A couple weeks ago, one of my patients was up in the middle of night taking care of their child and had a question. It wasn’t urgent by any means but definitely was weighing on their mind. As a Direct Primary Care member she sent me an email and I was able to respond to it by 8am the next day. We didn’t need to schedule an appointment or even have to play phone tag trying to have a conversation. It was great to have the time and flexibility to answer her question in the manner that seemed best for that situation.
Direct Primary Care programs allow for patients and physicians to have better lines of communication to allow for ongoing conversations. Life and health concerns don’t ever seem to happen in straightforward predictable ways. Having a means to follow up and adapt to the ongoing changes of life can be the best way to help patients manage their concerns.
Patients at Trinity Medical Associates of Hardin Valley office benefit from email communication with me for non-emergency issues. Also since the practice will have a smaller patient panel we’ll also be able to have more direct phone access during the business day. I want to be able to directly connect with my patients as often as possible. I’d love to be the one to answer the phone on the first ring. After hours, patients will still utilize the on call phone number for advice on urgent matters. Finally, we will continue Trinity’s tradition of being able to provide same day and next day appointment availability. All three lines of access should provide less worry and more assurance for members of the Direct Primary Care program.
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