Big News at Advocate MD

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Eight thirteen to ten WIBA and full scope with Wisconsin's
direct Care doctor, doctor Nicole Hempkiss. Of course, Doctor Hemkiss
comes to us from Advocate MDA direct Primary Care practice
with four. We'll go with four right now. Four clinics
here in the area. There's big news. I'll let the

(00:21):
doctors share that with you in just a moment. Four
clinics in the in the area. Of course, they've got
the west Side Clinic right in Middleton, east Side Clinic
in Madison on South FEROKSA, Fitchburg Clinic on Sayin Road,
and the Rock County Southern Dane County Clinic right at
ten twenty one Mineral Point Avenue. Doctor Hemkiss, I the
heck you do one this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I'm doing great, Sean. I'm happy that it's Friday. Thanks
about you, but good. I'm doing good. It's beautiful weather
outside and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
It's going to be a great weekend in a great day.
And you've got a couple of pieces of really big
news for Advocate MD. Let's start off with I kind
of hesitated when I said four clinics. Number five is
on the way, isn't it, Doctor.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, you know, we have been looking at the Sun
Prairie area, or I've been looking at it for the
last probably two or three years to try to find
the right space there in the right location, and finally
found a building that we could turn into a clinic.
So we're very excited that we will begin working on
this clinic next month and then hopefully have this open

(01:33):
by February, like mid to late February is what our
goal is to have a fifth Advocate MD clinic.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
That is really exciting. Of course, more details to come,
but again Sun Prairie coming up in the new year,
you're definitely going to want to stay tuned for that.
It's a great day, by the way, as we talk
with doctor Nicole Amp because we haven't checked out Direct
Primary Care and Advocate MD. It's a great day to
learn more online Advocates DPC dot com. It's Advocates DP
dot com even better. What a fantastic day it is

(02:03):
to become a member and make that appointment at Advocate MD.
All I got to do is pick up phone, get
a call six eight two six eight sixty two eleven.
That's six oh eight two six eight sixty two eleven
to make an appointment, become a member at Advocate MD
and doctor there's more. There's a lot of really exciting
stuff going on right now at Advocate MD. There's there
never seems to be kind of uh. I think growing
and I think as people respond and more patients are

(02:26):
coming on board, more doctors are coming on board, more
clinics are coming on board, more interest around Advocate MD,
and there's a new partnership that's developing. Let's talk about
about the new partnership with with krex Health.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yes, so Krex Health is a company. They're actually based
out of Austin, Texas, but they work with clinics, specifically
direct primary care clinics like ours across the country. They
have clinics and the Denver, Colorado area, in Kansas and
Virginia and the Chicago area is the closest right now
to where we are. We will be the first group

(03:02):
of clinics, the first practice that they work with that
they partner with in Wisconsin. So they are you know,
expanding their reach. But you know, what they will help
us in doing is a lot of the back office
operations things like you know, billing and accounting and marketing
and legal and all of these things that right now,
as you know, Sean, I I do a lot of that,

(03:23):
maybe ninety percent of that, you know. I know we've
talked on the program a lot about the journey that
I took from being a you know, one one woman
show of you know, when I started the practice or
started planning for the practice end of twenty eighteen, you know,
I did ninety percent of the planning and the you know,

(03:44):
the website and the branding and you know, getting together
the clinic and all of that stuff by myself. And
so slowly through the years we've expanded. You know, I've
hired seven other doctors. We've expanded four clinics. And as
much as I like to to retain control over everything again,
you know, you come to the kind of the points

(04:06):
of where either our clinic will kind of maintain the
status quo and just kind of stop growing. You know,
maybe you stop hiring doctors, stop building more clinics, and
you know that would be we would still be very
successful if that's what we did, and we'd be accomplishing
a lot of our goals. But I think a bigger,
a broader goal is that we know that patients need

(04:27):
direct primary care both within the Madison, Wisconsin area, you know,
obviously other parts of Wisconsin. You know, it's it's it's
needed all over the country, which we can't satisfy at
all of those needs. But I think here locally in
our region, you know, I see that there's this great
need for people to have access to us, to know
about us, about advocate and d So this partnership will

