Here at KindlyMD, we take pride in the fact that we are different. We are what we are by design. One of the things that sets us apart is our commitment to the Complete Care Model (CCM), a model of healthcare delivery that is slowly catching on around the country. We are happy to be at the forefront.
Complete Care is not necessarily new. However, it has not received much attention in this country because most healthcare providers operate on a fee-for-service model. “Fee-for-service" means doctors and other healthcare providers are compensated for each service performed. CCM didn't start coming into its own until about a decade ago, when we began shifting our focus to outcomes and patient satisfaction.
The CCM starts with people. It is a patient-centered approach to healthcare delivery that focuses on providing the best end results. It also recognizes that Complete Care requires the involvement of an entire healthcare team rather than a single doctor or nurse practitioner making all the decisions.
The model rests on three core principles:
Complete Care is suitable for every patient regardless of health and existing medical conditions. That said, it is especially helpful for people living with chronic conditions. Things like chronic pain, PTSD, and mental health conditions cannot be “fixed” overnight. They are considered chronic for a reason. They require ongoing care by way of a competent healthcare team.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, comprehensive care is a holistic approach to care. CCM providers do not focus exclusively on symptoms. They don't treat just the body. Instead, they believe healthcare should treat the whole person, including support for mental health.
A holistic approach recognizes the natural connections between body and mind. It recognizes that what a person thinks often impacts how that person feels – and vice versa. Most importantly, the holistic approach to care recognizes that treating most conditions is rarely as simple as writing a prescription.
Healthcare is about so much more than medicine alone. Medicines can certainly help, but so can non-pharmacological treatments. When medicines are involved, patients often need assistance with medication management. Again, holistic care is about so much more than writing a prescription and hoping it works.
The CCM is a quite different way to approach healthcare. It is something we believe in here at KindlyMD. We practice the CCM in relation to all our services including mental health, the Utah Medical Card, medication management, sleep support, pain treatment, and weight loss.
If you don’t feel like your current healthcare provider is giving you Complete Care, we invite you to make an appointment at any one of our Utah clinics. We would be happy to sit down and discuss the benefits of Complete Care as they apply to your needs. We believe Complete Care is the only way to go. We hope our patients agree.
KindlyMD is known throughout Utah for providing comprehensive care. Practically speaking, that means we do more than just treat symptoms. We take a more holistic approach that focuses on the whole person rather than just a single medical condition.
We believe that comprehensive care is the best way to treat patients. We suspect most of our patients agree. Having said that, patients play a pivotal role in making sure they are getting the care they deserve. As active participants, they become part of the care team.
Here are some practical things you can do to ensure that you are getting the most from comprehensive care:
A comprehensive care setting is typified by a healthcare team rather than a single doctor or nurse practitioner. Teams work together to ensure a patient's wellbeing. As the patient, you can help your team tremendously by always being open and honest with them.
There is no shame in comprehensive care. There are no stigmas to overcome. There is only you, how you feel, and what we might be able to do to help you feel better. By being honest and open, you can help us better understand how you are doing. That helps us do our jobs more effectively.
You have questions about your health. Everybody does. Never let those questions go unanswered. Every member of your healthcare team is a fountain of information just waiting to be accessed. But they can only answer your questions if they know what those questions are.
Feel free to ask anything. If we cannot provide a concrete answer on the spot, we will find the answer and get back to you. In addition, write down questions that pop into your mind between visits. Writing them down ensures you will not forget to ask during your next appointment.
As much as we healthcare providers may not like to admit it, we do not know everything. When a patient comes to us with a condition we haven’t treated before, there’s a good chance we’ll need to do some additional research before recommending treatment options. We encourage you to do your own research as well. There might be information out there that we are not aware of yet. Feel free to educate us.
Of course, there is a caveat here: not every research source can be trusted. Be very careful about where and how you do your research. If you are researching online, be especially careful. Remember this: just because you read something online doesn't mean it's true.
Nothing helps your healthcare team understand your health more than detailed records. We recommend keeping a daily journal. Record how you feel, the medications you have taken, whether you have noticed any improvements, and so on. Information equals power – both to you and your healthcare team. We can make our best healthcare recommendations when we have lots of information to work with.
