General practitioners play an important role in caring for patients in their homes and within the communities where they live. They are part of a much larger team whose role includes promoting, preventing, and initiating treatment. General practitioners care for chronically ill patients, with the goal of keeping people in their own homes and making sure they are as well as possible. General practitioners are often the first point of contact for anyone with a physical or mental health problem, and patients may be more anxious. Caring for the whole person - the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, cultural and financial aspects through patient-centered approaches is a vital part of the role of any GP. This is becoming increasingly important for terminally ill patients who often choose to stay home. There are more than 1.3 million GP visits every day, most of which take place in a GP's office or at the patient's home. General practitioners occasionally work as part of attached teams to hospitals with functions in accident and emergency centers, discharge planning, and unscheduled care (such as urgent care centers). In the community, they can run clinics in schools and in nursing homes and residences. A typical GP appointment is scheduled to last ten minutes, during which time the GP must evaluate the patient. Since anything can go through the door, they make quick and effective decisions based on presenting symptoms and the patient's current and past medical history. They also use their own knowledge to assess the probability that one disease is present over another. GPs look for symptom patterns to indicate or rule out different conditions. Up to 40% of medical consultations can now be done by phone, rather than face-to-face meetings, and the shift toward using different media is likely to expand in the future. Depending on their examination and diagnosis, the GP has several management options that they will discuss with the patient as they develop a shared and agreed upon plan. These may include providing reassurance, providing information to the patient, advising on a certain course of action, or prescribing medication. Alternatively, they may refer the patient for further tests to confirm a diagnosis or as part of an ongoing management plan. These may include X-rays, blood tests, or referrals for a second opinion. They are trained to detect the signs of "red flag" symptoms, which could indicate a serious problem that requires further investigation and needs to be resolved promptly.