OUR MODEL
We are a direct care endocrine clinic that focuses on metabolic health.
We believe this model fosters a highly personalized physician-patient relationship, where, unbound by limitations of time, paperwork, and insurance constraints, the doctor and the patient work together to set health goals and see them through.
To understand what direct care medicine is, it helps to compare it to the traditional care medical model.
Traditional Care
Insurance Dictated Care
Health insurance often places limits on aspects of your health care. It restricts which doctors you can see. It imposes a significant administrative burden on you and your doctor with unnecessary paperwork, phone calls, and authorizations. Time spent on exhaustive holds and negotiating with insurers for approval of services reduces your availability to seek and your doctor’s ability to provide patient care.
Direct Care
Unbound by Insurance
The agreement for care is between you and your doctor. No interference by third parties. The time that we save not negotiating with insurance companies we are able to give back to you during and between visits. There are no unnecessary boxes that need to be checked prior to implementing new, cutting-edge medical models that improve your health.
Traditional Care
Volume Focused
The medical system puts significant pressure on doctors to see as many patients as possible. This model does not benefit the patients. You become a number in a sea of patients and seeing your doctor becomes a near impossible task. Unacceptable delays in ability to schedule an appointment, long waiting times in the office, and rushed visits have resulted from this volume-focused system.
Direct Care
Patient Focused
The structure of direct medical care promotes the re-establishment of a meaningful and long-lasting doctor-patient relationship. From a doctor perspective, quality of care to one individual can finally reign over quantity of care delivered to hundreds of patients. Because we are able to keep our patient volume down, you will immediately notice the significant amount of time the doctor spends with you at each visit. Your medical advice will not be rushed and protocolized. Rather, your doctor will take the time necessary with you to establish a personalized treatment plan specific to you. Quality of care no longer becomes a goal, it is the standard.
Traditional Care
Get Added to the Waitlist
First, you have to be able to actually reach the office you are trying to call. You likely get a phone tree with a carousel of options and, by the time you get to speak to the right person, you need to leave a message without the confidence that it will be returned in a timely fashion. Need to make an appointment? Next available is in 5 months. But you can be seen by someone else, who you have never met with before, within 3 months, or be added to the wait-list to see if a cancellation comes in.
Direct Care
Accessibility is the Standard
Need to speak with the doctor? Call the office and rest assured that you will get to speak to your doctor. No dizzying phone trees. No lack of returned calls. Need to make an appointment? Great news! Appointments are available within days. Come for in-person visits or, if virtual care works best for your follow-up visits, we can do that too. We accommodate what works best for you.
Traditional Care
Fragmented Care
Since the doctor cannot be available to see you
or answer your questions (see volume-focused
care), your care gets delegated to others.
Individuals unfamiliar with your care intercept
your questions and concerns and this leads to
misunderstandings and lack of clarity with the
plan. When things are so impersonal, no
wonder people become disengaged and
frustrated.
Direct Care
Continuity of Care
When you call to speak with your doctor, your
doctor gets on the phone or calls you back.
When you have an update on or need
clarification of a treatment plan, your
communication is with your doctor. Each time
you have a visit, yes, you guessed it – it is with
your doctor. Relationships like these promote
trust, accountability, and summon your best
health.
Traditional Care
Spectator in Care
With fragmented, delayed, hurried, and
impersonal care, it is natural for many
individuals to disengage from the healthcare
system. When your visit rolls around, there’s
often only enough time for you to be told what to
do. Frequently, advice is given without regard
as to whether it is possible for you, whether
you understand what it means, and without
explanation as to why it is important. You have
now become a spectator to your healthcare. As
a spectator in a fragmented system,
accountability and one’s desire to participate
wanes and health stalls.
Direct Care
Active Team Member
In Direct Care, you have time to spend with
your doctor to discuss what motivates you and
what life factors affect your health. These
essential pieces of your history inform your
treatment plan, which is developed not only for
you but with your active participation. When
we know you, we are able to use the best
evidence-based medical therapies and
appropriately tailor them to meet your health
needs. When you are part of the process, you
are invested in its success.
Traditional Care
Hidden Costs
Hidden costs in healthcare abound. It is not
clear how much an office visit will end up
costing. Maybe you’ve been offered a helpful
treatment but decline because you have no idea
how much it would cost or whether insurance
will pay for it. Are you being seen at a clinic that
is hospital-based, later to find that you are
charged a fee just for that? Co-pays differ depending on who you see and where you seek
care. All of this adds up and suddenly you
realize you are responsible for significant out-of-
pocket costs that you did not anticipate.
Direct Care
Price Transparency
You will know precisely what your costs are
and what they include prior to committing to a
treatment plan. Depending on the membership
level you choose or even if you choose non-
membership participation, these details are
provided to you. You can pay all at once,
monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. If at
anytime you decide you want to change your engagement plan, all you need to do is reach
out to info@summonhealth.com and the
appropriate adjustments are made. No
hassles at all.