A family practice and a general practice share strikingly overlapping characteristics, making it difficult for a layperson to tell them apart. If you’re looking for a doctor, how do you know which type of physician to choose? Let’s talk about the differences and similarities between these two types of medical practices, and where you can go in the Midlands for family medicine and comprehensive medical care. What Is a Family Medical Practice? Family practice is a specialty field of medicine ... [Read More]
primary care doctor Irmo SC
The Function of Echocardiography in Heart Failure
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart failure affects roughly 6.2 million Americans and claims approximately 659,000 lives every year. Echocardiography – a noninvasive diagnostic tool that uses high-frequency sound waves to obtain valuable information about the heart’s function and structures – provides a cornerstone for the detection and effective management of heart failure. Echocardiography boasts remarkable specificity (88 percent), ... [Read More]
10 Tips for Finding the Right Family Practice
Your family doctor is there to provide lifelong care for you and your entire family and guide you through many important healthcare decisions. It goes without saying that you need to choose one that you can have a rewarding relationship with—a relationship built on trust, which translates into emotional support, excellent communication, and optimal treatment outcomes. So, how do you find the right family doctor for you? It all starts with searching for the right practice. Below, we’ve ... [Read More]
Five Reasons Not to Go to Emergency for Your Primary Care Need
While it’s true that countless lives are saved in emergency rooms, going to the ER is not a solution for every medical concern— certainly not for your primary care needs. Unless your condition or injury is life-threatening or requires immediate treatment, an ER visit may only leave you with more problems than solutions. Below are five reasons you want to avoid going to the emergency room for your primary care needs. Reason #1 Emergency Room Visits Are Expensive. On average, a visit to a ... [Read More]
Primary Care: Can My Doctor Test for Cancer?
Primary care encompasses basic healthcare and disease prevention. While primary care doctors can diagnose and treat virtually all types of health conditions, part of their job is to make sure you have had the necessary preventive health screenings as appropriate for your age, gender, lifestyle, and health history. Most of these screenings are performed to detect early signs of cancer, usually long before you would start exhibiting symptoms. With many severe cancers, obvious symptoms do not ... [Read More]
