Posted on March 21, 2022
What is Integrated Care?
If you’ve been looking for a primary care or family medicine doctor, you’ve probably seen the term “integrated care” pop up in your research. This increasingly popular approach to care utilizes collaboration across medical professionals to address all of the components that make up your overall health. Read on to learn about the benefits of integrated care and the options available at Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa.
What is Integrated Care?
While there is no official definition of integrated care, at the most basic it blends traditional medical services with behavioral health services. This means integrated care looks at everything that goes into the well being of an individual, including both mental and physical health.
With this comprehensive approach, your primary care doctor collaborates with multiple doctors and healthcare professionals to ensure the best outcome for your overall care. This diverse group could include physicians, nurses, psychologists, and other specialists. Instead of treating each area as a separate issue, each professional shares information and contributes to achieve better outcomes for the patient.
5 Benefits of Integrated Care
Integrated care is growing increasingly popular, and with the numerous associated benefits it’s no surprise. These are five of the top reasons you should consider integrated care or discuss it with your family medicine provider.
Mental and Emotional Support
We are increasingly understanding the important connection between mental health and physical health, knowing that health care is self care. When one area of well being suffers, it can have wide-ranging effects on your overall health. By bringing mental health professionals into the regular care process, patients receive specialized care and counseling that can help with everything from lowering stress levels to reducing symptoms of depression.
Access to Services
Increased collaboration across medical professionals means easier access to the services you need. With a team-based approach, your primary care provider can easily refer you to a specialist who can help you immediately. Then, they’ll work together to ensure your care needs are being met effectively. This is especially true at Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa. We have a wide range of skilled specialists in-house, where connecting with an expert could be as simple as walking across the hallway.
Increased Patient Satisfaction
Integrated care has been shown to increase patient satisfaction with their health care provider. By taking a coordinated approach to all areas of personal health, patients often experience improved quality of life thanks to better management of the issues they’re experiencing. Integrated care can even lead to fewer hospital visits when patients know they have a dedicated team to turn to when they’re struggling.
High Quality of Care
Increased collaboration often leads to a higher quality of care. When your primary care doctor, therapist, specialists, and physical therapists are all working together, they can understand your unique needs. Having a personalized treatment plan helps manage your specific health conditions and ensures you’re getting the most complete treatment.
Time and Cost Savings
Taking an integrated approach to health care can save serious time and money. Because multiple medical professionals are working together, you spend less time going from appointment to appointment. On top of that, with all parties collaborating, it eliminates the need for redundant and costly tests or exams. You’ll get your diagnosis faster and be on your way to a treatment plan that holistically addresses the issue.
Integrated Care at Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa
You can count on PCI’s Primary Care and Wellness Center to bring together all aspects of routine and preventative care for people of all ages. In the Cedar Rapids area, PCI is one of the only local family medicine providers offering dual licensed and dual board certified family medicine and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners.
Our team of doctors will work together to ensure your specific care needs are coordinated across the health system. We’re dedicated to providing excellent, comprehensive care to every member of the family.
Schedule an Appointment at Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa
At Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa we always prioritize our patients. Our primary care providers have a broad field of expertise and can help with treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions. That’s why we were ranked in the top 10% for patient satisfaction for 2021. Schedule your appointment today and see how integrated care can work for you.