{"id":7713,"date":"2016-02-15T05:09:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T11:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=7713"},"modified":"2021-08-15T10:52:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-15T15:52:06","slug":"what-having-a-medical-team-actually-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/15\/what-having-a-medical-team-actually-means","title":{"rendered":"What Having A Medical Team Actually Means"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s quite common for a new WholeHealth Chicago patient filling out our forms to answer the \u201cHow can we help?\u201d inquiry with \u201cI\u2019m seeing too many doctors and they don\u2019t communicate with each other\u201d or \u201cI want all my health care in one place with one doctor who knows me.\u201d  Having worked as part of a small group for more 20 years, it\u2019s hard for me to grasp how bloated and unwieldy health care became when I wasn\u2019t looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get a sense of its true bloatedness when I review the stack of medical records our new patient brings in. Looking at the numerous referrals to specialists, repetitive tests and x rays, and surgical procedures of dubious worth I think, \u201cShe\u2019s right. There\u2019s no one in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, she has a theoretical primary care physician<\/a> (PCP) selected from an insurance \u201cProvider Directory,\u201d but with her insurance constantly changing she\u2019s lucky if she gets in a single visit before she (or her PCP) moves to another medical group. Add to this the fact that in the huge medical groups–the ones that own hospitals and medical offices with physicians as employees– referrals to specialists are encouraged. Specialists perform surgeries, and surgeries are the cash cow of health care. Simple stuff gets referred out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although this patient\u2019s PCP could perform her Pap smear in five minutes flat, instead she\u2019s sent to a gynecologist. She\u2019ll be sent to a dermatologist for a patch of eczema (the biopsy will be an extra charge), a gastroenterologist for constipation (the colonoscopy an extra charge), and a rheumatologist for aches and pains (more blood tests than she has blood, all at extra charge).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most likely none of these physicians, neither the PCP nor the specialists, actually know each other, couldn\u2019t place a name with a face on a bet and never talk on the phone or communicate by e-mail. At one time, it was hoped that electronic medical records (EMRs) would solve these communication problems, but EMRs have been a major disappointment for one simple reason: no two EMR systems are able to share information. Unless your PCP and dermatologist are both employees of say, Northwestern, your PCP will probably never know what happened at the dermatologist\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when it comes to two competing healthcare giants, like Rush and Northwestern, there\u2019s probably a better line of communication between Israel and the PLO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re basically healthy and take care of yourself, you really don\u2019t need a medical team\u2014one visit every couple of years is plenty. Obviously your care becomes more complex if chronic conditions develop, and in this case communication between and among physicians is of utmost importance, if only to save you superfluous doctoring. With a little effort, it\u2019s possible to locate a primary care doctor (who actually gets to know you and your problems) to act as a health care system ombudsman and a mouthpiece when you\u2019re dealing with specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our approach<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here at WholeHealth Chicago, and like the docs over at Northwestern or Rush, we do have online access to your medical records. But unlike France, for example, where every doctor and hospital uses the same software and your complete chart is available to any physician, we (again like Northwestern) have access only to information generated by our own office. On the very positive side, your records are available to me 24\/7 and we use email a lot, not only to send messages between practitioners, but also to answer questions from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because WholeHealth Chicago is a small group, our physicians and practitioners see each other in hallways, in the lunchroom, and during weekly case conferences. We share information constantly. We also use \u201ccurbside consults.\u201d If, for example, you\u2019re in my office and I\u2019m stymied by something that needs a chiropractic opinion, I can walk about 30 feet, tap on Dr. Rubin\u2019s or Dr. Maurer\u2019s door, and say, \u201cExcuse me, when you finish with your patient I need to ask you something.\u201d This is extremely handy and while it\u2019s routine for us, by their very size and spread of offices, curbside consults are completely unknown at a Northwestern or a Rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you do need a specialist, we\u2019re not obligated to limit you to one system. There\u2019s no one to tell us, \u201cUse any specialist, so long as she\u2019s from Rush (or Northwestern or Advocate).\u201d Did you know doctors can actually be fired for sending patients to rival hospital systems? Our own WholeHealth Chicago specialist list is the result of years of professional interaction and mutual respect. Physicians on our list know we\u2019re an integrative practice, respect our work, and are intrigued rather than threatened by our use of herbs or homeopathic remedies. Best of all, after your visit with one of our specialists we receive a faxed summary, usually within 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about hospitals? Our group is so oriented toward wellness and prevention that we regard hospitalization as our professional failure (not yours). I think maybe two or three patients a year actually end up in a hospital, usually with appendicitis or an elective surgical procedure like a joint replacement. Again, we\u2019re not tied into any single hospital system. We simply give you our recommendation for which hospital is best for your needs, and in fact we\u2019ve sent patients as far as Mayo Clinic and M.D. Anderson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locating a small-group PCP<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let me offer a few suggestions for finding a small-group primary care physician who won\u2019t forget your name, won\u2019t send you to a specialist every time you cough, and will accept the responsibility of being in charge of your care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n