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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2012)
8 in other words august14 2012 Natural Path to Health: Invest in Yourself By Dr. Carol McIntyre I have WONDERFUL news!!! There is finally a way for people without insurance or minimal insurance to get lab work done for a fraction of the cost. This is such an exciting development that I am encouraging everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. I will keep it short and sweet (ok, I’ll try…). There is a group of healthcare practitioners who approached Lab Corps, one of the largest lab processing/ drawing facilities in the US, and proposed they start up a cash pay lab system with highly discounted rates. Agreements and negotiations have been made and a new sub-unit of Lab Corps has been created offering state-of- the art-testing to patients at a fraction of the cost. A new company called Principal Labs has been formed and is in operation! This company has negotiated the cost of labs down so much that you can now get a CBC for $5! Anyone who has had to pay out of pocket for routine lab work knows that pricing is unheard of. Principal Labs offers different panels for different costs. Their comprehensive panel includes: Comp metabolic panel, electrolyte panel, CBC w/diff, Vit D, complete urinalysis and a complete thyroid panel including all the available thyroid antibody tests for only $199!!! Now, the thyroid panel alone with all of the antibody testing would cost you well over $1,000.00 if you were to do it through any other lab, and 90% of the time insurance will not cover the antibody testing and the patient is left with a greater out-of-pocket expense. All together, the cost of ordering these tests from any other lab would be thousands of dollars and Principal Labs’ complete cost is only $199. There are some specific requirements. This is strictly cash pay only. The system was set up specifically to help those who did not have health insurance at all or who had poor coverage from their current health insurance plan. Also, you must go to a Lab Corps draw site to have your samples taken. Principal Labs is looking toward having individual practitioners be able to do blood draws in their own offices soon. The closest draw site to us is on Barnes Rd near St.Vincent’s hospital off highway 26. Once samples are submitted I receive the results in 4 business days for review. I urge anyone and everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. There are many patients who come to my office that have not been to see a doctor in years for whatever reason. Some have no insurance, some feel fine and some just don’t want to be told that something may need further investigation. Now you can invest in your health! Principal Labs and its founders is now providing, to me as a doctor and you as a patient, the opportunity to look at biochemical blood markers and make changes early so that simple disease patterns don’t progress into more complicated ones. This is the most exciting breakthrough in blood chemistry diagnosis to date! As a doctor I am so happy to finally see an affordable and accessible piece of healthcare available. Please make use of this great resource. Contact the office at 503.429.3928 for more information. Thank you. Be Well. Blessings in memory of Julie Schmidtke ~ She will be dearly missed by all who knew her. Verdura Clinic Leaves Vernonia continued from front page community members and create better visibility. “We are still open and plan on being open,” stated Miller in the update. According to Krahn, Verdura had paid their rent through August 15, 2012. After receiving the phone call on July 24 informing her that Verdura was intending to close, Krahn says a meeting was arranged for the evening of July 30 with the hope that the Vernonia Health Board might convince Verdura to recon- sider. Instead, Krahn says, Verdura had already packed up their office, told em- ployees that afternoon that the clinic was closed, and then turned over their keys to the building at the meeting. Verdura sent an email on July 30 at 6:24 PM, giving the Vernonia Health Board a thirty day notice of their intent to close the clinic. Patients were not contacted di- rectly by Verdura to inform them of their intentions prior to the closing. Sara Mill- er at Verdura Family Wellness declined, when asked, to provide any additional information about the closure of the clin- ic. “I know that I speak for the en- tire Board when I say that we regret the impact this untimely closure will have on both the patients and the employees,” said Krahn. “We want the patients to know that we are working diligently to follow leads to regain access to medical service in the community as soon as pos- sible.” The letter addressed to patients that was posted on the door of the clinic informs patients that they are welcome to seek care at either of Verdura’s other clinics in Hillsboro or Carlton. “We want to make this transition as easy on your [sic] as possible,” states the letter. The Carlton location is listed on the clinic letterhead, but is not listed anywhere on Verdura’s website. Sara Miller would not respond to questions about when the Carlton Office opened for operations. Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Look for our next issue August 28th. Closing of a Medical Practice The Oregon Medical Associa- tion believes that due care should be exercised when closing or departing from a medical practice. Not only does this ensure a smooth transition from the current physician to the new treat- ing physician, but it also reduces the liability of “patient abandonment.” Therefore, to ensure this oc- curs with a minimum of disruption in continuity of care, the physician termi- nating the physician-patient relation- ship should notify patients sufficiently in advance. If the practice focuses on management of essentially healthy pa- tients, that notice could be as short as thirty days. Where complex conditions and sick patients are involved, two fac- tors affect the length of notice: how sick is the patient? And how available is other care in the community? It is the patient’s decision from whom to receive medical care. There- fore, it is the responsibility of all phy- sicians and other parties who may be involved to ensure that: • Patients are notified of changes in the medical practice. This is best done by letter to patients by the physician explaining the change, in- cluding the final date of practice. OMA recommends, if possible, that letters be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and that a copy of the let- ter with the return receipt be kept. To inform inactive patients or those who have moved away, the OMA also rec- ommends placing an advertisement in a local newspaper. • Patients are advised as to where their medical records will be stored including how they may access them. To facilitate the transfer of medi- cal records to the new treating physi- cian, an authorization form should be included in the letter. • Patients secure another health care provider. If the practice is being taken over by another physician or another can be recommended, the patients can be referred to that physi- cian. Patients who believe they may have reason to file a complaint against Verdura Family Wellness can refer to www.leg.state.or.us/ors/677. html,Oregon State Statutes concerning Regulation of medicine. 677.188(4)(a) states, “Unprofessional or dishonor- able conduct” means conduct unbe- coming a person licensed to practice medicine or podiatry, or detrimental to the best interests of the public, and includes: (a) Any conduct or practice contrary to recognized standards of ethics of the medical or podiatric pro- fession or any conduct or practice which does or might constitute a dan- ger to the health or safety of a patient or the public. Patient Abandonment is de- fined as: “the unilateral severance by the physician of the physician patient relationship” without reasonable no- tice, at a time when there is still the ne- cessity of continuing medical attention. Examples of abandonment include: • the physician fails to provide adequate withdrawal notice to the pa- tient; • the physician fails to see a patient within a clinically indicated timeframe; • the physician withdraws from a patient case without making arrange- ments for continued care for lack of payment or any other reason. Information about filing a com- plaint can be found at: http://cms.or- egon.gov/omb/pages/consumer_help. aspx. The actual form to submit a complaint can be found at: http://cms. oregon.gov/OMB/PDFforms/Com- plaintForm.pdf Vernonia Veterinary Clinic START RIGHT. START HERE. SM Small and Large Animals Summer is here! Camping Supplies • BBQs Spa Chemicals • Sporting Goods Coolers • Fishing Supplies Summer Games & Toys Family owned & operated for over 40 years 834 Bridge St., Vernonia (503) 429-6364 Now Open Mon, Wed & Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call for Appointments (503) 429-1612 Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470 700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR
