care planning
• Annual checkups
• Care coordination
• Chronic disease management
• Counseling
• Diagnostics and labs
• Health risk assessments
• Immunizations
• Prenatal care
• Preventive care
• Referrals to specialty care
• School and sports physicals
• Screenings
• Treatment of illnesses and injuries

Why Should I Have a Primary Care Doctor?

If you don’t have a primary care provider, you may be wondering why you should bother. Many people choose to visit an urgent care clinic when they’re sick and don’t schedule any other medical appointments. However, seeing a primary care provider offers unique benefits you shouldn’t miss out on.

Convenience

While stopping by an urgent care location is certainly convenient, it may surprise you to learn primary care has convenient perks as well. Most OSF Medical Group providers offer same-day and next-day options when you’re not feeling well.

• In-person appointments
• Virtual (video) appointments – You can use a phone, tablet or computer to meet with your provider from home. Request this option when scheduling with your office, or schedule your own video visit in OSF MyChart.
• E-Visits – Available in select offices, you can get medical care for a specific problem by answering a few questions online. You can start an E-Visit in OSF MyChart.

Also, because you have a relationship with your PCP, you can use our patient portal, OSF MyChart, to contact them for medication refills, appointment scheduling or health questions. This valuable tool helps you stay healthy between in-person visits.

Low Cost

Most insurance companies fully cover preventive medicine. That means your annual checkups and many other services provided by primary care physicians are free. Additionally, copays for sick visits are often less expensive than walk-in urgent care.

Prevention

Most importantly, primary care providers help keep you healthier. PCPs offer preventive care, such as checkups, health education, vaccines and health screenings. Preventive care makes it much easier for doctors to catch serious health conditions early, giving you the best possible chance of recovery.

Without a PCP, a person may not realize they have heart disease until they’re hospitalized with a heart attack. If that same person visited a primary care provider regularly, their doctor could’ve caught and treated the issue before they experienced a medical emergency. This disease prevention makes primary care providers an important part of community health. Additionally, preventive services lower your costs by reducing the need for complex treatments.

Holistic Care

At OSF HealthCare, we understand that physical health is often affected by other factors, like emotional well-being, environmental conditions and access to basic necessities. Our primary care teams are committed to all aspects of your health. We connect you with resources and support like:

• Care coordination to help you get all the services you need
• Community resources
• Disease education
• Financial assistance
• Mental health services
• Nutrition counseling
• Transportation programs

Schedule a Visit

Get started below by choosing an OSF Medical Group provider that best meets your needs. For your convenience, you may schedule online or by phone. OSF HealthCare accepts most insurances. View the list of all insurance plans accepted.

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