When should I go in for care?

Scheduling visits, drawing labs, managing chronic conditions, it can all be a bit cumbersome to handle. And depending on who you ask, you might get advice that goes against your best interests. Our greatest priority has been and will always be the health and well-being of every patient we serve. With that in mind, we considered ways to simplify the healthcare experience, aiming to achieve more positive patient outcomes while minimizing unnecessary visits.

For our insured patients, understanding your coverage is the first step in pursuing an organized healthcare journey. Here, you can find an interactive sample Summary of Benefits and Coverage document supplied by CMS.gov, which we believe is an invaluable resource for helping patients understand critical medical and financial terminology.

One of the first steps patients should consider, regardless of their health status, is owning their preventive care routine. While to many this may be a foregone conclusion, we can often let it fall out of practice as life pushes relentlessly onward. Regardless of whether you have a clean bill of health or you manage multiple chronic conditions, there are always actions you can take to give yourself a healthier tomorrow.

General Preventive Care

Taking advantage of the benefits of your included preventive care can be one of the best ways to mitigate health risks. Whether it be annual physicals, yearly screenings or the dreaded colonoscopy, closely following your preventive care routine is critical to ensuring long-term health.

Monitoring Diabetes

Along with the help of monitoring devices such as glucose monitors, scheduling at least semiannual (twice-a-year) follow-ups with your PCP is a great way to manage your diabetes, along with many other cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension.

Treating Anxiety and Depression

Most medications prescribed to treat anxiety and depression are regulated under the Controlled Substances Act of 1971 due to their potential effects if abused. We, as prescribing providers of these “controlled substances”, must follow up with patients to whom we’ve prescribed every three (3) months.

Managing ADD/ADHD & More

Akin to the previous slide, medication for attention deficit disorders are highly regulated due to their psychological effects, and require monthly visits until the patient’s conditions and dosage stabilize, from which point visits every three (3) months are required.

• Preventive Care - Follow general guidelines for annual physical exams (Annual Wellness Visits for Medicare patients) and routine screenings for colon, prostate, and breast cancer, among others

• Routine Visits for Patients using Controlled Substances - If you are being treated for ADD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, or other psychological conditions, controlled medications require frequent follow-ups that can range from monthly to quarterly visits, as mandated by the Controlled Substances Act of 1971

• Managing Chronic Conditions - When living with chronic conditions such as chronic hypertension, diabetes, and others, preventive care is supremely important, as poorly managed conditions can result in rapidly deteriorating health. Depending on their severity, semiannual or even quarterly follow-ups on chronic conditions are strongly recommended

• Weight Management - As the use of GLP-1 medications such as Wegovy® to treat obesity has become more common, so has insurance pushback against it. Because of the high cost of production and the simultaneously high demand for these medications, they can be scarce to acquire and, at times, present more issues than they solve. Information regarding their long-term use is also scarce, which is why we will suggest changes to diet and exercise routines before prescribing GLP-1 medications. Typically, we suggest that weight management visits be scheduled on a monthly to quarterly frequency, determined on a case-by-case basis.

• Treating Acute Illnesses & Ailments - We encourage those dealing with an acute illness, whether it be an infection, viral illness, or injury, to consult their PCP as soon as possible. We have made an effort over the past year to better accommodate patients under these circumstances, and we are confident in saying we can evaluate established patients day of, in almost all cases. If you’d like to learn more about why we suggest first contacting your PCP before admitting yourself to Urgent Care or even the Emergency Room, you can find more info about where to go here

Putting your best foot forward isn’t just a saying; it is an everlasting commitment to the self that can result in a longer, healthier, and happier life for you and your loved ones. If our experience has taught us anything, it is that patients who put their best foot forward in their healthcare yield greater outcomes for themselves, allowing them to enjoy the benefits a healthy life can provide.