Virtual Primary Care, changing
the way healthcare is delivered

The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that we really do not need to leave our home for almost anything. We can work from home, shop from home, socialize via zoom from home and receive most of our healthcare from home.

Now, I am not suggesting we never leave our homes, however some of these efficiencies make sense.

Take healthcare for example, you no longer (for most clinic services) need to get in your car, drive to the clinic and wait to see a physician and all the while being potentially exposed to other patients who are ill. Not to mention the co-pays.

It is widely accepted that Virtual Healthcare is the next disrupter in healthcare delivery. Nearly 85% of all non-urgent clinic visits can be managed through Virtual Primary Care.

Virtual Primary Care in the simplest terms is your clinic at home without the co-pays.

There are some distinct differences between Virtual Primary Care and Telemedicine. Telemedicine is great when it’s 3 am and you have a fever and a sore throat or other illness’ that come at an inopportune time.

The downside here is that you may talk to a different physician each time you call and never really have the opportunity to develop the important patient: physician relationship. You will likely also be required to be screened by a gatekeeper who will determine if you need to be seen by a physician, which is way you called in the first place.

Virtual Primary Care is also available 24/7, the difference is, you can select a dedicated physician and there is a whole care team assisting the physician in your care.

Your Virtual Primary Care physician becomes your personal physician who has, at a key stroke, access to your medical records, medications, and any current conditions you may have all in a HIPPA secure medical record.

A dedicated Care Navigator is assigned to you, think of your Care Navigator the same as a medical assistant in a brick-and-mortar clinic. Should you have any chronic or complex conditions, a registered nurse is also on your team.

 Your Care Navigator will assist you with setting up follow-up appointments and anything the physician orders like labs, scans, prescriptions etc.

Your care team will help:

• Set-up appointments if you need to be referred to a specialist, labs or scans
• Set-up follow up appointments with you Virtual Primary Care physician
• Help you manage any chronic or complex conditions
• Health & Wellness Coaching
• Remind you when its time for preventative care
• Set-up your annual physical and much more….

Virtual Health Care is here to stay, seeing you Doctor just got a whole lot easier

Scott Dlugos, MD 

Medical Director, Virtual Primary Care

Dr. Dlugos was born in Detroit and completed his undergraduate education at Harvard and Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He then completed his residency at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. 

Dr. Dlugos moved to San Diego after completing residency in 1993 and became a “flying ER doctor” crisscrossing the southwestern US in his private plane until 2003. He has traveled around the world several times surfing and playing polo; he played polo semi-professionally until 2009.