December 2, 2024 • 15 mins
What if you could access medical care as easily as ordering a pizza? On this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, I chat with Julie Rekant, co-founder of Club MD Now, a pioneering healthcare service designed to fix the frustrating delays in traditional medical systems. Julie, alongside her husband and business expert Amy Przymuzala, is changing the game by providing quick and efficient care for minor ailments. Tune in to hear the inspiring origin story of Club MD Now and how this innovative service is making a difference in the Virginia Beach community. With a dedicated team of emergency medicine-trained physicians and a seasoned women's healthcare nurse practitioner, they're ready to provide personalized care from sinus infections to weight loss counseling.
Julie walks us through the seamless experience awaiting patients who connect with Club MD Now, all through their user-friendly website. She explains the importance of their responsive, on-demand service available daily from 8 am to 10 pm. You'll learn about their flexible options, whether you need a one-time visit or comprehensive support. Plus, Julie shares insights on how they ensure patient safety by carefully evaluating each case and directing patients to appropriate emergency care if needed. With a unique approach and commitment to compassionate care, Club MD Now is truly revolutionizing healthcare accessibility in the region.
Club MD Now
Julie Rekant
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
info@clubmdnow.com
www.clubmdNOW.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Denise Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to episode number four of the Good Neighbor
Podcast, Virginia Beach.
Today we have our neighbor,Julie Rekant and with the
business Club MD.
Now Welcome, Julie, Thank you.
Thank you for having me Tell meabout this new business.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So Club MD Now formed approximately 10 months ago in
our soft launch but has beenbeing brainstormed for several,
several years.
So my husband and I are inpartnership with Amy Przymuzala,
(00:53):
who had always had an interestin medicine but is a business
guru.
So she had approached us andsaid it would be so fun to be in
business together.
We're the medicine minds of itand she's the business mind of
it.
So after a lot of discussionand throwing out different ideas
(01:14):
over really a few years, wecame up with the idea of Club MD
Now and the development processtook about a year.
So we did our soft launch lastJanuary and then our launch into
the community in May and ourgoal was to really bridge a gap
(01:37):
of a very frustrating breakdownin the medical system where
patients can't get quick care ortheir care takes too long.
So we're here to sort of fillin that gap and give people
immediate medical care for minorailments.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So tell us how that works in terms of getting in
touch with you guys and what aretypical ailments that you guys,
you know, work through.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Sure.
So the way you reach us isthrough our website.
So you go to clubmdnowcom andfollow all the instructions
there.
Dot com and follow all theinstructions there.
Initially, you complete a formthat will take you out to a
medical intake.
We really need some detailsabout your medical history so we
(02:34):
can safely and appropriatelytreat one, including things like
chronic medical problems orwhat medications patients may be
on.
From there, you sign a consentform and then you're immediately
connected to us, and onceyou're connected with the doctor
, you have the option of textingwith us, doing a video call or
(02:56):
even a phone call.
And Club MD Now is staffed byemergency medicine, trained
physicians and also myself, andI'm a women's health care nurse
practitioner.
All of the clinicians have over20 years of medical experience
and I personally address anywomen's health care needs and I
(03:17):
also take care of the weightloss part of our business.
So you're going to get one ofus, yes, and then, based on your
complaint, you may say, forexample, I'm interested in
weight loss options.
Then that would be triaged tome and I would take care of you.
Or you may say, hey, I've gotthis terrible nasal drainage,
(03:41):
I've got pressure in the frontof my head I feel really icky
and that would go to one of theER doctors on staff that day.
And we're available to takecare of you on demand 8 am to 10
pm and, aside from exampleslike weight loss and sinus
(04:02):
infections, we take care ofreally almost anything.
And if we feel like we can't,we're going to tell you exactly
what to do in that moment.
So, for example, if a patientreached out to us and said hey,
I'm 45 years old, I'm a littlebit sedentary, I'm a smoker and
I've got this chest pain, I'vegot this heaviness in my left
(04:25):
arm, we're going to send you forimmediate emergency evaluation.