(04:50):
also allow us to have you know, greater visibility. You know,
cure ex Health has human networks that they work with
and contacts and and things other clinics. We can learn
from other clinics and figure out what they're doing better
than us, and and all of these different parts that
I think will be really positive changes for us and
for me personally. It's going to allow me to not

(05:13):
do so much of the back office, behind the scenes
work that a lot of people, maybe a lot of
patients don't realize that I still do most of that,
or they just think I'm crazy. But then that we
can kind of I can focus on, you know, taking
care of my personal patients. But also obviously I still
function as the medical director of the practice, so I

(05:33):
oversee the doctors and the staff. And then also I
will continue to help with the growth of the practice
and you know, continuing to go out and talk with
the companies and individuals and you know, telling people about
direct primary care. And I want us to keep you know,
growing as the need, you know, as the need expands,

(05:55):
you know, hopefully our practice continues to expand.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
And it's I will say this for folks that don't know.
I will email doctor Hempkiss some some Friday mornings before
the show at four am, and she gets back to
me at at four which is and then there are
there are there have been I there have literally been
fridays where doctor you and I will talk four am
in the morning to go over the show. We'll do
the show, and then at eight o'clock on a Friday night,

(06:20):
I will be at a hockey game, a Badger game
together with her. With that stuff. It so like you
talk about a busy, busy schedule, and it's really exciting
to see this stuff. Yeah, if folks haven't had a
chance to learn about Advocate m D, the growth your
story and the amount of work and commitment that you've
put in to Advocate m D really for the benefit

(06:41):
of Dane County and for the patients and the folks
that are members at Advocate EMDI, It's absolutely amazing what
you've done. This is really exciting news. Obviously the new
clinic is big, especially for folks on the north side.
Really exciting to have a sun prairie location. But it's
also really exciting to offer more and have a have
a great partner when it comes to the great work
that you're doing at Advocate MD. As we talked this

(07:02):
morning with doctor Nicole Hemp, guess you can learn more
about Advocate MD. They've got a great website. It's Advocates
DPC dot com. That's Advocates DPC dot com. They're tell
for number six O eight to six eight sixty two eleven.
That's six h eight two six eight sixty two eleven.
Let's talk about kind of as we talk about the
new partnership, some of the areas that for patients and

(07:23):
and and folks that get to Advocate MD, what are
they going to see, How how is this going to
going to help the practice and help patients as well.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yes, so I think you know the partnership with carre
Ex Health, and to tell you a little bit more
about their company, so I mentioned they're based out of Texas,
and so the leadership of that company all has backgrounds
in healthcare and you know, helping to run medical practices.
And really their mission when they started this a few

(07:52):
years ago is that they they learned about the direct
primary care model and you know, obviously the need for
have affordable, accessible care, and they saw an opportunity. Right,
there's this huge opportunity right now for us to be
able to help more patients. But we are competing against
the giant hospital behemoths, right, We're competing against the giant

(08:17):
hospitals and the giant insurance companies. Right. These are two
very powerful industries within the healthcare industry, but two very
powerful pieces that they have their own lobbyists in Congress
and they you know, prevents you know, legislation from being
passed if it doesn't if it's not in favor of them.
So direct primary care has really been like a grassroots effort, right.

(08:40):
It was started by a handful of physicians, you know,
fifteen or twenty years ago. You know a few very
proactive employers that saw this as a as a great solution.
You know, some patients that decided to try it out.
But really it's been a grassroots efforts, and so now
as direct primary care expands, you know, we look for

(09:01):
partnerships with other like minded people in our healthcare industry
that can mutually benefit both of us. So in the
case of cre ex Health, they will help us with
also things like marketing and reaching out to more employer groups.
You know, what's happening right now is that employers cannot

(09:22):
afford the cost of health insurance for their employees anymore.
So they're being put into a position where they have
to actually decide, can we offer healthcare? You know, can
we offer this benefit to our employees. Well, we need
to write I mean sometimes you're legally obligated to if
you have a business of a certain size, you know
you have to offer those benefits. But also you know,

(09:42):
morally they want to do it and all of these
other things, but it's they're caught in a position where, like,
how do we afford to pay salaries and wages at
the same level If health insurance premiums are going up
by twenty percent every year, it's you know, there's an
unsustainable model. So we need to be able to help
out more companies and you know, obviously individuals and families

