FROM DR. GORDON, FLOYD, DAVIS, AND STUCKEY
We all thank you for your faithful trust in each of us for your healthcare needs. We have and will continue to strive to provide the best care possible. The field of medicine and healthcare in general has gone through and continues to go through major changes. We have been here at PPMS for many years, ranging from 2 years for our youngest partner to 31 years for our oldest partner. We believe we have adapted to these changes as best we can, handling additional requirements placed on us while continuing to ensure that patient care is at the forefront of it all. With these changes, we have had to carefully consider moving forward with the need to defer management of our hospitalized patients to the hospitalists at Tanner Medical Center. This change will take place as of December 4, 2023. Please know that we had many conversations and considered every aspect of this decision.
The following are FAQs of what that actually entails:
What does this mean?
The only thing that is changing is that we will not be managing your day-to-day needs in the hospital environment. We will no longer be rounding at the hospital. The hospitalists provide care only for hospitalized patients, providing consistency and communication with us as your primary care provider. By virtue of our ability to use our electronic medical record (Athena, My Privia) and the interface with Tanner’s electronic medical record (Epic, My Chart), we will continue to be able to see your entire hospital admission and care plan. We will also continue to see you in the office for follow-up after you are discharged from the hospital and will resume your outpatient needs as we always have.
WHY?
As stated above, this was not a quick or easy decision. We had many conversations about this and tried to come up with ways to continue what we have been doing for over 31 years: seeing patients in the hospital and in an outpatient setting. However, with the many changes in medicine, it has gotten to the point where doing both hospital and office medicine cannot be done simultaneously while still providing the high quality of care our patients deserve.
Does this mean you are no longer my doctor?
Absolutely not! We will continue to see you in the outpatient setting and continue to be on call for our office 24/7, just as we always have been.
When does all this start?
December 4, 2023. For our patients who are current admissions in the hospital as of this date, we will continue to round and manage your daily care until December 11, 2023. This will help ease the transition.
Does this change the office setting or schedule?
Yes, it will. By not being constrained by having to round at the hospital, we will be able to have more patient appointments in the office daily. We are in the process of finalizing how that will actually look.
What is the goal here?
We want to keep you out of the hospital. This has always been our goal. By being more available in the office setting, we believe this will allow us to continue to meet that goal.
We thank you for your trust in us for your healthcare needs. We look forward to continuing that patient-doctor relationship as we navigate this transition together.