So even if we can't fix you,we're going to tell you exactly
what to do.
But you know, things that wecan fix are nausea, vomiting,
now.
Again, if you have prolongedabdominal pain and we follow up
(04:46):
with you and the medicines wegave you just aren't helping,
again we may send you out to alocal ER.
But anything we can do in themoment we're going to do Urinary
tract infections.
If somebody needs treated for aheadache and they have known
migraines and just have a lapsein their prescription, we're
(05:08):
going to help you with thatprescription gap.
So things that you might get anurgent care, for we try to take
care of in that moment.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Is there a membership component?
So?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
there are two options to get care from us.
If you are somebody who says,hey, I'm a really healthy
30-year-old but I've just gotthis cough I can't shake, you
might be appropriate for aone-time fee, which is $79.
And for those folks who areinterested in the weight loss
counseling, that is a one-timefee as well.
(05:44):
But if you say, hey, I'msomebody who's kind of
constantly running in and out ofurgent care and I hate sitting
there.
I'm getting coughed on whileI'm sitting there.
I'm waiting over 30 minutes,then you may be the person who
wants a membership.
And for a single individual tohave access to us 365 days out
(06:07):
of the year, 8a to 10P, that is$1,000 for unlimited visits with
us per year.
And if you want us to take careof your entire family, that's
$2,000 for the entire year.
And, again, there's no limitsto those visits.
You can access us every singleday if you need us.
That's awesome.
(06:29):
So those are the three pricetiers either a single-use visit
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
No, go ahead.
Tell me about the three pricetiers.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, so it's either a single-use visit and one
individual has a cap of twosingle-use visits, and then we
recommend a membership.
So there's the single-usevisits and then we recommend a
membership.
So there's the single-usevisits and again $79 with a cap
of two, and then the membershiptiers are individual or family,
and they're either $1,000 or$2,000, and that's per year.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Okay, you've already talked about this a little bit,
but in terms of your patient,who would be your perfect avatar
, who are you?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
guys trying to reach.
So yeah, very good question.
We are happy to take care ofliterally anyone in the state of
(07:41):
Virginia, out of the state ofVirginia, certainly within the
continental US, but anybody whofeels as if they want the
convenience, we're their person.
If they feel like our pricepoint's affordable to them,
we're their person.
We are happy to literally workwith anyone.
So anyone that feels like we'rea good fit for them, we're
going to take care of you.
And again, we're staffed byemergency medicine trained
physicians, so they havetraining in all fields of
(08:02):
medicine.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I love that.
So outside of this businesswith your.
So what do you do?
I know you do have a lot of funin the community, but tell me a
little bit about what you dofor fun in Virginia Beach and
beyond.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So professionally.
I am a nurse practitioner withComplete Women's Care, where
I've been for almost 21 years,and I work part time which
allows me to be very involved inClub MD now.
I absolutely love my job.
I'm not going anywhere.
This is a passion, club MD Nowand I'm so excited that we got
(08:46):
it launched and off the ground.
But fortunately I have time tomaintain my career as well.
Our emergency medicinephysicians they also maintain
their emergency medicine jobsand are staffed, usually on
their days off.
That just kind of varies Forfun.
I mean, my husband and I loveVirginia Beach.
(09:08):
We have two children and haveused every aspect that this city
has to offer and really all ofHampton Roads.
We like to go out.
We definitely love to wine anddine.
We love the beach, we like toboat around the waterways.
So we feel really, really luckyto be in Virginia Beach and use
(09:29):
all that it has to offer.
We also like to travel, andtravel as much as we possibly
can.
But our son is down at theUniversity of Georgia and that's
become our new love to explorethe world of Athens, yes, and
experience UGA football.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So tell us a little bit about some life challenges
you guys have overcome.
That would help either peoplein their own personal life or in
their business life.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Sure, so we've definitely had life challenges.
Evan and I met when we were inour mid-20s and life was pretty
carefree.
It was where was the nexttravel destination, where was
the next dining destination?
