My doctor's office now calls to check on me once a month
May 8, 2020 10:29:49 GMT -5
Ralph likes this
Post by Clipper on May 8, 2020 10:29:49 GMT -5
This is something new since the pandemic and quarantines have become part of our everyday life. I find it comforting to be able to have a nurse practitioner follow up with me once a month and have them ask the pertinent questions in relation to my particular health issues. She told me today that I do have an appointment with my primary care doctor that I SHOULD keep in order to have an in person, hands on checkup of my vitals and to have blood drawn for cholesterol, A1C, and PSA. The PA is from my primary care doctor's office, but they coordinate the information gathered from the call with my cardiologists office and all the data gathered goes into my chart at both offices. We are fortunate to have a well organized healthcare system that shares information freely, with all my providers having access to my data with the click of a mouse. They now also share information and chart data with the VA also which is a huge plus for those of us that use both systems. While I was on the phone she checked to see when I had my last lab work done and found the information in my VA chart. When I was at the VA last, the primary doc that I have there was able to see all my physician's notes and chart entries from my hospital stay for my heart issues. I can't think of any way that I could be better covered and monitored than by the cooperative sharing between VA and Ballad Health facilities and doctors.
I normally only see that VA primary care doc for the required annual or semi-annual visits and check ups. Hearing aids and audiology concerns are addressed at the VA, as are podiatry appointments for my ongoing service connected foot issues, and now I will be seeing someone in their anti-coagulation clinic and a cardiologist once every six months because of the fact that I am getting my otherwise expensive heart meds there. My primary heart care and routine primary issues are addressed just 2 miles up the road here in Bristol which gives me comfort knowing that I don't have to go 20+ miles to see a doctor should I have an immediate need for care.
Our entire area's healthcare facilities were all brought under one corporate umbrella about a year ago. People were skeptical as to whether we would be lost in a huge system and would lose the personal attention we were used to, but on the contrary, we have seemed to see an improvement rather than a decline in our care. ALL our area hospitals are now under one company's control. Ballad Health is the name of the new system that took over both Mountain States Health and Wellmont Health. Hospitals in Abingdon Va, Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport Tn are all now operated by the same company. While some processes such as their phone system have been a mess, other areas such as the personal calls such as I received this morning, and the sharing of information, has been a major improvement. Some providers and nurses quit as a result of changes in pay and working conditions, but all seems to be leveling out and in my particular case, the nurse practitioner that took over when my doctor retired has been great.
I hope that when the dust settles in Utica over the location of the new facility, as well as concerns over the combining of the three hospitals into one, that those of you in the Utica area will experience the same improved services and will be able to put aside some concerns as being unfounded and unnecessary. We were all upset and there were demonstrations and newspaper editorials in the paper blasting the entire consolidation idea. The biggest concern was the consolidation Level 1 trauma services and NICU services in one place in Johnson City. Those concerns have been basically allayed by the fact that the med-flight system here is pretty large and widely used in order to service the mountain areas and the outlying coal field area. We have helicopters located in two locations here in Bristol Tn, a state police helicopter in nearby Abingdon Va, a helicopter stationed at Johnson City Medical Center, and also one at Kingsport at Holston Valley Med. Hopefully Utica and Rome will experience the same overall improvement when the system has worked out it's bugs and people have gained confidence in the new system. I think the biggest conflicts with MVHS is the real estate and location issues.
I normally only see that VA primary care doc for the required annual or semi-annual visits and check ups. Hearing aids and audiology concerns are addressed at the VA, as are podiatry appointments for my ongoing service connected foot issues, and now I will be seeing someone in their anti-coagulation clinic and a cardiologist once every six months because of the fact that I am getting my otherwise expensive heart meds there. My primary heart care and routine primary issues are addressed just 2 miles up the road here in Bristol which gives me comfort knowing that I don't have to go 20+ miles to see a doctor should I have an immediate need for care.
Our entire area's healthcare facilities were all brought under one corporate umbrella about a year ago. People were skeptical as to whether we would be lost in a huge system and would lose the personal attention we were used to, but on the contrary, we have seemed to see an improvement rather than a decline in our care. ALL our area hospitals are now under one company's control. Ballad Health is the name of the new system that took over both Mountain States Health and Wellmont Health. Hospitals in Abingdon Va, Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport Tn are all now operated by the same company. While some processes such as their phone system have been a mess, other areas such as the personal calls such as I received this morning, and the sharing of information, has been a major improvement. Some providers and nurses quit as a result of changes in pay and working conditions, but all seems to be leveling out and in my particular case, the nurse practitioner that took over when my doctor retired has been great.
I hope that when the dust settles in Utica over the location of the new facility, as well as concerns over the combining of the three hospitals into one, that those of you in the Utica area will experience the same improved services and will be able to put aside some concerns as being unfounded and unnecessary. We were all upset and there were demonstrations and newspaper editorials in the paper blasting the entire consolidation idea. The biggest concern was the consolidation Level 1 trauma services and NICU services in one place in Johnson City. Those concerns have been basically allayed by the fact that the med-flight system here is pretty large and widely used in order to service the mountain areas and the outlying coal field area. We have helicopters located in two locations here in Bristol Tn, a state police helicopter in nearby Abingdon Va, a helicopter stationed at Johnson City Medical Center, and also one at Kingsport at Holston Valley Med. Hopefully Utica and Rome will experience the same overall improvement when the system has worked out it's bugs and people have gained confidence in the new system. I think the biggest conflicts with MVHS is the real estate and location issues.
