Primary Care Q & A

What is primary care? 

Primary care is a holistic approach to your health. A primary care physician offers expert health services and can work with you throughout your lifetime. This creates a personable, comprehensive, and sustained relationship that contributes to your health and wellness. 

Your provider’s goal is to understand your overall needs and achieve the best care and treatment plans for you or your family. Primary care can also include the collaboration of your provider with other health professionals or specialists, and encompass referrals or consultations. 

What’s the difference between primary care and internal medicine? 

Internal medicine focuses solely on treating adults, while primary care is for the whole family. Internal medicine also often treats people with multiple health issues and aids in the management of current chronic conditions. 

A primary care provider can treat a variety of health concerns, similar to an internist, but the practice can be a home for you, your partner, or your teenager.

Primary care is beneficial for teens, focusing on wellness visits, physicals, vaccines, immunizations, and preventive care. 

What are primary care services? 

The goal of primary care is to be a home base for all your health concerns. Your provider works with you to prevent illness or disease, treat current health issues (acute or chronic), and empower your health for the future. 

The practice offers a variety of primary care services like:

  • Wellness and sick visits 
  • Physicals 
  • Immunizations for those 12 and older 
  • Acute illness treatment (strep throat, the flu, respiratory illness) 
  • Injury treatment 
  • Chronic condition management
  • Referrals to specialists 
  • Weight-loss support 
  • Adolescent care 
  • Well-woman exams 
  • Management of mental health concerns like depression 

Your provider stays up to date on your entire medical history, which is a useful reference point if you need to see a specialist or seek outside treatment. Primary care also aids in keeping track of immunizations or vaccines you’ve had or might need to have before traveling. 

The team looks forward to providing excellent, empathetic primary care for you or your family. If you’re interested in seeing an outstanding primary care provider, reach out to Francisco A. Cruz, MD, PA,by phone or online today.