Get the Right Care at the Right Time
ACPNY’s “whole you” care approach relies on patients knowing when, where, and how often to visit a health care provider. When should you make an appointment for a routine visit? When does a health matter require more urgent attention? When you get the right care at the right time, you can more successfully manage your health, address minor problems before they become bigger ones, and feel more confident that emergency visits are for truly unexpected or unavoidable events.
At ACPNY, we’re here to help you choose the right visit type for your specific care need.
When to Visit Your Primary Care Provider
When you schedule regular appointments with your PCP, you’re more likely to identify and address potential health concerns before they develop into something life-threatening that requires urgent medical attention. To prevent these types of emergencies and avoid trips to the ER, you should schedule appointments with your PCP for:
- Annual visits, wellness exams, and vaccines
- Routine care and follow-up visits
- Treatment of ongoing conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and heart disease.
When to Schedule a Same-Day/Next Day Appointment
If you’re feeling sick or dealing with a minor injury, your best option is to schedule a same-day/next-day appointment. These appointments are for conditions that aren’t severe enough to require immediate attention or a trip to the ER, like:
- Strains and sprains, minor injuries, or rashes
- Cold or flu symptoms
- Discomfort or burning with urination
- Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
When to Visit the Emergency Room or Call 911
If you’re dealing with a severe or life-threatening medical emergency, you should immediately visit the ER or call 911. This care option is for true medical emergencies that require immediate attention. Severe or life-threatening medical emergencies include:
- Severe chest pain/pressure
- Difficulty breathing
- Heavy or uncontrollable bleeding
- Severe pain that won’t stop
- Major broken bones
- Blurred vision, slurred speech, one-sided weakness or facial droop—all possible signs of stroke
- First-time seizures/convulsions or those lasting longer than five minutes
- Altered mental status or loss of consciousness
When your visits take place at ACPNY, we can better deliver on our “whole you care” commitment. Your PCP and Care Team are in regular communication about your health situation and needs. Any visit type that takes place in an ACPNY medical office becomes part of your health record, which helps us know how things have been going and how to plan for what’s next. And, when emergencies happen and you visit the ER, we want to know about that, too.
