A doctor doing house calls??? In this day and age? And a geriatrician too? Tell me more!
As a "newbie" to the world of entrepreneurship, many people ask me what my business is about- what it is that I offer that is so needed out there?
It's made me think...a lot. And I think the best way to answer this question is to reflect on who I am and why I started this venture at this stage of my career.
I'm a geriatrician...a doctor who specializes in the care of older adults- from the healthy & robust to the medically frail and declining. It's a specialty of internal medicine requiring further training after a residency to learn about the intricacies of aging and the older adult. What I loved about it from the beginning is that it doesn't focus on one specific organ system like the heart or kidney or brain. It forces you to think about the whole body and all of its organ systems, how they interact, and how they change as we get older. But- it's even more than that. It's a field that calls on you to assess and incorporate a patient's mental/cognitive status, social/emotional status, physical functioning & ability to care for themselves, family histories and dynamics, medications, home environments, communities and social networks, and most importantly- their goals and priorities at this stage of life. It's holistic & integrative medicine at its best.
What can I help with?
Making sense of medical complexity- putting the pieces of a puzzle together
Geriatrics Assessments & Consultations
Dementia Care
Palliative & End-of-Life Care
Goals of Care & Advance Care Planning
Medical Decision-Making Capacity Evaluations
Pre-facility Entry Evaluations
Help Navigating the Health System
Long-term care insurance evaluations
Medical case reviews & expert witness
So, after 22 years of practice- hospital based, office based, nursing facility & assisted living facility based, and house call based, I decided to make a change, to "go my own way."
I operate outside of the realm of insurances, including Medicare. I see patients in their homes- my office is my car & laptop. I have unlimited time to spend with them to manage their medical, cognitive, functional, & psychosocial concerns. When they or their caregivers call the "doctor's office," they reach me- directly. I can help them translate medical issues, communicate with their other doctors, work through goals of care conversations, answer their questions, and help put an end to the revolving door of hospitals/nursing homes.
Come with me at Geriatrics Planning & Solutions- let's be the "GPS" to help older adults navigate to better health!
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