Time for a story!

We had something interesting happen at the house last week. We had an AC person come because we were having trouble with airflow. We had a new unit put in two years ago and came to find out that some of the vents were leaking and not sealed properly, and all the air ducts were a tangled mess.

And it got me thinking, – “Why when they put in the new air conditioner, didn’t they look at this?”

And, “Why didn’t they tell us, or at least give us an option to have it fixed?”

It made me think about healthcare.

When you see specialists, specialists are very laser-focused- for example, a heart surgeon just looks at your heart and you may have your arm falling off, and they’re not going to notice that.

And tying that back to the AC idea, it is like you’re putting a $11,000 unit in, and you’re not making sure everything is working properly.

So, I strongly recommend when it comes to your health care, that you have a primary care doctor, that can be your quarterback. It is very interesting to me that many people I speak to do not have a primary care doctor, and do not think that they need one because they do not get sick often.

• You want someone that’s going to look at the whole picture.
• And then evaluate.
• Yes, you may need to see specialists for different things, but you want someone to call plays for you.
• You want someone that’s looking at everything together to make sure that you should be taking that medication, and that your medications don’t interact with each other.
• Someone to look at the big picture:
  • if you’re having heart issues, what else is going on?
  • Is there something causing the heart issue that maybe can be diagnosed in primary care?
• Someone to help you discern medical decisions:
  • I had a patient who went to their OBGYN and the OBGYN suggested they take some additional hormones for some female issues she was having. This lady said, “Let me check with my primary care doctor because I’m already taking, hormone replacement therapy”, and guess what the primary care doctor said? “No, you don’t need to take that additional supplement, we can adjust what you’re currently doing, and make it work.
  • The specialist, and the gynecologist, again, they’re very laser-focused.
  • I have worked for primary care doctors, and I saw time and time again, specialists recommending something that wasn’t right for the patient, because of a contraindication or whatever.

Another good reason for a primary care doctor is that it is a good idea to get a checkup once a year and make sure everything’s working and that you are taking care of your health.

So I just think this is important. Just like with your AC, you want to make sure they check everything if we’re going to spend $11,000 on a new unit to make sure it works properly. You want your body to work properly too, and I think a primary care doctor is the wat to do that.

• Establish a relationship and get to know them.
• Do your annual checkup – you want someone to know your history and all your risk factors and look at the whole picture

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.