Acute Care Vs. Primary Care

Primary care and acute care providers give different services for patients with different needs. Primary care providers are normally community-based and provide ongoing healthcare for local residents of all ages and varying medical needs. Acute care, on the other hand, provides emergency, short-term medical assistance in a hospital setting.

Purpose

• Primary healthcare is a person's first point of entry into the healthcare system. A lifetime service of medical support is provided, and the patient can visit a personal physician who can help him with the diagnosis and treatment of ongoing everyday and chronic health issues. Acute care provides one-off treatment for serious medical emergencies caused by a disease or accident. Under this type of care, the patient will be discharged as soon as he has recovered.

Staff

• Healthcare professionals working in a primary care setting, such as general practitioners, are trained across all healthcare specialties so that they can provide service to their patients over their lifetimes. In acute care settings, healthcare professionals will most likely be specialists in different medical areas, such as paramedics, surgeons and obstetricians, and will have the aid of advanced equipment and facilities to treat medical emergencies quickly and effectively.

Accessibility

• Primary care is available locally and by appointment only in most cases. In contrast, acute care is based on a walk-in system in which patients are treated according to their perceived level of medical emergency with the most urgent treated first.