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Dr. Stephen Meyers of Oak Ridge, North Carolina, joins Mike and Joyce to talk about the steps being taken by his group of primary care physicians to be able to provide care to an increasing number of people.
You can help yourself and your own physician by following his steps to prepare for a visit with your doctor. You will have a more satisfying visit and will make more progress if you prepare.
Dr. Meyers and his group are optimizing their time by using hospitalists to visit and care for the hospitalized patients, staying in communication with them as needed during the hospitalization, and returning the patient to their care on discharge.
Dr. Meyers is also the Medical Director of the Physicians Assistants training program at High Point University in nearby Greenville, North Carolina. Because there will be a sharp rise in the number of people who are insured and need primary care, and because of the shortage of primary care physicians, his group is committed to bringing Nurse Practitioners and Physicians’ Assistants into their group to perform the basic functions and provide basic care, always calling in the primary care physician when the case seems more tricky and needs the doctor’s broader training and experience. Together these professionals will care for people as a team.
It is fascinating to hear how a committed group of medical professionals in a rural area of the United States is preparing to be able to care for at least twice as many patients in this first year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”).