(10:05):
now that are affected by the ACA subsidies, you know, expiring.
It sounds like and this was my fear, one of
my fears when the ACA passed. You know what was
that Now it's probably been It was that fifteen or
twenty years ago, now it's been so long. Was that,
you know, we made a lot of promises to people,
or or some people made promises, and what we found

(10:28):
is that many of those promises didn't actually happen.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Right.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
You didn't get to keep your doctor, you didn't get
to keep your exact insurance policy, your insurance premiums didn't
go down. Right, for some people, they did, but for
the vast majority of Americans, their insurance became a lot
more expensive after the ACA passed, and that's only multiplied
throughout the years. So now that the subsidies are running out,
you know a lot of patients are going to experience

(10:52):
you know, I see on the low end the estimate
being like twenty four percent, but then I see some
people saying it might double or triple the healthcare premiums.
So again, now patients are going to be put into
a position where they have to decide, why can't afford
my health insurance? So how am I going to have
access to medical care now. You know, whether or not
you're a healthy person or somebody that has chronic medical issues,

(11:13):
you still need access to a doctor, right, I mean,
all of us get sick, all of us, our children
get sick, We have that unfortunate accident where we trip
and fall and sprain our ankle or cut our hand
or you know, obviously you need catastrophic coverage to make
sure in case you had something, you know, a big
life changing type event. But direct primary care for many people,

(11:36):
you know, is really the it fills that gap where
their health insurance does not provide them any coverage. They're
paying out a pocket for all those things. So kind
of the way the shift that's happening now within our
health care industry, access to care, cost of care, you know,
the non transparency of it all, and how people are

(11:56):
kind of suffering because of this. You know, I think
there is even and more of a greater need for
direct primary care to grow and expand. So that's a
lot of the part of the decision that you know,
we had to partner with cure ex Health because I
really truly feel that they will be able to help
us grow and expand in a way that we don't

(12:18):
sacrifice patient care quality of care, right, because that's what
happens in large health systems. You know, they when you
are financially driven, you cut corners and you make your
appointment times shorter, and you force the doctors to see
more patients and you you know, do everything just to
maximize profit. In the direct premary care model, obviously we

(12:40):
have always emphasized time with the doctor, access to appointments,
after our availability, you know, helping doctors have a better
quality of life outside of these large health systems. So
none of that clinical piece will change. All of that
is going to stay the same, So that we're really
excited about.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
And it's such an as you talk about that commit
meant and obviously what drives you and as people as
you know, we're talking about kind of what your schedule
looks like and all the different responsibilities, and really what
it comes down to is you really love helping people.
And the doctors at Advocate MD really love helping their
patients and helping them be healthy and comfortable and happy

(13:19):
in their lives. And what a great way to really
reach out and really make that passion more powerful by
having a great partner. As we talked this morning with
doctor Nicole Hampkiss of Advocate MD, it is a fantastic day.
I know a lot of folks with open enrollment and
other things are looking for other alternatives, other options, better options.
There's a great one out there where patients our priorities.

(13:41):
That's called of course, Direct Primary Care and Advocate MD.
You can learn more online the website Advocates DPC dot com.
That's Advocates d PC dot com. Tell if a number
great data, make an appointment, become a member at Advocate MD.
Six oh eight two six eight sixty two eleven. That's
six o eight to two six eight sixty two eleven.
We're going to continue our conversation with doctor Cole Hampkis
of Advocate MD. We will do that next as full

(14:02):
scope continues right here. I'm thirteen ten double UiB eight
A twenty seven thirteen ten WUIBA and full scope with
Wisconsin's direct care doctor doctor Nicole Amgiz of Course Advocate
MD four soon to be five locations. Newest location coming
to Sun Prairie in the new year. Great day to
learn more about Direct Primary Care and Advocate MD. The

(14:23):
website advocates DPC dot com. That's Advocates DPC dot com.
Of course, with open enrollment, it is a great time.
Now you can of course enroll and become a member
at Advocate MD at any time. There is no open
enrollment period, always accepting new members at Advocate MD. Great
time now though, to become a member, I get to
pick up phone game a call six soh eight two

(14:43):
six eight sixty two eleven. That's six O eight two
six eight sixty two eleven. Let's talk about doctor Hemkes
about open enrollment. One of the one of the things
that I know for folks is once they've realized and
realized that it's that it's actually true what you're able
to offer at Advocate MD and the amazing things that
you you do at the clinic for such so affordably,

