I began my new assignment in Virginia and I am really enjoying it! Prior to my start date, the site seemed extremely excited for me to come. The medical director even called me on the day I arrived to Virginia to make sure I was okay!
The first week I was given orientation. I quickly learned how important patient outcomes and satisfaction was to this company. The CEO stated that “everyone is serving a patient or serving someone who is.”
New patients and follow up ER visits are 40 minute appointments; follow-ups are 20 minutes. This clinic focuses on geriatric patients, so the patients follow up minimally every month. There is an onsite pharmacy that provides pre-packaged 90-day supply of commonly used medications. Research shows that there is a lag time of 3-5 days between 30-day medication refills for many patients. Providing 90-day supply medications helps facilitate medication adherence.
Each new patient goes through a comprehensive assessment and plan which includes: new member orientation, obtaining prior medical records, baseline EKG, baseline labs, baseline ECHO, bleeding and bruising screening, depression and alcohol screening, and vibration perception threshold. The company believes in investing in the patient before they become sick.
There is onsite acupuncture and tai chai. Acupuncture is used for neck and back pain, anxiety, insomnia, and migraine headaches. Tai chai is done to help this population strengthen their balance to avoid falls. There are also on-site specialists such as Cardiology, Podiatry and Optometry.
The goal is to provide comprehensive and valuable primary care, to keep patients out of the hospital. Weekly huddles are done amongst the providers in the clinic to discuss ways they can improve patient outcomes. The average wait time for the patient between checking in and seeing their provider is 5 minutes! The patients each have a life card, in which they use to check in. This card contains their insurance information, allergies, personal contact information, and their last EKG test to provide to other providers if necessary.
This is a large umbrella organization that has many geriatric clinics in multiple states. If all goes well, we agreed that I can always help cover for them in other states. They actually originated from Miami, Florida, so it may be a good option for me if I ever decide to settle back down in Miami. Lastly, everyone that works here is super friendly, hardworking, and easy going. They have welcomed me with open arms and I am looking forward to working with them for the next few months.
After working in very busy practices in California for the majority of the year, I was afraid I would no longer be as passionate about my job as I used to be. I am glad to find that there are still plenty of great medical practices to work at. This is just another reason why working in locum tenens is so great!
