By Paige Nash
Minden Pediatrics will begin holding an open clinic Monday, June 5, and into the foreseeable future.
“We are going to start seeing walk-ins and same day appointments,” said owner and pediatrician Michael Ulich. “The urgent cares are killing our business.”
Ulich hopes this decision will eliminate patients using urgent cares who are not pediatric trained, instead of their primary care office.
The open clinic will be available to provide sick visits as well as physical check-ups to new and old patients.
“It benefits new patients because there is accountability for care and better follow up,” said Ulich. “The established patients benefit by going to a clinic that knows the patients current and past treatments and past medications.”
According to Ulich, who has practiced pediatric care for almost 20 years, the urgent care facilities are more likely to over treat and over diagnose, which can be harmful both to the immediate care and long-term health of a patient.
“Many of the things providers do in the urgent cares are reactionary and not proactive, while most primary care physicians will rule out acute and chronic disease and are less likely to over treat,” said Ulich. “They also do not have the luxury of checking in on a patient the next day.”
He gave another example of the differences between an urgent care provider and a primary care physician, explaining the concept of the “ME NOW and the FUTURE NOW medical experiences.”
The “ME NOW” medical experience involves getting into and out of a medical facility as fast as possible, while the “FUTURE NOW” medical experience includes treating for today, tomorrow and the future of patients.
“That is what true primary care medicine when practiced correctly should be,” said Ulich.
This change in operation will not affect patients that already have appointments or would like to set up appointments in the future.
If you have any questions regarding the newly established “open clinic” please call the Minden Pediatrics office at 318-377-7116.
