Who knows you the best? Your parents? Spouse? Child? Friends? Or your colleagues? If your primary care doctor doesn’t make it to the list, you need to change your physician soon.
A primary care physician is more than just a doctor. Over time, he/she becomes a part of the family. The experts should know everything starting from your medical background, you reaction to medications, your lifestyle, allergies and most importantly your treatment preferences.
Choose your doctor wisely
Choosing the right medicine doctor can make or break your health. For example, if you reside in Kolkata, make sure to choose the best medicine doctor in Kolkata so that the risks of major diseases like strokes, heart disease and even cancer reduces.
How to choose your new doctor?
Choosing a new doctor can be quite challenging especially when you have recently moved to a metro city like Kolkata. Asking for recommendations from neighbors, co-workers and friends is a good way to start. However, the same doctor who worked for your friend might not be a good fix for you. Therefore, you have to choose which doctor is most suitable for your needs and situation.
Here are top six tips to choose the right primary care doctor for you –
1. Ask around
Though online research has become a legit thing nowadays, the most common way to find a great doctor has always been asking around. Talk to your friends and family members who live in the same city like yours. Getting a recommendation from someone you trust is a great way to find out a highly skilled, helpful medicine doctor in Kolkata. If you are moving out of the city, ask your current physician to recommend someone in your new location.
2. Think about the logistics
Do you want a health care expert who is located close to your home or work? You can easily run an online search like best medicine doctor near me and you will be loaded with lots of options. Choosing the right one is your job and you need to make a wise decision.
3. Map it out
Choosing a primary care physician means you will be visiting the expert for your everyday health requirements. Therefore, it is very important that the healthcare expert is located near you. It goes without saying that you won’t want to travel very far when you are not feeling that good. However, you must not compromise on the quality of your primary physician just because you want someone nearby.
4. Determine that the healthcare expert meets all your health needs
Whenever you are all set with the list of in-network doctors, you can start narrowing down your list. Well, there are multiple different types of doctors who are identified as primary care physicians. There are also medicine doctors who mainly focus on children and they are known as paediatricians.
- Family practice – family practice physicians are usually able to treat patients of all ages – from newborns to the elderly. If you are looking for the best medicine doctor in Kolkata, look for a generalist who treats a wide variety of conditions.
- Internal medicine – Internal medicine physicians usually treat adults and they diagnose and manage diseases and chronic conditions.
- General practice – General practitioners are like family physicians and they can treat patients of any age or gender. When you know the niches of the specialists, you can narrow down your research in a better way.
5. Don’t forget to check the language
Language is another important factor to check when you are selecting a primary care physician. So make sure both you and your doctor can understand each other’s language. However, many doctors these days use the virtual mode to communicate with the patients.
6. Visiting the doctor
If you are still not sure about your choice, ask the physician you have selected for an appointment. Visiting the doctor to talk about your concerns is always a great idea. Is some case, you may have to pay a co-payment or any other fee for this service. However, it is always a valuable way to gather the information while making your decision.
Nothing can really give you a feel for the right doctor without an office visit and face-to-face meeting. Make sure that you feel comfortable with the medicine doctor in Kolkata. Tell your doctor about all the current medication you are taking.
While you are sitting in the doctor’s office, don’t forget to evaluate all the environmental factors. Are the staffs friendly and efficient enough? Are your phones answered in a timely manner?
If you are not happy with even a single thing, don’t compromise and carry on with your hunt. After all, it’s about you and your family’s health.