If you are taking plant-based medications by way of a Utah Med Card, it is important that you keep records about your medication. Track yourself by writing down what you take, when you take it, the dosage, and how it made you feel. That information is vital to help you get the most out of your medications.
We are firmly committed to comprehensive care. If it is something you are interested in but not getting from your current provider, perhaps it's time for a change. And if you are receiving comprehensive care already, be sure to do the things discussed in this post. They represent your best strategy for getting the most out of the care you receive.
As a consumer, what motivates you to return to a company you have previously done business with? We are guessing that part of your motivation is a good experience. Your previous experience was good enough to invite you to return. Can we apply the same thing to medicine? Yes, by providing comprehensive care.
Also known as Complete Care, comprehensive care goes above and beyond traditional Western medicine. It involves a more holistic approach provided by a healthcare team rather than a lone doctor writing a prescription. There is nothing wrong with doctors and prescriptions. But it is hard for a single provider to provide truly comprehensive care.
Do you remember when the hottest topic in healthcare was making the transition from fee-for-service to outcome-based medicine? It was just over a decade ago, and it was in relation to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Transitioning to outcome-based medicine was one of the motivations for implementing the ACA.
It turns out that outcomes are the foundation of comprehensive care as well. Those of us who believe in the comprehensive care philosophy want patients to experience the best possible outcome in every situation. A positive outcome organically leads to a number of important things:
It is hard to stress that third point enough. No one can be healthy 100% of the time. So in the medical field, we want people to come back for more care when they aren't as healthy as they could be. We want them to see healthcare providers as allies in good health rather than adversaries. Providing comprehensive care is a big step in that direction.
Comprehensive care is by no means static. In fact, transitioning from fee-for-service to outcome-based medicine is compelling evidence to that effect. The outcome-based model was first proposed because things were changing. As culture changes, medicine needs to change with it. That brings us right back to comprehensive care.
Here at KindlyMD, comprehensive care combines three basic components: the Utah Med Card, medication management, and mental health services. Our services are geared toward a specific set of patients who need a certain kind of comprehensive care they cannot get through their normal GPs or family doctors.
Our care model is one that is designed to adapt with the times. For example, the Utah Med Card gives patients access to plant-based medicines that cannot be accessed through a prescription from a primary care doctor.
The plant-based medicines made accessible through a Med Card are part of a broader approach to medicine that seeks to change with the times. We incorporate the Med Card into our services because we want to offer comprehensive care that is in line with both the culture and cutting-edge medicine.
Rounding out the comprehensive care philosophy is the idea of treating the whole patient rather than just a condition or a set of symptoms. The truth is that symptoms do not occur in isolation. In addition, people are not separate from the health conditions they are dealing with. When part of the body is not well, the whole person is not well. Comprehensive care seeks to change that.
If you have never experienced comprehensive care before, it is unlike anything else in modern medicine. We would be more than happy to help improve your care if we can. We are confident that receiving truly comprehensive care will motivate you to come back when you need more care. The end result should be better overall health.
Something we emphasize a lot here at KindlyMD is what we call “Complete Care.” We are firmly committed to the idea that every patient deserves the most complete care possible. But what does that mean? What does it look like?
Whether you come to us with questions about the Utah Med Card, need help with medication management, or need mental health services, we employ an entire team that works together to ensure all your needs are met. Our team even considers you a collaborative partner in your healthcare. All of us working together maximizes care so that you get the outcome you're looking for.
In order to make complete care easier to understand, we have put together a list of signs you can look for, signs that indicate that you are actually getting the complete care you deserve. Here they are:
One of the foundations of Complete Care is giving patients plenty of opportunities to talk about their health and actually listen to what they have to say. If you are receiving Complete Care, the various members of your healthcare team are not dismissive about your concerns. They listen closely as you describe your symptoms. They seek to understand how you are using your medications.
Hand-in-hand with listening to what you have to say is anticipating your questions. A team providing complete care actually wants you to ask. Team members know you are probably not a trained medical professional. They know you don't always fully understand treatments. But here is the thing: they want you to know and understand as much as possible.
