To My Future Patients,
As a physician for over two decades in Austin, I have enjoyed the privilege to treat and develop meaningful, supportive relationships with my patients, which has been my favorite, most fulfilling aspect of medicine. Because of this, I have created a personalized medicine practice. This type of practice, accurately described as “highly attentive medicine” by Dr. Howard Maron, who pioneered the concept in 1996, allows me the ability to build on and improve these relationships with personalized care, focused more on wellness and prevention.
The medical landscape is changing in ways that make it difficult in the current practice setting to provide the high quality of care that my patients deserve. With greater demands on physicians from outside forces and a public health model where the interest of the individual patient can be lost in an increasingly complex healthcare system, personalized face to face time between patients and their physicians is being eroded. This problem will only worsen as a greater number of patients seek out care from a decreasing number of primary care doctors.
Having a close relationship with a physician, who allows easy access and communication, has been shown to enhance an individual’s ability to be in control of his or her health. I value the relationship with you and your family and want to take more time to know about your history and goals for the future, fostering a greater connectivity to aid in meeting those goals.
In order to provide the highest quality of care with attentive service, I find it necessary to adjust the scope of my practice to a limited number of patients via an annual membership fee covering an extended exam and additional services not covered by insurance. This allows me to devote more time and attention to each patient. Time to practice medicine as it was intended, focusing on every aspect of health; urgent and chronic disease management, nutrition, fitness, behavior and life style management as well as family and social aspects that may impact your well-being. After exploring all the factors that can influence your health, we together can determine an approach that works best for you.
More Personalized Care for You
All of us want to be treated with respect by a caring physician, who is committed to our individual health. This kind of customized care is provided in my personalized medicine practice. It is the kind of care that I went into family medicine to provide. Being a part of a smaller, more connected patient panel, you will experience:
- Direct availability to me through cell phone, text and email throughout the year, as we create and implement a wellness plan based on your annual exam.
- Unhurried office visits, not dictated by insurance reimbursement requirements, that allow us to address multiple concerns.
- Annual wellness exams with comprehensive screening focused on disease prevention, healthy aging and development of a health plan that works with your lifestyle and goals; and that plan will be supported with direct physician communication connection.
- Same or next day appointments that start on time, as well as a collaborative, personalized approach to improving and maintaining your optimal health.
- Expedited availability to communicate with specialists, pharmacists, and hospitalists, helping navigate a complex healthcare system while implementing your wellness plan.
- Ready assistance with scheduling appointments, tests, and procedures.
- Prompt prescription renewals and direct follow up on labs and test results.
Here’s how it works.
There is an option to pay monthly, quarterly or annually through debit or bank account or credit card. I encourage you to talk to your tax advisor or employer to confirm whether some of our private fee services provided may be tax deductible and/or reimbursed through your HSA/FSA account. Membership is not an insurance plan, so it is advisable to maintain your health insurance coverage. Membership fees per individual are based on age as outlined here.
How to join.
There are three simple ways to join my practice.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am always happy to talk with you in the office or by phone, or schedule a complimentary non-clinical introductory visit with you.
Sincerely,
Kerry D. Rhodes, M.D.