Starting a New Journey in Medicine

My blog from earlier this year details learning how I have learned to practice differently, due to a chronic medical problem .  As I predicted, many difficult discussions did occur and the decision for me to separate from the general pediatrics group was made. And that was the easy part! Now to decide what to do….exactly?

For the past few years, I have had a growing interest in children with chronic problems (POTS, PANDAS/PANS and persistent problems associated with Lyme disease).  I have thought that there was so much more that could be done for these children and their families other than just reaching for the prescription pad.  Gradually I have gained expertise and familiarity with nutrition counselling as well as “genomics." My new style of practice should thus include these particular special interests.

Lady Luck smiled on me as I deliberated on what alternatives would be good for me. Sarah Fletcher, a physician and longtime friend, has been working on a new kind of integrative clinic .  While she is a family practitioner, she welcomed the idea of a pediatrician being present in her office. I will have my own practice that will rent “turn-key” space from her. As with many specialists, we will not participate with insurance but will have a flat fee for our time and expertise, then provide documentation for patients to submit to their own insurance companies.

About a year ago I had started to investigate telemedicine as a possible adjunct to my practice.  Sarah is also extremely interested in implementing it as a way to be more available to patients.  Most of what we both do involves a lot of talking and reviewing labs and records so telemedicine fits perfectly with our practice style. I am currently in the middle of building this platform and it should be up and running in a few weeks.

I’ve also decided to switch EHR systems.  Our whole multispecialty group is switching to eClinicalworks.  Since my practice will be brand new, why not just switch to the new system right away?

Sarah truly understands what it is like to have extreme medical challenges while still wanting to help our patients.  She is more than just a friend….she will be a marvelous mentor for this next phase of my medical practice life.

Over the next few months, I will document the decisions I make as I transition from a large pediatric practice to being a solo practitioner.  The most interesting part so far is wrapping my mind around not having to worry about the livelihood of 50-plus people…I just need to worry about one:  me!

Stay tuned!  I will keep you posted about my new practice, FoxCare Integrative Pediatrics.