Joining My Medical Practice
Okay, so you think you’re (maybe) ready to sign up. What’s next?
(Optional) Meet and greet visit – no charge
Finding the right chemistry can be important. Feel free to schedule a no-pressure “meet and greet” visit to come in to say “hello” so we can get to know each other a bit before you make any decisions. We can talk about what things are important to you in a medical practice and make sure it’s a good fit.
Pre-visit preparation I: – Forms and financial stuff
If you decide to join, I’ll ask you to fill out some paperwork (see the “Forms for new members” section below) and save them. When you’re ready, tell me about yourself (email or brief phone call) so I can get at least your name and email address. With those things I can create a unique “uploads” folder for you in my office Dropbox system and share access with you. Thereafter you’ll be able to use this to send me your forms and any medical records that you’d like me to have (including possibly new ones as you accumulate them). This would also be a good time to get the financial stuff squared away; to do so, it’s probably best to just call one of us (me or Rebecca – whoever answers the phone) with your payment and contact information. After that we can get your account set up in our system and order labs for you through Labcorp. (Let me know if you have any special concerns that might require special lab orders that would differ from my standard panel.
Oh yeah, about that Payment Information – Charge cards are fine, and FSA or HSA cards are usable for many things, including lab fees, the initial consultation, and medications (but probably not supplements). HSA and FSA accounts may or may not be usable to pay your monthly fee with, depending on the discretion of your account benefits manager and their interpretation of the applicability of certain IRS regulations. All of that said, you’ll get a slightly better monthly rate with us if you authorize us to draw directly on your checking account with ACH drafts; if that works for you, then we’ll need your bank’s routing number and your checking account number.
Pre-visit preparation II: – A trip to Labcorp
Once I have your payment information and have had a chance to determine whether we should add some extra lab orders beyond my typical (but comprehensive) standard panel, I’ll place some orders for you with Labcorp and send you an order sheet. You’ll be able to get those done at any Labcorp Patient Service Center; head to Labcorp.com to find the most convenient one for you and schedule a visit. When you go you should be fasting, with nothing to eat or drink except water (*) for 12 hours beforehand. Beyond the fasting requirement you should also avoid taking any B-vitamin or multivitamin supplements that contain biotin for at least 48 hours beforehand – extra biotin in your blood can interfere with a lot of modern lab tests and give us erroneous results.
[(*) I used to say “except water or black coffee“, but it turns out that black coffee (even decaf) can raise your triglyceride levels. Be aware of the consequences if you choose to indulge.]
When I order your labs, in most cases I’ll be setting up your lab requisition to be “Client Bill” (where I’m the client). This means that when you get to Labcorp you won’t be paying for them yourself; you’ll be telling them that a third party (Slower Medicine) will be paying. We’ll bill you about $160 next month (for the standard panel) when our Labcorp bill comes due. (Note that I strongly prefer to avoid the hassle of trying to come up with a comprehensive set of diagnostic codes to justify the broad array of screening labs to your insurance company. I might be more flexible in the future for certain cases where you’d strongly prefer to use insurance and where there’s a clear diagnostic purpose for all of the labs in the order set.)
On to your initial consultation
Once your test results are back (most results are available within 1-2 days) we can have you come in for your initial visit. We’ll discuss your current problems and concerns, your medical history, your family history, your lab results, and your medications. I may conduct a physical exam and possibly do an EKG (if appropriate). This is also when I’ll be charging your account the $300 initial consult fee and (if you’re interested) start your monthly membership.
What follows…
By the end of that long first visit I hope to have a fairly complete picture of your health, your general lifestyle, your long-term goals, your values, and your needs going forward. We can take immediate action for any problems that should be addressed quickly and then (if you join the practice) discuss the rest at a more leisurely pace. Having met you at the initial visit, I’ll be more comfortable helping you with your concerns going forward – whether you come back to the office for more in-person visits or we rely more on phone calls or emails. Speaking of that, It may be the case that at some point in the not so distant future (mid-2024?) my practice may go entirely virtual in North Carolina as there’s a high probability that my family will be relocating to Canada. I’ll still maintain my NC licensure so I can still be your “doctor in the cloud”, but something will obviously need to be worked out for those special situations that might require in-person evaluation by a medical provider.
(Mostly fillable) forms for new members:
* HIPAA Consent (this form is required – but it might be easier to print this one out and bring the signed paper copy with you.)
* Detailed Medical History Questionnaire for Women(required)
* Detailed Medical History Questionnaire for Men (required)
* Medicare Opt-Out Form (required for Medicare Enrollees)
* Medical Symptoms Questionnaire (optional)
* Medical Records Release Form (optional)
Click here for the Slower
Medicine Fullscript web store *
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* Active discounts are only available to Slower Medicine members. Once membership has been established, discounts will apply to all purchases from that point on.