Hunterdon Medical Center Encourages Patients to Use a Medical Home

Published February 14, 2008

You are feeling congested, more tired than usual, and your throat is sore. You are uncomfortable, but not in so much pain that you feel you need emergency care. What should you do?

Hunterdon Medical Center believes that patients are best served by having an identified primary care physician or "personal physician." This physician and his/her colleagues serve as your Medical Home. If you are feeling ill, need immunizations, or need to schedule preventive care such as an annual physical, you can make an appointment to see your personal physician. Your personal physician will treat you, send you for tests, or refer you to a specialist.

"We feel that it is best for our patients to have help navigating the healthcare system, and a primary care physician can do just that," states Robert Coates, M.D., Director of Quality and Utilization Management at Hunterdon Medical Center. "The medical home is really a home base for patients to return to for advice, referrals, and general monitoring of the patient's health and medications."

Your personal physician provides follow-up care if you are in the emergency department. He/she is responsible for the coordination of all your care through all parts of the healthcare system, directs you to the most appropriate specialists to provide that care when needed, and advises you on different options for your care. Your personal physician provides continuous and comprehensive care through all stages of life, including helping to monitor your medications to avoid interactions and duplication. Any specialist physicians should communicate findings to your personal physician and you should tell all your physicians of any changes in your health or medications.

Hunterdon Healthcare System has nearly 100 physicians in the specialties of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Gynecology, who provide primary care services. Since its inception in 1953, Hunterdon Medical Center has been in the forefront of training primary care physicians. Hunterdon Medical Center had one of the first residencies in the nation to be certified to train family medicine specialists and does so to this day. To find a primary care physician near you, call Hunterdon Healthcare System's free Physician Referral Service at 1-800-511-4HMC (4462).