Why do I need a primary care physician?

You may have wondered why you would need a Primary Care physician, especially when you’re not sick. Here are three reasons why:

1. You need a health care professional who can act as your first point of contact. Our healthcare system is set up in such a way that some health plans require you to visit your Primary Care physician before you can see a specialist. On top of that, (although this is not the case with OIMA’s specialists), some specialists are “referred-only” providers who require a referral by your Primary Care physician for you to be seen. Such physicians may be seeking to specialize or sub-specialize and therefore, desire to limit the types of cases they take on.
2. Your Primary Care physician can provide you with health care screenings. There is a lot of value in preventive medicine and catching things early before they develop into larger problems down the road. As a general rule, the older we age, the more screenings we should have. OIMA offers cholesterol checks, blood pressure checks, bone density scans, cancer screenings, and much more.
3. You need a consistent point of contact, someone who knows you, knows your body, so that when you do have a problem, this doctor is more apt to get you in sooner, be more familiar with you because you have an established relationship with him/ her, and s/ he would know some or all of the other crucial elements in evaluating your issue—your social and family history, your lifestyle, your likes and dislikes, you. Familiarity is important.

Many of OIMA’s physicians are accepting new patients. To book an appointment, call us at (425) 454 - 5046. Some of our physicians participate in a proprietary online appointment booking system (accessible from our home page by clicking on the blue “BOOK ONLINE” tab in the upper right corner), but if your physician is not listed as an option, please call us. We’re here to help you.