(15:03):
people then go, well, okay, what happens with like catastrophic
and what about other types of options and things that
pair well, let's talk a little bit about what pairs
well with direct primary care and some of the great
options folks have when it comes to those those types
of coverages.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yes, that is a very common question, you know, sometimes,
especially now that health insurance is becoming so un affordable,
patients will to email and say, well, can I just
do this in lieu of health insurance? And what if
I get into an accident or need the emergency department
or the hospital. So the answer to the question is,
while we do not require any additional in any insurance

(15:42):
on top of the direct primary care, we do not
suggest or recommend that people only have direct primary care.
Because you know, there's there's many parts of life that
are planned, and there's many parts of life that are
not planned. So if you get into an accident, you
need to have a surgery that's urgent, you know, any
of those things that are going to be very expensive
because they involve you know, large hospital systems. You need

(16:05):
to have something that's going to cover you in case
something like that happens. So while we want to take
care of ninety percent or if we can hundred percent
of your medical needs, for some people we can't take
care of all their medical needs. So you need to
have something kind of sitting on top of the direct
primary care. So if you have an employer who offers
you health insurance and if it's you know, moderately affordable

(16:26):
and they give you a high, high deductible option I
would choose, you know, I would recommend looking at that
high deductible option. See if the deductible is reasonable for you, you know,
in your budget. If they offer an HSA with the
high deductible option, that's a great choice because you could
use your HSA funds to pay for the direct primary care.
That was a recent change in the legislature. So you

(16:48):
can use HSA funds for the direct primary care membership,
and then anything else in our clinic like labs, meds,
X rays that we can do in the clinic that
you could all use HSA funds for. So that might cover,
you know, one hundred percent of everything, depending on how
much money is in that HSA. But if they don't,
even if they don't offer a high deductible health plan,

(17:10):
you can still use any type of insurance and decide
to have a direct primary care membership on top of that. Again,
because while we think, you know, most people you're going
to still have a cash savings, it's just a very
different level of access. Communication with the doctor, time with
the doctor, if you need something after hours. All of

(17:32):
those things again do not exist in the large healthcare systems.
The hospital and insurance based systems, and all of those
things are getting worse, right, the access issues getting worse
the time, with the doctors getting worse, doctor leaving, So
as all of that gets worse, you know, it becomes
more and more important that people have access to a doctor.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
Well, how does kind of the sign up for people
that are saying, you know what, I'd love this, how
do how do folks kind of start that process to
become a member and enroll at Advocate MD?

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yes? Would? I would say that the best way is
to I mean, they can definitely call the office the
number that's on our website and ask questions of the
ladies that work in the office. There. There also is
a contact us button where you can send emails, so
those emails come directly to me. You know, obviously I
always think I'm probably the best person that's for ninety

(18:21):
percent of the questions. If they're very simple questions about like,
you know, how much is the membership cost or you know,
those kind of general questions, the staff can usually answer those.
If they're more specific questions or of course, like medically
medical services related type questions, those probably are better for
me to answer. But so the normal process is that
people email through the website. Then I send them the

(18:44):
enrollment form if they say that they want to enroll,
so there's a very short online enrollment and I also
send them the link to schedule the new patient appointment.
So once they fill out that enrollment form, they can
schedule their first appointment. You know. Again, usually it's maybe
within a few days or a week that they can
get that appointment and then they come in and see
us and established care.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
Beautiful, it's a great day to do just that. Again,
it all starts. You get stop by the website Advocates
DPC dot com to learn more. That telephone, of course,
you can email right from the website a question or
even better pick up phone game a call six oh
eight two six eight sixty two eleven. That's six oh
eight two six eight sixty two eleven, Doctor Hevkiz, Thank
you so much for your time. Enjoy this, beautiful, Dan,
we'll talk real soon. Thank you so much, Ton, and

(19:26):
again that website advocates DPC dot com. That's Advocates DPC
dot com. The telephe number six oh eight two six
eight sixty two eleven. That's six oh eight two six
eight sixty two eleven. Carl Winter twenty seven sports director
joins us Next Here. I'm thirteen ten wib e