The Importance of Having a Trusted Primary Care Provider

Your primary care provider (PCP) is your healthcare coach and your health advocate. This trusting relationship is where you and your family turn for health or wellness concerns, questions, and medical needs.

To live a healthy life means that a person is engaged in their own care and is actively participating with their personal health team. A primary care provider, or PCP, is the point of contact for most medical needs. Think of your PCP as your Medical Home, a fundamental life resource. The PCP is your healthcare coach and your health advocate. This trusting relationship is where you and your family turn for health or wellness concerns, questions, and medical needs.

A PCP’s plays an important role in your healthcare. Your PCPs role and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing comprehensive care, preventative care and screenings, continuity of care, and care coordination.

Comprehensive Care: Your PCP looks at your whole health picture. In that context, together you develop a treatment plan for almost every condition, both acute and chronic problems. Your condition is regularly followed; your medications and treatment plan are adjusted based on you and your preference. Sometimes, the PCP will work collaboratively with a specialist consultant; always looking for optimal outcomes. Should the need present, the PCP can also connect you with behavioral health services.

Preventive Care & Screenings: Primary care providers play a crucial role in keeping you healthy when you are already healthy. Preventive care, screenings, health and lifestyle education, are important to your long-term well-being. These activities include providing protective immunizations, disease screenings, and communicating the impacts of life choices. Regular check-ups can identify risks for chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Early intervention in all these areas improves outcomes.

Continuity of Care: The relationship you build with your PCP allows for more personal and effective care over the long term.

Care Coordination: Your PCP will coordinate care with other healthcare professionals, refer you to specialists, and connect you with organizations and support groups that compassionately share time and resources to help you live your best life.

Community Health’s primary care network serves the needs of our community with offices in Rutland, West Pawlet, Castleton, Shoreham, and Brandon. Meeting the need for primary health services in Rutland has been particularly challenging so we’ve added dedicated providers to our Rutland practice. We are open to, and welcome, new patients.

Additionally, Community Health is expanding services to include a new eye care clinic, a second pharmacy, and is planning to start a geriatrics clinic in the future.

As a PCP practicing in Rutland County for 25 years, I’ve met tens of thousands of area residents and visitors. The pleasure of my life. From these experiences, I’ve professionally and personally experienced the power of a trusting therapeutic relationship. It is important that our patients know that their voice is heard, their care is directed, their personal and family history is known, and that their preferences are understood. Basically, that your PCP knows you.

Establishing a long-term relationship with a trusted primary care provider will provide you with personalized, comprehensive, and continuous care. With this resource established, we hope to bring peace of mind, access to care, better health outcomes, and a lasting sense of support to our community of patients.

Many thanks to our partners in healthcare at Community Health for providing this article. The author, Bradley Berryhill, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer at Community Health.