And we're both from very loving, amazing families and we merged
(10:22):
and got married.
We had our son, ethan, in 2005.
He was then diagnosed withcancer in 2009.
2009.
(10:44):
So he was actually just shy ofhis fourth birthday when he was
diagnosed.
He had acute leukemia, which isthe most common childhood
cancer.
Our daughter was one at thetime of diagnosis.
So it was a very busy time inour lives.
But again, our amazing familiesand our huge friend population
just rose to the occasion andreally took very good care of us
, as well as the amazing staffat CHKD.
(11:06):
So we were able to sort of ridethat first really, really
difficult year of his cancertreatment with a ton of support.
He was treated for three years,three months and 30 days to be
exact, and after the first yearlife was a little bit better.
It was a maintenance regimen,but we had a lot of years of a
(11:30):
child with cancer and also atoddler who we really wanted to
still give every bit ofattention that she absolutely
deserved, and I think it wasprobably hard on her, although
she doesn't remember any of it,you know mom and dad were gone a
lot.
I slept every single solitarynight in the hospital with Ethan
(11:50):
when he was in the hospital.
Fortunately, a lot of his carewas outpatient.
But that was our first sort ofbig hiccup in life.
Fast forward to 2018, I wasdiagnosed with cancer.
I have leukemia as well andstill have it.
I have chronic leukemia.
Interestingly, our cancers arenot genetically related at all.
(12:13):
We both sort of just got a badlightning strike, but both of us
are doing amazing.
So my son has been free ofdisease really since very
shortly after treatment, has hadyearly follow-up and is healthy
.
I have a very, very treatableform of cancer that I just take
(12:34):
an oral chemotherapy tabletevery day and also I'm no
evidence of disease and reallyon a great path to live forever
and ever and ever, hopefully.
My husband's even had melanoma,so we've all kind of been down
the road of health challengesand it also opened up our eyes
(12:55):
to the medical system aspatients.
So we've always had theblessing of being medical
providers and you can kind ofslide in the back door.
Sometimes as a medical provider, you can get your lab work done
quickly or you can kind of popin and out of a physician's
office because you may know themas your colleague.
But we've both been insituations where there's really
(13:15):
no back door and we're patientstoo and unfortunately, with the
demand of healthcare right now,patients don't get quick service
and they again, if they feellike they have to go to an
urgent care, they're sitting inan urgent care getting exposed
to other ailments COVID flu,whatever the case may be and
(13:36):
we're trying to again bridgethat gap.
And we know what it's like tobe a patient, both my husband
and I.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I love the fact that you guys can really relate to
other people.
Yes, in this medical whateverpeople may be going through
Maybe it's not cancer, but youdo understand the kind of time
management you're going to haveto take the kind of care you
want, the respect from thedoctor, the kind of
communication you want.
And I love that you guys havebeen on both sides of that being
(14:08):
the provider and being thepatient yes.
And having a child who needsthat special care yes.
Well, I appreciate you being onthe show today.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Oh, I'm so happy to be here and thank you very much
for having me.
And thank you for highlightingClub MD.
Now.
We're super excited about itand really looking to further
expand our offerings into thecommunity.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
So give us your website and phone number, just
so we have that on the recordingwebsite and phone number, just
so we have that on the reporting.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Absolutely, it's clubmdnow.
com and we do have a web chat,if you need a quote phone number
.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
that's the easiest way to chat with us.
Okay, Thank you, Julie.
Recant with Club MD Now.
We appreciate all you're doingin the community and your story
and sharing it with us inVirginia Beach.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You're absolutely welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpvirginiabeach.
com.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Denise Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to episode number four of the Good Neighbor
Podcast, Virginia Beach.
Today we have our neighbor,Julie Rekant and with the
business Club MD.
Now Welcome, Julie, Thank you.
Thank you for having me Tell meabout this new business.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So Club MD Now formed approximately 10 months ago in
our soft launch but has beenbeing brainstormed for several,
several years.
