Primary care physician

Yeah, you're on the other side of that.

What about if somebody- doesn't have a PCP, a primary care physician, where could they go to for a referral if maybe they don't have one? Do you need to get

one? So a lot of insurance won't need the referral.

If you do need a referral, a lot of times you might need to get a primary care then.

And 26 states have no CCMV screening or education policy at all and are shown in gray.

So if Jane's baby's newborn screen flags for congenital CMV, the Connecticut Newborn Screening Program at the Department of Public Health will notify both her PCP and the Connecticut Newborn Screening Network.

And when I speak of PCP or primary care provider, I'm talking about the pediatric office, or the NICU, or the midwife, whoever is responsible for the baby's care at that time.

The network staff will review the case and reach out to the PCP to recommend the next steps, beginning with a urine CMV PCR to confirm congenital CMV.

We've had a lot of providers ask why it needs to be urine.

Urine PCR is the gold standard.

A confirmatory diagnosis from urine is not the end of the process.

It's the beginning of the evaluation, and we need to make sure that none of the next steps are delayed.

My first interaction with FMLA actually came up a couple of years ago.

I had received a concussion and I had gone to my PCP for just like routine care to have some testing done.

And I told her that I had a headache, had some nausea.

I told her about my accident.

They don't run in my family.

So I scheduled an appointment with my primary care physician and mentioned this earlier.

I'm also lucky to have a very blessed PCP who was an advocate for me.

And

But just tell us the biggest hole.

Well, the first statement he made, uh, was that he went to Urgent Care because of the flu, and during an interview with a reporter yesterday he said he went to his primary care physician.

That's not the same thing.

Oh, my goodness.

When diabetics get the flu, it could get really bad.

How, how bad was it for somebody who wants to know? Is this just, like, in- bed rest, or did you ever have to go to a doctor or a hospital?

I, I just went to my primary care physician.

Uh, but, uh, it wasn't anything, uh, worse than a, you know, a nasty case of the flu.

So you have to be your strongest advocate.

Come to your PCP, that's who really starts the ball rolling, and give them your family history of why you should be tested.

And even after you are first-- Most times you're gonna be refused.

They're gonna say no.

Go back again with our staff and go back and ask them again to reconsider to give you that testing.

So yes, Zena, you should be tested.

Sit down with your PCP and their staff and give them reasons why, and fight really hard to get the BRCA test done.

done.I hope that sheds some light.

[laughs]

Oh, no, I was just gonna say, um, so for any, like, PCPs or primary care doctors that are listening, when do you want us to refer to you based on their chronic kid- kidney disease stage? At, like, what point should we be, you know...

Maybe we should be having this patient be seen by nephrology as well.

So my whole practice is based on early CKD care.

...

there is nothing I can do ab- after that, just wait and watch.

Maybe control their blood pressure, which all PCPs are really great at doing, right?

Mm-hmm.

I have training in health and wellness coaching and health disparities.

And I would say that I have very much of a PCP personality.

People make a distinction typically between the PCP and specialist personality.

I definitely would say that I'm more like a PCP in my outlook and my approach and wanting to follow people over time.

I've had a longstanding focus on program design and implementation and really looking at the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, and looking at health and well-being holistically and recognizing the power and the benefit that can come from interdisciplinary teams and inclusive collaborations.

For those in our audience who aren't familiar with the term, what do you mean by PCP?

Primary Care Physician.

So in my sports terms, that sounds like that's kind of the quarterback for care for people and trying to understand... what's going on generally and getting them to the right person, the right specialist, if that's indicated.

Yep.

And one down, the doc seen for an annual checkup, PCP.

Yep.

We've been seeing PCP a lot lately.

Right.

Primary care physician.