Admittedly frustrated by my “Tale of Two . . . . PCPs (Tip #656), this follow up is from that jaded perspective.

We all know the Marcus Welbys of our youth are extinct. House calls? Hospital rounds?

Fuhgeddaboudit.

So what is the role of a PCP?

The Cleveland Clinic answers that question HERE. Time Out. (Hey, I’ve only got 30 Seconds!)

Back? Time In.

In a nutshell, “teach you ways to make better decisions about your health.” Plus, “they’ll also know when you need more advanced care.”

Really? 

Given my PCP sees me for 20 minutes once a year, (every second or third year, when I was younger), when does that “teaching” happen? An occasional phone call? A ‘MyChart’ message? Must have missed those.

As for that “advanced” care, when was the last time you saw a PCP without being referred to an ‘ist’; i.e., allergist, dermatologist, cardiologist, urologist, etc-ist! 

$ome say there’$ a rea$on for all tho$e referral$. 

HMO PCPs used to serve as ‘gatekeepers.’ Check out the graph HERE illustrating how the HMO Act of 1973 - in part - controlled costs.

Explaining perhaps, why some Insurers are buying Physician Practices.