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Bill Klaproth: Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. And today, I invite you to listen as we explore the role of your primary care provider. And joining me today is Dr. Andy Tran, a family medicine physician with Reid Health. Dr. Tran, thank you so much for your time. It is great to talk with you on this very interesting, and I'm sure a subject that people have questions about. So let's start with this, why do people need a primary care provider?

Dr Andy Tran: Bill, thank you very much for having me. The primary care provider is solely the quarterback of your care team. This person is the first point of contact and most likely will be the first person to see signs of things like high blood pressure, mood disorder, obesity, leg, swelling, and other health issues.

The PCP's job is to make sure you get the right care in a way that fits your needs and values. This could include managing those abnormal findings or symptoms or referring you to a specialist. Over time, your PCP will learn nuances of your medical history, your reaction to medication, your health goals, your lifestyle, your treatment preferences, and whether or not your overall health care needs are met.

That intimate knowledge can make a big difference to your health. Studies actually have shown that people with primary care providers are more likely to get preventive services including cancer screenings and reports significantly better healthcare access. And patients that are active with a PCP have fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits as well. And they do report feeling better about their overall wellbeing.

Bill Klaproth: Yeah, that's really important and good things to keep in mind. I love how you put that, the quarterback of your care team. That really illustrates what a PCP can do for you. So then you did mention a few things here. Can you go a little bit more in depth of the role and then really the overall importance of a PCP to someone's health?

Dr Andy Tran: A primary care provider is essential to helping patients access healthcare and staying healthy. Some primary care providers are physician assistants, some are nurse practitioners and some are doctors. Regardless, a PCP takes care of you, your family, the people in it. We do well-child checks, sports physicals, immunization updates, and treat any acute illness that may cost you or your child to stay home from work or school.

Additionally, we help prevent diseases by identifying risk factors and coordinating and managing chronic diseases that not only add years to your life, but also improve the quality of those years. A specialist will still need a quarterback. Your specialist is really focused on a specific issue really, while your PCP looks at the big picture by pulling all the data from all the specialists and discussing those with you, the patient.

Data shows that adults with a PCP are 19% less likely to die a premature death than those who see only specialists. For example, an endocrinologists may focus on adjusting your insulin to better manage your blood sugars. Your primary care provider will be checking your feet to see if you need specialized diabetics insoles and asking if you've seen a podiatrist or whether or not you've had an eye exam by an optometrist to ensure normal vision. So it's important to have someone on your team to help you pull data, interpret them and guide you in your care.

Bill Klaproth: Yeah, that really makes sense. So you said your PCP can do well-child checks, sports physicals, immunization updates, treat any acute illnesses, things like that. What are some of the other things or conditions a PCP can do or treat a patient for?

Dr Andy Tran: What don't we do? Well, actually that depends on your PCP's specialty. Some primary care providers practice internal medicine and sees patients 16 and above. But the majority of those who practice family medicine see all ages and can do prenatal care, obstetrics, GYN exams, take care of your baby when they are born and continue to take care of them until the end. Hence, the saying, "Cradle to grave" or "Womb to tomb."

During your visits, your PCP will ask health questions to perform a screening test to help identify risk factors and prevent development of major health problems down the line, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. Additionally, we treat acute illnesses such as coughs, colds, chest pains, stomach pain and UTI to save you a trip to the acute care and/or emergency department.

We also manage a wide variety of chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol disorders, thyroid disorders. We control the diabetes and mental health issues by prescribing and adjusting medications, ordering tests, referring to a specialist, and providing education on these specific illness to help patients manage them without medications or get off the medications that they're on.

Bill Klaproth: So, let me ask you this then, for someone searching for a primary care provider, how does someone go about choosing a primary care provider? What are some of the considerations we should know about?

Dr Andy Tran: Firstly, I'd recommend that everyone seriously invest some time and effort into choosing a provider that they are comfortable with. After all, you are exposing your full body to this person as well as your deepest emotions and darkest secrets and trusting this person to keep all that confidential, not pass judgment, and to also provide you with treatment and guidance. I do have some helpful tips though on how to go about choosing a PCP.

First, make sure that person is within your insurance network. Second is the provider's location. Near or far, do I have reliable transportation? Third is office hours and coverage. Do the office hours work on my schedule? Do they work alone or with other providers? This is important to consider because if your PCP is out of the office for a conference or away on vacation, who will return your phone calls and refill your medications? So these are definitely things to consider.

Other tips, ask your family and friends or get feedback from online research or your insurance company. Will this PCP keep my needs in mind? Does he or she look at the full picture? Is he or she knowledgeable? Do they have good bedside manners? Ultimately, make sure it's someone whom you are comfortable with, trusts you and someone you can learn to trust, mesh well with and have a good relationship with for the years to come.

