Internal Medicine vs Family Medicine: What’s the Difference?

Our internal medicine practitioners at Mercy Medical Clinic are experts at diagnosing and managing a variety of illnesses that primarily affect adults. They are particularly adept at handling undifferentiated or multi-system diseases and specialize in health promotion and disease prevention. If you have complex medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer, our internists can provide you with the care you need. They also have the option to further subspecialize into fields such as cardiology, endocrinology, infectious disease, and gastroenterology.

In contrast, our family medicine practitioners provide comprehensive health care for patients of all ages. They are trained to treat most ailments and offer a wide range of services, including preventive care like routine checkups, health-risk assessments, immunization, and screening tests. They also manage chronic conditions and address mental and behavioral health issues.

At our clinic, our internists primarily provide care in hospital settings, coordinating care with specialists when required. They will work collaboratively alongside other healthcare professionals, such as surgeons and nurses, ensuring that our patients receive comprehensive care.

Our family physicians work in various settings, including primary care offices, clinics, and hospitals. They are dedicated to providing comprehensive and continuing care to their patients throughout their lives, emphasizing preventive healthcare, health promotion, and family-centered care.

Our family medicine focuses on comprehensive health care for individuals of all ages and genders. Our family physicians are trained to diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments. They provide a myriad of services such as well-child checkups, immunizations, physical exams, preventive screenings, management of acute and chronic diseases, and behavioral health counseling. They have a comprehensive understanding of human development and their patients’ unique health needs. They also provide counseling as well as support for families. They are skilled in understanding how health history can impact overall health and are often responsible for coordinating the care provided by other subspecialists.

Our internal medicine primarily focuses on adult care, offering services from physical exams and preventive screenings to complex medical decision-making and hospitalization coordination. Our internists have extensive training in diagnosing and treating a variety of medical conditions, no matter how common, rare, or complex. Internists specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of diseases and chronic conditions.

Our family medicine and internal medicine doctors both serve essential roles as primary care physicians. Their broad scope of knowledge allows them to provide comprehensive healthcare services and to manage the majority of their patients’ health needs. Family physicians provide comprehensive care for individuals and families of all ages, while internists focus on adult diseases.

We understand that choosing between internal medicine and family medicine can be a challenging decision. The specialists at Mercy Medical Clinic are here to guide you through every step of this process, helping to ensure the best fit for your health needs and patient care aspirations.

Our internal medicine doctors, also known as internists, primarily care for adults who are suffering from a range of acute and chronic diseases. They are focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of disease and chronic conditions. Our internists are also sub-specialized in areas such as cardiology, gastroenterology, or endocrinology, providing a deep understanding of specific bodily systems. If you have a more complex presenting health condition, or if you prefer working with adult patients with complicated medical conditions, an internist may be a good fit for you.

Alternatively, our family medicine doctors are trained in order to provide comprehensive care for patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly. They can provide continuity of care throughout your life. Our family medicine doctors are skilled in a broad range of health conditions and diseases, but they also emphasize preventive care. They provide vaccinations, routine check-ups, and health risk assessments, amongst other services.

At our practice, our family medicine doctors focus on the whole patient and their environment, including mental and social health. On the other hand, our internists, while also holistic, often look more closely at the intricacies of adult diseases.

We understand the importance of having a reliable primary care provider for your health needs. Our team of highly qualified internists and family physicians are prepared to assist you with a wide comprehensive range of healthcare services, from prevention and diagnosis of diseases to dealing with complex illnesses.

We accept most health insurance plans. They typically cover visits to our medical professionals due to their essential role in maintaining overall health and facilitating early detection as well as the management of potential health issues. However, the specifics of available coverage can vary greatly. Some plans might require a copay for office visits or limit the number of visits to primary care providers, while others may cover the entire cost or impose no visit limitations.

Some health insurance plans may necessitate that you choose a primary care provider from within their network of doctors. Please verify if our doctors are within your insurance company’s network to prevent higher out-of-pocket costs. If you are uncertain about whether your current health insurance plan covers internists or family physicians, you can contact your insurance company directly or consult your plan’s benefits guide. You can also contact our office at Mercy Medical Clinic, and our staff will assist you. Visit us to get comprehensive and top-rated care. We serve patients from Wylie TX, Lavon TX, Rockwall TX, Sachse TX, Allen TX, Winningkoff TX and BEYOND.