Maybe it starts when a child comes home with the flu. They spend a few days resting and recovering before you send them back to school. But that’s not the end of it. Because by then, this very contagious illness has begun to spread throughout your house. Eventually your other kids come down with it, then your spouse, and then you. For many families (especially those with children), this type of illness cascade reliably happens several times a year.
But it doesn’t have to. Sometimes prompt treatment coupled with individualized medical advice can curtail the spread of some diseases. This is the type of quick and personalized medical care that Direct Primary Care settings are particularly well suited to deliver.
In a Direct Primary Care setting, patients can easily ask questions, schedule appointments, and receive care. Physicians are available in a way that is uncommon in traditional primary care settings. This means families who enjoy Direct Primary Care membership often have more tools at their disposal when it comes to handling household spread of flus, colds, and other common illnesses.
What You Need When Your Family Gets Sick
Children get sick, and they get sick often. In no small part that’s because they spend a significant amount of their time in communal settings, and they are often exposed to illness at school. This is relatively normal. But it doesn’t take much for a child to bring a virus home and suddenly your entire family is sick. This is, understandably, a prospect most families do not relish.
After all, getting sick can impact your schedule, your finances, and your wellness. The key to preventing the spread of disease (or to at least minimize its impact) is to make sure your family gets what they need when they’re sick.
And in most cases, what ill family members need is going to be rest, care, and possible treatment. And that’s where Direct Primary Care clinics can offer several distinct advantages that can help families when illness strikes:
- It’s easy to talk to your doctor: Have you ever had a hard time getting your doctor to quickly answer a question? It can be a challenge! That’s because primary care doctors in traditional settings just have so many patients to see. In a traditional setting, you might end up leaving messages for nurses and maybe getting a delayed response from a very busy doctor. But Direct Primary Care physicians have much smaller patient populations and are easy to get in touch with. You can schedule a video call or even send a text (in appropriate settings) and get a quick response, meaning you can more easily and more quickly get prescriptions or triage options. This means you can get information when you need it and when it’s most helpful. In many DPC offices, the only employee is the physician, ensuring you’ll speak directly with your primary care doctor.
- You can schedule appointments right away: In a traditional care setting, the nearest appointments may be days away, if not longer. This means that your only options for prompt care for an ill family member are urgent care clinics or an emergency room. In a Direct Primary Care setting, however, patients can often be seen right away and same day. This means an ill family member will quickly be able to get care from a physician they’re familiar with.
- Prompt treatment can help stop the spread: The longer someone is ill, the more opportunities they will have to spread germs. This means that getting prompt treatment and medical interventions can help minimize chances of spread (and getting advice from your doctor on how to avoid getting sick can help, too). In this way, getting prompt treatment for your family member can help keep you healthy, too. Direct Primary Care settings are able to see patients sooner and deliver care more promptly.
In all of these ways and more, Direct Primary Care is delivering what your family needs: timely healthcare.
Cost Savings Associated with Direct Primary Care
Receiving the kind of care available through a Direct Primary Care clinic may also prove beneficial for your budget. There are several reasons for this, including the following:
- Prompt treatment means your kids will feel better sooner, which means you’ll miss fewer days of work or have to take less paid time off (PTO).
- Being treated in a primary care setting quickly means you can avoid trips to urgent care and emergency rooms, both of which are expensive even if you have health insurance.
- Prompt treatment can also help prevent complications and escalations, both of which may require more extensive (and therefore expensive) care.
Works Best if Your Whole Family is Covered
In general, these benefits are most pronounced when everyone in your household is a patient at the same Direct Primary Care clinic. In those cases, physicians know everyone involved and can provide informed advice or suggestions. How involved a Direct Primary Care clinic will be when some family members are not covered will vary from clinic to clinic.
At Progressive Health Primary Care, for example, we know that family is important and often extends beyond the people living under one roof. If, for example, a family member visits from out of town and gets sick, we’ll make time to see them so they can avoid urgent care.
Illnesses happen. But just because one family member is sick and miserable doesn’t mean you all need to be. If you have questions about Direct Primary Care in the Chicago area, contact Progressive Health Primary Care today!