Bill Klaproth: Those are excellent considerations. Thank you for sharing those, Dr. Tran. So say someone has gone out and they've found their PCP as a new patient, what should someone expect then on their first visit to a primary care provider?

Dr Andy Tran: Well, from my experience, most people usually already have an expectation and know what they want from their initial visit. These are usually medication refill, pain symptom, hospital or ED follow-up, work note, insurance physical or they just want to meet and greet to establish care.

Regardless of your needs, most providers will check your vital signs at every visit. Height, weight, heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, body temperature and oxygen saturation. Usually, some fasting screening blood work is involved to get a baseline understanding of your body function and physiology, which guides the provider in creating an individualized treatment plan specific for you. These initial or baseline blood work also helps screen for underlying disease that may or will cause a problem in the future that may impose larger financial burden and health repercussions.

Bill Klaproth: Right. So we've talked about all the things that a primary care provider can do for someone and one of those are annual wellness visits. So can you talk about those and tell us why those are important?

Dr Andy Tran: If you have health insurance, commercial or Medicare, you get a free wellness check every year to make sure everything is working properly. Most of the time, this visit might seem uneventful. But you do have a change in health status. This is when your PCP will likely pick up on it because they have been seeing you for years. So the better your provider knows you, the better this process works.

The yearly physical exam itself will typically include checking your vital signs and comparing them to prior trends. Doing screening for diabetes and cholesterol disorders, immunization update, and cancer screenings, such as breast, lung, prostate, cervical and colon. It's also a time for you and your providers to discuss changes in your health status and create a plan for the coming year.

Bill Klaproth: So I think what you said there is really important. So setting that baseline, right? When you first go see a primary care provider, you get the blood pressure, cholesterol, all the vital signs, the blood work, and then you've got a starting point. So then if you go every year after that, as people age, you'll be able to see the effects of aging or poor diet or no exercise. You'll be able then to pinpoint certain areas as someone's health changes over the year. And you can say, "Wow, your blood pressure was this. It is this now." So we really need to pay attention to that area. Is that why it is critical to really get that first baseline of all of someone's vitals?

Dr Andy Tran: That is correct, Bill. Just hit the nail right in the head.

Bill Klaproth: Okay. Good. Well, I'm a quick learner, Dr. Tran. Thank you. So it is good to get those annual wellness visits in, so you get those baseline numbers and then you can see changes as they happen over time. Dr. Tran, is there anything else we need to know about the role of a primary care provider?

Dr Andy Tran: Having a primary care provider can save you money in the long run if that's important to you. One recent study actually estimated that if everyone saw her primary care provider, it would save our country $67 billion in healthcare costs every year. For example, an additional blood test could pinpoint slightly elevated blood sugar. So your providers can get you on a diet and exercise program before type 2 diabetes develops.

Skipping the test due to cost concerns could allow elevated blood sugars to go unchecked and turn into unmanaged type 2 diabetes, which then requires pricking your finger every day and injecting yourself with insulin every night, not to mention taking a bunch of pills every morning. And uncontrolled diabetes can lead to health issues, such as loss of vision, loss of limb and heart attack and stroke.

So the better your provider knows you, the more he or she can help you live a healthy life and be around longer for the people and things that matter to you most. Your healthcare should not be one-size-fits-all and having a good patient-provider relationship is truly key in this process.

Bill Klaproth: Wow. $67 billion. That's amazing, if we all went and saw our primary care provider. Last question, Dr. Tran, and thank you so much for your time, when should we start our annual wellness visits?

Dr Andy Tran: The annual wellness visit really starts actually when you're young with your annual well-child checks to make sure that your immunizations and your shots are up-to-date, because that is part of all your preventive health checks and preventative medicines. Your immunization will basically help prevent a lot of the illnesses that you could get or might get later on when you are in adulthood.

So I would recommend if you are an adult now, start now. No time like the present.

Bill Klaproth: Well, that kind of says it all. So I think that's really a good message. If you're an adult and you don't have a primary care provider, start now and start with those annual wellness checks and make sure you get all those baseline vitals out there. It really will help you as you age. There's no question about it. And one of the benefits is not only will it help to keep you healthy, as Dr. Tran said, it's going to save you money in the long run as well. So this has really been fascinating and informative. Dr. Tran, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

Dr Andy Tran: Bill, thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

Bill Klaproth: That's Dr. Andy Tran. And to set up that visit with your primary care provider, please call (765) 935-8934 to get connected with a primary care provider. For more information, you can also visit reidhealth.org and there you'll also find information to get connected with a primary care provider.  

And that concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. And please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all of the other Reid Health podcasts. And for updates on the latest medical advancements and breakthroughs, follow us on your social channels. And if you found this podcast informative, please share it on your social media and be sure to check out all of the other interesting podcasts in our library. I'm Bill Klaproth. Stay well.