NEW YORK – Family physicians are comfortable with uncertainty and view many tests as wastes of money.
These and other characteristics typical of family physicians are what Dr. Richard A. Young calls the foundation of the nation’s most practical and cost-effective care, despite what he calls “bigotry” toward the field from more specialized medicine and from those who created the current system of payment.
“The reason we add value to the world is because we don’t treat everybody the same,” said Dr. Young, the director of research and residency at the John Peter Smith Health System in Fort Worth, Tex.
In this video interview, the fourth and final in a series, Dr. Young makes the case for how, despite systematic overreliance on specialty care, evidence shows it is the primary care physician who is best suited to meet the majority of patients’ needs.
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