Convenient Care
I recently volunteered to take my friend to his annual physical exam and… let’s just say I would rather help him move, deep clean his entire house, AND hand-wash his car than take him to just one more doctor’s appointment. It. Was. Awful. I was reminded why people dread going to the doctor and what it means to have insurance but NOT have access to care. SO MANY people avoid the doctor because of how inconvenient it is. I was reminded why I do what I do - Direct Primary Care. Maybe you’ll relate to all of the story or maybe just a bit of it, but either way you’ll see the difference.
As you read the story, keep in mind that if you want your doctor to
-have convenient visits with relaxed and on-time appointments…
-be someone you can directly text, call, or email…
-be someone who listens and spends as much time with you as you need…
-complete your visit, supply your medications, and draw your blood work all in one place…
-be able to tell you exactly how much you will be pay for their services…
…Email us, Caravel Health, today and we will find YOUR Direct Primary Care doctor.
Now, knowing how primary care visits could be (and should be), my friend’s appointment made me want to scream!
We left at 9 for this 10 AM appointment. It’s a 30 minute drive and they asked him to be 15 minutes early. We arrived at 9:30 but…. couldn’t find a parking spot. Of course. “Greattttt…..It’s okay though, no problem” we told ourselves. There were two of us so I was able to drop him off around 9:40, go park the car. Then came the 5-10 minute walk in the heat from the parking lot to the office. I was sweating by the time I got to the office. For me, it was uncomfortable. For others with breathing issues, heart conditions, or joint pain I cannot imagine how dreadful it might be. By the time I made it to the waiting room, he had completed the paperwork updates.
Then we waited……… And waited…… And waited.
Sound familiar yet? If not, maybe this will:
Finally, we were called back to the room at 10:44 after waiting in the waiting room for almost an hour (after being asked to arrive early). Back in the room, a nurse took vitals, went over medical history, surgical history, family history, social history, and his allergies. All of this information was on the form my friend had just completed, but the nurse never looked at it. As she was asking the questions, my friend and I just looked at each other, and looked at the form - silently agreeing at how inefficient this was. Three minutes later at 10:47, the nurse left.
Then we waited…….. And waited…….. And waited.
How about now? All this waiting bringing back any memories?
A provider arrived 14 min later at 11:16, over an hour after his appointment, and didn’t introduce herself. I could tell her and my friend had never met as he introduced himself as well. She then said she was filling in for my friends doctor (that he had seen once before) as he was running behind and she was able “squeeze” my friend in. Mind you, he had scheduled this appointment 6 months ago! My friend was annoyed but was kind and tried to be understanding. The woman then said she had been working at that office for many years. She went on about how the schedules were getting more and more packed. We sympathized with her busy schedule and she began the appointment. I found it odd we had to sympathize with the doctor at my friend’s appointment - but it seemed like she needed it! She then asked about his work, his home life, and seemed to be getting to know him. It was going well. Then, my friend AGAIN repeated his history of all the things discussed with the nurse and completed on the form before the appointment. She refilled one of his medications, said all of his labs “looked good” from last year and said he would be due for blood work again soon. After just 6 minutes with the doctor, the visit was coming to an end.
She asked if he had anymore questions and he said not really but wanted to bring up some shoulder pain that had been bothering him for years… and worsening. I encouraged him to bring this up as physical therapy or an injection would certainly benefit him. She sympathized with him but said she would love to see him again so they can discuss his shoulder pain. I was APPALLED. The trouble parking, the sweat walk, the waiting, the repeating, the new doctor, the short visit - and now ignoring the ONE problem my friend wanted to discuss? Even though he only spent 6 minutes with a provider, my friend would have to schedule and appointment and drive all the way back out, park, wait, wait, and wait to discuss the one thing that was bothering him. Being the nice guy he is, just said okay. The provider quickly summarized the visit, and said he can schedule an appointment at his convenience for the shoulder pain and get the lab work when he could. We checked out, which was easy, walked the 5-10 mins back to our car, and drove a few miles away to get his blood work. Unfortunately, there was a long line and it was an expected three hour wait to have labs drawn. It was already almost lunch, we were starving as he was fasting planning to get his labs done. So, we just got lunch around 12:30 and got the blood work drawn a different day. Now for the next two or three months, he will be praying he doesn’t get some expensive bill for the appointment, for bringing up the shoulder pain, or for the blood work.
SHWOOOOO! So now let me breathe, calm down, and relax. It really does not have to be like that. This would have been SO much different if he had a direct primary care doctor— and now he does.
So, do you want your doctor to
-have convenient visits with relaxed and on-time appointments…
-be someone you can directly text, call, or email…
-be someone who listens and spends as much time with you as you need…
-complete your visit, supply your medications, and complete your blood work all in one place…
-be able to tell you exactly how much you will be pay for their services…
Do you?
Email us, Caravel Health, today and we will find YOUR Direct Primary Care doctor.
Best in health,
Dr. Landen Green
Part 3 of 3 (affordable) coming soon!
