What Do You Expect From Your PCP? 

I take back anything bad I said about my new Primary Care Physician (PCP). In past articles, I discussed how my long-time PCP retired. And he referred me to his co-worker, a much younger and less experienced PCP. And I was not so impressed at first.

What do I expect from my PCP?

I do not judge a PCP on talent. I do not judge a PCP on how much he knows about asthma. First and foremost, I judge a PCP on how approachable they are. If my PCP is a nice guy, then chances are he’s a good doctor in my book.

So, my new PCP meets these criteria. He is a swell guy. After all, he was nice to my daughter by paying her well when she babysat his kids. He even impressed her by giving her a ride in his new Tesla. So he’s a good guy.

He’s nice to me, too. He does a great job of refilling my prescriptions when I need them and doing so in a timely manner. When I have ideas to try new medicines, he has agreed with me 100% of the time. This is what I like in a doctor, a PCP.

Truthfully, the only thing I need a PCP for, as far as my asthma is concerned, is to write prescriptions. I already know what I want and what I need. I need Symbicort. I need Singulair. And I need some prednisone pills on standby for when I need them. All my PCP has to do is write the prescriptions. I do all the other work for him.

He can manage my other conditions however he wants. But when it comes to my asthma, I know my asthma best. I know what I need to maintain good asthma control. And I know what I need to do to get back on track when it flares up.

Do I like my current doctor?

Well, I was not sure at first. Yes, he is a swell guy. We have determined that. He is very approachable. But, for the past two years, he has rejected my request for prednisone at home. And I seriously thought about firing him just on this ground alone. This is very important to me.

He said that I need to call his office if I need this type of medicine. And I argued that his office is never available when I need to be seen. Likewise, if I have prednisone at home, I do not need to pay a $40 copay to see him when he is just going to write the prescription for what I already know I need. How silly is that?

Or, if he is not in the office, such as if he is on vacation or it is the weekend, I will need to pay $80 to go to a clinic, or $800 to go to an emergency room, just to get the same medicine I already know I need. Sorry, but this is not necessary.

So, this is what I have dealt with the past two years of having this doctor. This past week, I returned to my new PCP. He literally caved and wrote me a prescription for prednisone for 5 days. And, since he said yes to this, I asked if I can also have a prescription for a Z-pac. And he said yes to that, too. I got everything I wanted. And this made me a happy asthmatic patient.

I may not need those two prescriptions. I hope I do not need them. But knowing they are there in my medicine cabinet reduces my stress level by a lot.

What do you expect from a PCP managing your asthma?

It took a couple of years, but I have decided I like my new PCP. He is actually not so new anymore. But he is a keeper. He treats me well. He's a nice guy. He respects me.

What about you? What do you expect from your PCP? Please let us know in the comments below.