The available data tells us that influenza, pneumonia, and diabetes, among others, are the leading causes of death in Litchfield County, in which the town of New Milford is situated. Further, infections of the urinary tract and gastrointestinal areas are quite common among its residents. Therefore, you can never overestimate the importance of having a primary care doctor, not just because they are the most accessible but also because they provide affordable and effective treatment. They take care of your standard health requirements, deal with various illnesses and injuries, and ensure their prevention as much as possible. But what are some things you should look for in your primary care physician?
What type of illnesses do they cover?
It is essential to know the types of illnesses covered by the primary care doctor. They should include those with a high-frequency rate in New Milford, including urinary tract infection, asthma, pneumonia, migraine, influenza, dehydration, back pain, addiction recovery, abdominal pain, anxiety, and ear cleaning. Each of these should be accorded the highest priority since you never know when you might require to run to the emergency room. For instance, New Milford and the state of Connecticut have an increased asthma rate for several reasons, including the hot weather, leading to an extended pollen season. As mentioned earlier, pneumonia is a severe issue in Litchfield County, as it has a mortality trend of 42 deaths per 100,000 people on average.
Which injuries do they treat?
It is also essential to know what injuries the primary doctors treat. You might want to go for one that covers various aches and pains, burns, cuts, broken bones, bites, rashes, splints, strains, and lacerations. You might have to visit the doctor for any of these unexpectedly. The chances of getting bitten by an animal with rabies are high in New Milford. The State Public Health Laboratory or SPHL tested about 4,596 animals in the town as rabies positive between 2017-2020, and 171 of them were found to be positive.
Do they have various prevention facilities?
Prevention facilities refer to the vaccines, testings, and other procedures that enable you to detect a disease early and prevent further growth. Before choosing a primary care provider, you might check if they provide prevention for vaccinations, travel medicines, screenings, Lyme testing, flu shots, blood work, ear cleaning, spirometry, and TB testing. It would be highly inconvenient to search for a new physician every time since towns like New Milford in Litchfield County, besides others like Windham and Tolland, have relatively lesser primary care providers per 100,000 population.
What type of annual exams do they perform?
The primary health service should also be equipped to perform a range of annual exams like DOT physicals, sports and camp physicals, and pre-employment physicals since they are all mandatory. For example, all commercial drivers in Connecticut must take a DOT physical every two years to assess their mental and physical fitness.
Which insurance plans do they accept?
It is better to ask the healthcare service beforehand what insurance plans they accept. Most of the insurance plans available in New Milford include primary care doctors’ services. All the programs authorized by the Connecticut Department of Insurance will have a phone-line and web-assisted database to help you locate the primary care practitioners.
These are some things you ought to consider while finding a primary care doctor in New Milford, CT, for illnesses, injuries, prevention, or annual exams. They will ensure you enjoy optimum health throughout the year in an affordable, convenient and efficient manner.