What To Look For In a Primary Care Doctor
Think of your primary care doctor as a trusted guide on a lifelong journey.
He or she wants to do much more than help you when you’re sick. Your primary care physician wants to prevent diseases before they become life-threatening or turn into something more serious.
If you haven’t been seeing a primary care doctor regularly, you should start.
But where to begin?
We’ve outlined three important things to look for in a primary care physician near you. Take each of these into consideration.
We believe you’ll find that our amazing doctors at Conway Medical Center meet all these criteria and then some.
3 Important Things to Look for in a Primary Care Doctor
1. Someone Who Listens
We place this at the top of our list.
Why?
Because it is only when someone truly listens to your needs that they understand how to better serve you.
Your primary care physician should take all your concerns seriously and take time to answer any questions you have.
It’s also vital that they communicate clearly, because this is the only way to establish a long-term partnership that will help you live a healthier lifestyle. A good physician should always look at this as a partnership.
At Conway Medical Center, we believe in becoming partners in your care. This means not only listening to you, but gathering information in a timely manner, evaluating your health history and indicating areas where you may need help.
You also want to have a doctor who can communicate with you the way you prefer. For example, would you rather have a phone call or message your doctor through a secure patient portal? Do you want text reminders of appointments? Do you want to receive email updates on lab work?
The most important thing to remember is that your doctor is here to help you. You are a part of the same team, and active listening and effective communication are the threads that knit the team together.
Communication is also the center of helping you prevent serious health conditions.
For example, if you have blood sugar problems, you should be able to easily work with your doctor to prevent these issues from developing into diabetes. Ongoing communication will help you establish exercise routines, nutritional guidelines and follow-up appointments to ensure you’re heading in the right directions.
2. Someone Who is Available and Convenient
Of course, the best communication in the world is useless if your physician is not available when you need them. Your doctor should also be located conveniently in the community they serve.
Ask yourself:
- If I am sick, will I be able to get an appointment easily?
- Is it easy to schedule a yearly physical?
- Can you contact your primary care doctor easily to answer questions?
- Where is the office located?
- Do I have to go to the other side of town for an appointment?
We believe it’s important for you to have a primary care doctor at a convenient location, so we have spread our practices throughout Horry County. No matter where you live, there is a CMC Primary Care doctor near you.
We also offer same-day sick appointments at all of our locations.
We have offices at the following locations:
3. Someone Who Has Access to Specialists
Primary care physicians are well-versed at handling a wide array of conditions. However, it’s equally important that they have access to specialists when the need arises.
All the patients of Conway Medical Center have access to an extensive variety of specialty services. These include:
- Digestive Health
- Orthopedics
- Ear, nose and throat
- Pulmonary (lung) specialists
- Sleep specialists
- Surgical weight loss
Our primary care physicians can also refer you to our Duke Health-affiliated Oncology and Cardiology programs.
Finding the Right Primary Care Doctor is Easy in Conway, SC
We believe there’s much more to medicine than stellar science.
We have the leading primary care experts ready to help you with everything from the common cold to chronic conditions like diabetes.
But it’s the way we treat you that sets us apart.
We believe in taking the time to get to know each patient. That’s the only way we can truly work together as a team to help you live the healthiest life possible.
We don’t want to just help you feel better. We want to be with you on every step of your journey, providing direction, guidance and encouragement wherever needed.
Interested in scheduling an appointment with one of our primary care doctors? It’s easy. Get to know our primary care doctors who are near you. Getting an appointment is as simple as finding a doctor at the location nearest you.
