The hurry with which frequently a doctor attends to a patient is something that Puerto Rican, Dr. Maribel Avilés, has never liked.
"What people want to see in a doctor is that he/she has the time to dedicate to the patient and that he/she has a close relationship such as the one that used to exist earlier with doctors", says the family doctor of 49 years. "Often the doctor does not meet you, the visit is hurried and then a nurse enters the patient’s room and, then another person gets involved, and this one in turn calls another one, and in fact the message gets lost".
Avilés, native of Arecibo, openly criticizes the health care system in the United States in regard to health insurance and believes that the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as Obamacare, really does not solve the problem.
"If you do not have a subsidy, it doesn't work because it is very expensive," Dr. Aviles explains. Adding that to include the primary medical care in such insurance ends up increasing the costs. "There were other alternatives to do this, such as to leave these insurance policies for situations in which you need a specialist or catastrophic events, not for primary and preventive care".
In her 22 years in the profession, the resident of east Orlando says that she has "navigated" the system long enough to understand that she does not agree with the handling of medical insurance. "The cost of medicine is very high when it should not be".
The graduate of the Medical Sciences Campus at the University of Puerto Rico has had the experience to work for different doctors' offices, and also, worked as a sole practitioner between the years 2000 and 2009.
"In the last year I had my doctor's office, I was so frustrated with all of the health insurance providers that I decided to slowly stop working with them, and I began to charge a flat fee of $50 a visit," recalled the mother of a 9 year old girl and a teen boy of 15.
Her attempt to offer this type of service at a low cost only lasted a year and she said that it didn't work because she did not have the necessary marketing.
After this experience, although she returned to work for a private office, she always had an interest and concern about finding a way to offer her primary medical care without having to feel, as she herself describes it, "as representing the insurance companies as well as representing the patients. I wanted to have a direct relationship with the patients, without intermediaries".
Researching on her free time, she learned about the Direct Primary Care model (DPC), in which the doctor provides primary and preventive care services to patients who become members of your practice by paying a monthly fee and a registration.
Under this model, Avilés will open its Innova Medical Care Clinic on July 14 in Orlando East. "What most pleases me is the time I'm going to be able to dedicate to my patients. I like to educate, sit down with them, and give them their options".
She was emphatic that this type of service is not medical insurance. Therefore, having a membership should not be thought of as complying with the government requirement to be registered with a medical plan under the Affordable Health Care Act.
She explained that there are several persons who can benefit from such an arrangement, such as those who want to save costs in their routine appointments because their medical plan has a very high deductible.
According to information from her website http://www.innovamedicalcare.com, the registration fee per person rate is $75 and a monthly payment at a cost that depends on the age of the patient. For people between 13 and 19 years the monthly payment is $25, between 20 and 40 years is $40, between 41 and 64 is $50 and 65 and older $60. There are also special prices for family.
Other options the practice will offer is the “Pay as you go” option, which allow the patient to make payment at each visit without necessarily becoming a member ($100 for first visit) and, consultations on the Internet watching the patient through a screen, by e-mail or via a doctor’s visit at the patient's home.
In a recent conference, which Avilés gave at the Alafaya library about her services, Karina Urquhart was mentioning how this conference reminded her of how medicine is practiced in her country.
"The doctor in my country is the one that the family knows and even visits you at home if it is necessary", said smilingly the 37-year-old Paraguayan, who is employed at her own spa in Maitland. "To have this here, at an affordable price, I believe will be a very good option for many individuals", said Urquhart.
Send your comments to casalazar@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-4004
"What people want to see in a doctor is that he/she has the time to dedicate to the patient and that he/she has a close relationship such as the one that used to exist earlier with doctors", says the family doctor of 49 years. "Often the doctor does not meet you, the visit is hurried and then a nurse enters the patient’s room and, then another person gets involved, and this one in turn calls another one, and in fact the message gets lost".
Avilés, native of Arecibo, openly criticizes the health care system in the United States in regard to health insurance and believes that the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as Obamacare, really does not solve the problem.
"If you do not have a subsidy, it doesn't work because it is very expensive," Dr. Aviles explains. Adding that to include the primary medical care in such insurance ends up increasing the costs. "There were other alternatives to do this, such as to leave these insurance policies for situations in which you need a specialist or catastrophic events, not for primary and preventive care".
In her 22 years in the profession, the resident of east Orlando says that she has "navigated" the system long enough to understand that she does not agree with the handling of medical insurance. "The cost of medicine is very high when it should not be".
The graduate of the Medical Sciences Campus at the University of Puerto Rico has had the experience to work for different doctors' offices, and also, worked as a sole practitioner between the years 2000 and 2009.
"In the last year I had my doctor's office, I was so frustrated with all of the health insurance providers that I decided to slowly stop working with them, and I began to charge a flat fee of $50 a visit," recalled the mother of a 9 year old girl and a teen boy of 15.
Her attempt to offer this type of service at a low cost only lasted a year and she said that it didn't work because she did not have the necessary marketing.
After this experience, although she returned to work for a private office, she always had an interest and concern about finding a way to offer her primary medical care without having to feel, as she herself describes it, "as representing the insurance companies as well as representing the patients. I wanted to have a direct relationship with the patients, without intermediaries".
Researching on her free time, she learned about the Direct Primary Care model (DPC), in which the doctor provides primary and preventive care services to patients who become members of your practice by paying a monthly fee and a registration.
Under this model, Avilés will open its Innova Medical Care Clinic on July 14 in Orlando East. "What most pleases me is the time I'm going to be able to dedicate to my patients. I like to educate, sit down with them, and give them their options".
She was emphatic that this type of service is not medical insurance. Therefore, having a membership should not be thought of as complying with the government requirement to be registered with a medical plan under the Affordable Health Care Act.
She explained that there are several persons who can benefit from such an arrangement, such as those who want to save costs in their routine appointments because their medical plan has a very high deductible.
According to information from her website http://www.innovamedicalcare.com, the registration fee per person rate is $75 and a monthly payment at a cost that depends on the age of the patient. For people between 13 and 19 years the monthly payment is $25, between 20 and 40 years is $40, between 41 and 64 is $50 and 65 and older $60. There are also special prices for family.
Other options the practice will offer is the “Pay as you go” option, which allow the patient to make payment at each visit without necessarily becoming a member ($100 for first visit) and, consultations on the Internet watching the patient through a screen, by e-mail or via a doctor’s visit at the patient's home.
In a recent conference, which Avilés gave at the Alafaya library about her services, Karina Urquhart was mentioning how this conference reminded her of how medicine is practiced in her country.
"The doctor in my country is the one that the family knows and even visits you at home if it is necessary", said smilingly the 37-year-old Paraguayan, who is employed at her own spa in Maitland. "To have this here, at an affordable price, I believe will be a very good option for many individuals", said Urquhart.
Send your comments to casalazar@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-4004
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