If you can ask any question that comes to mind and expect a reasonable answer in return, that’s a good sign you are getting complete care. Questions and answers are one of the hallmarks.
Yet another hallmark of Complete Care is the holistic approach to treatment. If you are being treated holistically, your care providers are not merely looking at symptoms and trying to alleviate them. They treat you as a whole person – body, mind, and spirit. They want all of you to feel better, not just your body.
Complete Care rests on the idea that both providers and patients need to maintain an open mind. Why? Because conventional treatments do not always deliver. Sometimes the best way to treat a patient is unconventional. The Utah Med Card is proof of that. It represents an unconventional treatment for certain types of conditions.
The Complete Care philosophy never wants to limit patients to a single procedure or prescription medication. There is often more than one way to provide treatment. Some alternative therapies just do not fit in the box. Offering a patient Complete Care requires offering them every available treatment, even if some of the treatments are unconventional.
Last but not least, you are probably getting Complete Care if you maintain control over your healthcare decisions. At KindlyMD, this is something we strive for. We want you to always feel like you are in charge of your health. We want to act as partners, coming alongside you as you seek to live the healthiest life you can.
Even if Complete Care hasn’t yet caught on in Western medicine, it can be the norm for you. If you would like to know more about KindlyMD and our Complete Care services, feel free to schedule a visit at any one of our Utah clinics.
KindlyMD is known throughout Utah for our ability to help patients obtain Med Cards for access to plant-based medicines. But we are so much more than Med Card evaluations and recommendations. We offer comprehensive care to patients dealing with pain, PTSD, and other conditions. Most importantly, our care is patient-focused.
What is patient-focused care? This post will explain our take on it. Needless to say, we don't believe “patient-focused care” is just a slogan. It is the foundation on which we operate. Our approach is vastly different from the outcome-based approach so many medical facilities are now trying to implement.
Over a decade ago, the federal government made it clear through the Medicare and Medicaid programs that it wanted healthcare facilities to begin transitioning away from the fee-for-service model in favor of an outcome-based model. Outcome-based medicine focuses on improving patient outcomes rather than concentrating solely on how much a clinician or facility charges.
Basing healthcare on outcomes is certainly a vast improvement over the old fee-for-service paradigm, but patient-focused care is better still. Patient-focused care acknowledges that patients are individuals rather than numbers. They are people with real needs, preferences, and values. Patients are not just statistics on a computer screen.
When a healthcare provider acknowledges patient realities, the next obvious step is figuring out how to provide care that meets individual needs, preferences, and values. The end result is a philosophy of care that goes beyond disease or injury to treat the entire person.
By its very design, patient-focused care is holistic. In order to focus on the patient, a healthcare provider cannot have tunnel vision. They must consider:
Something as seemingly simple as recommending a Utah Med Card and plant-based medicine can be influenced by each of these five factors. Is plant-based medicine best for the patient's physical, mental, and emotional health? Do social circumstances and the patient's cultural background in any way inhibit getting a Med Card? How does the patient view plant-based medicines in light of personal beliefs and values?
At this point, we should explain that patient-focused care at KindlyMD goes above and beyond Med Cards and plant-based medicines. We offer Complete Care that also includes mental health services and medication management. We apply the same patient-focused model to every service we provide.
The other defining characteristic of patient-focused care is the underlying goal of making sure that patients always maintain control over their own healthcare. Under both the fee-for-service and outcome-based models, clinicians remain in control. Patients might be asked for their input, but clinicians and care teams make decisions independently. We do not feel that this is the way healthcare should be.
As a patient, you know yourself best. You know exactly how you feel – both physically and emotionally. Only you know the principles and values that direct your life. So you are the only one who can make the final decisions about your care.
As we see it, patient-focused care is a better way to provide care. If you have been looking for comprehensive care for pain, PTSD, and other chronic conditions for which your primary provider hasn't been able to help, we invite you to visit us at KindlyMD.
We believe patient-focused care is the best way to treat patients, whether that means recommending a Med Card and plant-based medicines. If you are ready for a different kind of healthcare, pay us a visit.
