Jump to content

"Direct primary care"


Recommended Posts

I was perusing my  favorite "on the can" news website (yahoo news) and noticed an article about a magical place in Oklahoma which charges a flat rate for surgeries.  In checking that website out, they had an...advertisement, I guess, for an ER/hospital which does the same.  I felt a little nauseated reading it, like eating cookie dough that was too sweet.

...

[Dr. Rice] Yeah, thanks for having us. So, my name’s Dr. Rice. I’m an ER physician. We are starting a hospital that has been in development for about two or three years, at 150th and Penn in Oklahoma City. It’s a physician-owned, emergency hospital that has nine ER beds and a full in-patient service. Has MRI, CT, ultrasound, X-ray. And as Dr. Smith said, we’re excited. We’re trying to bring price transparency and a high-level of patient service to the area. We’re excited about the community and we’re excited about being able to do some contracting and price that will hopefully save, you know, the patients of Oklahoma quite a bit of money and allow them to have more money in their pocketbooks at the end of the month. So, I’ll pass it on to Dr. Barton.

[Dr. Barton] Yeah, we’re excited to be here, and we are a group of doctors. We’re all ER doctors, and so our center focuses around the ER experience, and we make that better than anybody else. You come into our facility…the wait time and the waiting room…our waiting room is just for show.

You wait there for less than five minutes.

Nine beds.  And what if twelve people come in? Are you going to wrap up patients 1-4 in 4 minutes?  That doesn't sound too safe.

You go right back to the back and see a doctor. Usually, you’re still filling out your chart and the doctors interrupting you saying “oh, how can I help you today”? And, you know, we have everything. We have the labs, we have, you know, ultrasound, MRI, CAT scan, X-ray.

You get seen by a doctor, you don’t get seen by a nurse practitioner.

I'm going to assume this's includes PAs too, and was made purely for advertising.  "Come see the real doctors"!

And our two biggest attributes are that we’re super friendly and were super-duper fast. We get you in, feelin’ better, treated, get you out…if you don’t have insurance, or you want to pay cash, we have transparent pricing, you know, and its very reasonable rates, and if you’re sick enough to need admission to the hospital, we can do that too. We can admit you right to our hospital and take care of you until you’re better.

And you’re going to feel like you’re at the spa, and not the emergency room.

I like spas, but if my abdomen is filling with blood, or my face is drooping, I want the grizzled ed md or pa, who knows wtf they are doing, not an md who says "super duper".

If you’re at the ER, it might be the worst day of your life, but we’re going to make that a way better experience than usual at the ER. You’re going to like it.

i think if you like the ER, maybe you don't have a gd emergency.

heres the link:

https://surgerycenterok.com/transparent-pricing/introducing-oklahoma-er-and-hospital/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's nothing wrong with the concept, although their price list is somewhat interesting. $325 for an MRI but $650 for an STD test (nucleic acid amplified). I think we'd all care less if they didn't intentionally exclude NPs and PAs. But we should also use this opportunity to examine the other side: there are a lot of docs who don't like working with us, not because we're not good clinicians or don't ease their workload, but because they don't like cosigning charts and taking on liability on patients they didn't see because the corporate overlords make them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to the Physician Assistant Forum! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn More