Children grow up so fast. And while the changes never stop, the earliest years of childhood can seem especially packed with milestones, benchmarks, first illnesses, vaccines, and more. It’s a lot for parents to keep track of. And it’s why most parents rely on their child’s pediatrician to help keep those kids on track. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for benchmarks and milestones to be missed in a traditional pediatric primary care setting.
In a Direct Primary Care setting, however, your child’s physician will have more time to spend with them. And these longer (and more frequent) appointments often result in more thorough care.
It’s important to say not all Direct Primary Care practices will see children. At Progressive Health Primary Care, we see children as young as age 5. The rest of this blog describes the general differences Direct Primary Care practices can offer when compared to traditional pediatric or primary care practices.
Where a traditional primary care doctor may be rushed, a Direct Primary Care physician will have the time to get to know your child, asking important questions about their physical, social and emotional health. More thorough exams and conversations ensure that fewer benchmarks are missed, more issues are detected early, and parents and children alike have the time required to ask questions and receive proactive care. For parents thinking about the health of their children, Direct Primary Care is a model that offers more flexibility, engagement, and responsiveness. And often that’s exactly what you want as your child is growing up. In addition, Family Medicine physicians often treat the parents as well, better understanding scenarios and factors affecting the child’s health.
Direct Primary Care Offers More Time
Traditional pediatric clinics usually have incredibly compressed schedules. Doctors are required to see so many patients every single day. As a result, visits tend to be truncated, rushed, and can often feel very shallow. It’s why many traditional primary care visits seem to focus on acute issues. If a doctor has limited time, they will generally focus on the painful elbow or the asthma treatment rather than a deep dive into benchmarks and milestones.
But the Direct Primary Care model is not driven by shareholders or insurance companies. This means that patient roles tend to be smaller and doctors can spend more time in each appointment. For pediatric patients, this can mean some of the following benefits:
- Milestone and development screenings are more in-depth: All physicians will check to make sure your child is reaching significant developmental milestones as they grow up. But in a Direct Primary Care setting, you’ll have more time to ask about those milestones. You can discuss what meeting any given milestone means or doesn’t mean. You’ll have a much better idea of what’s a concern and what isn’t. And you’ll always be able to call your child’s physician to ask questions if something comes after their appointment. This means that screenings tend to be more thorough, in-depth, and informative than they usually are in traditional primary care settings.
- More thorough check ups: In a Direct Primary Care clinic, routine checkups are never rushed and tend to be more thorough than in traditional settings. Checkups include discussions around milestones and development, as well as topics like building healthy habits, health trends in your child, and more. Most Direct Primary Care practices are small, and you will have one-on-one direct contact with the physician, not a call center.
- Emotional milestones are not forgotten: In a rushed appointment, you may not have time to discuss your child’s emotional and social development. This isn’t because traditional primary care doctors don’t care about these things. It’s just that physical issues often take priority. When your child’s doctor takes more time to evaluate your child’s emotional health, it may be easier to detect and treat mental health issues, challenges with socialization, and more.
- Screenings can be more proactive than reactive: In a traditional primary care setting, doctors usually only have time to address what’s wrong today. In a Direct Primary Care setting, you’ll be able to talk about tomorrow’s challenges. For younger children, this could mean conversations around screen time, school readiness, peer relationships, and behavioral changes.
- Easy access to care for acute cases: In Direct Primary Care settings, communication with physicians is usually easy, quick, and incurs no additional costs. This means if you’re worried about a child’s symptoms or wondering whether an issue warrants an appointment, it’s easy to get answers directly from your child’s primary care doctor.
One Stop Shop for the Whole Family
When you have kids, you know that germs run rampant through your household. When your kid starts sneezing, it’s only a matter of time before you’re taking a flu test, too. With most families, health and wellness are cooperative endeavors. That’s why it’s incredibly convenient to have a family membership at a Direct Primary Care clinic. That way, your doctor knows the health of everyone in your family. We offer family memberships at our practice. You can see them on our membership fees page.
So the same clinic becomes a one-stop-shop for all of your health needs. This makes it easier to pick up prescriptions, schedule appointments, and receive care. In this way, Direct Primary Care is an incredibly effective model for ensuring your child is as healthy and well as possible as they grow up.
If you are already a member at Progressive Health Primary Care, you can make an appointment to make sure your child is on track today!
