Indian River Primary Care has cared for many patients in the Indian River County. The practice has an onsite COLA accredited lab and performs most blood studies, including Complete Blood Counts (CBC), Comprehensive Metabolic Panels (CMP), Lipid Panels, Thyroid Testing, PSA and Urinalysis. Indian River Primary Care also performs onsite electrocardiography, echocardiography and carotid dopplers.
For the last 10 years we have utilized an electronic health record (also known as electronic medical records). Recently we have started the use of electronic prescribing. These two modern advantages allow improved and more accurate communications with patients, other providers and pharmacies.
Internal Medicine or Family Medicine
On a broader term, primary caregiving physicians fall into the category of family physician and internal physician. The general public already knows what a family physician does, but they might have little to no knowledge about what an internal physician does. Internal medicine physician referred as Internist specializes in the treatment of adults. Unlike a family physician who will attend to both kids and adults, an Internist will only look after adults. Their specialty lies in the fact that they cover a broader range of medical conditions as opposed to a family doctor.
Adult Health Expert
Also, referred as the “doctor’s doctor”, their expertise involves treating adults with conditions that may be regarding any body organ, including chronic diseases. They are trained to deal with every body part. Often referred to patients by their family physician as a second line specialist, they are full-fledged medical experts who have acute knowledge about all kinds of ailments affecting individuals above the age of 18. From simple to complex diseases, nothing is out of their expertise. Generally, their patient list comprises of people who are suffering from complex or multiple health conditions.
One-Stop-Treatment for Adults
For regular ailments, you are better off with your family doctor because he/she will already know your medical history, and you won’t have to build a relationship from scratch. However, a family doctor may not be able to treat you at all times. Although widely skilled, family doctors cannot cater treatments for all kinds of ailments affecting an adult. For conditions that might even challenge your family doctor, you can see an Internal Medicine doctor to get your life back on track. In such a scenario, your family physician will act as a member of the caretaking team, co-coordinating with the referred practitioners and checking your well being until your medical needs are met. That being said, you can always choose Internists as your primary care physician since they deal with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all kinds of adult diseases..
We continue to see our own patients at the Hospital.