So my husband and I are inpartnership with Amy Przymuzala,
(00:53):
who had always had an interestin medicine but is a business
guru.
So she had approached us andsaid it would be so fun to be in
business together.
We're the medicine minds of itand she's the business mind of
it.
So after a lot of discussionand throwing out different ideas
(01:14):
over really a few years, wecame up with the idea of Club MD
Now and the development processtook about a year.
So we did our soft launch lastJanuary and then our launch into
the community in May and ourgoal was to really bridge a gap
(01:37):
of a very frustrating breakdownin the medical system where
patients can't get quick care ortheir care takes too long.
So we're here to sort of fillin that gap and give people
immediate medical care for minorailments.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So tell us how that works in terms of getting in
touch with you guys and what aretypical ailments that you guys,
you know, work through.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Sure.
So the way you reach us isthrough our website.
So you go to clubmdnowcom andfollow all the instructions
there.
Dot com and follow all theinstructions there.
Initially, you complete a formthat will take you out to a
medical intake.
We really need some detailsabout your medical history so we
(02:34):
can safely and appropriatelytreat one, including things like
chronic medical problems orwhat medications patients may be
on.
From there, you sign a consentform and then you're immediately
connected to us, and onceyou're connected with the doctor
, you have the option of textingwith us, doing a video call or
(02:56):
even a phone call.
And Club MD Now is staffed byemergency medicine, trained
physicians and also myself, andI'm a women's health care nurse
practitioner.
All of the clinicians have over20 years of medical experience
and I personally address anywomen's health care needs and I
(03:17):
also take care of the weightloss part of our business.
So you're going to get one ofus, yes, and then, based on your
complaint, you may say, forexample, I'm interested in
weight loss options.
Then that would be triaged tome and I would take care of you.
Or you may say, hey, I've gotthis terrible nasal drainage,
(03:41):
I've got pressure in the frontof my head I feel really icky
and that would go to one of theER doctors on staff that day.
And we're available to takecare of you on demand 8 am to 10
pm and, aside from exampleslike weight loss and sinus
(04:02):
infections, we take care ofreally almost anything.
And if we feel like we can't,we're going to tell you exactly
what to do in that moment.
So, for example, if a patientreached out to us and said hey,
I'm 45 years old, I'm a littlebit sedentary, I'm a smoker and
I've got this chest pain, I'vegot this heaviness in my left
(04:25):
arm, we're going to send you forimmediate emergency evaluation.
So even if we can't fix you,we're going to tell you exactly
what to do.
But you know, things that wecan fix are nausea, vomiting,
now.
Again, if you have prolongedabdominal pain and we follow up
(04:46):
with you and the medicines wegave you just aren't helping,
again we may send you out to alocal ER.
But anything we can do in themoment we're going to do Urinary
tract infections.
If somebody needs treated for aheadache and they have known
migraines and just have a lapsein their prescription, we're
(05:08):
going to help you with thatprescription gap.
So things that you might get anurgent care, for we try to take
care of in that moment.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Is there a membership component?
So?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
there are two options to get care from us.
If you are somebody who says,hey, I'm a really healthy
30-year-old but I've just gotthis cough I can't shake, you
might be appropriate for aone-time fee, which is $79.
And for those folks who areinterested in the weight loss
counseling, that is a one-timefee as well.
(05:44):
But if you say, hey, I'msomebody who's kind of
constantly running in and out ofurgent care and I hate sitting
there.
I'm getting coughed on whileI'm sitting there.
I'm waiting over 30 minutes,then you may be the person who
wants a membership.
And for a single individual tohave access to us 365 days out
(06:07):
of the year, 8a to 10P, that is$1,000 for unlimited visits with
us per year.
And if you want us to take careof your entire family, that's
$2,000 for the entire year.
And, again, there's no limitsto those visits.
You can access us every singleday if you need us.
That's awesome.
(06:29):
So those are the three pricetiers either a single-use visit
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
No, go ahead.
Tell me about the three pricetiers.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, so it's either a single-use visit and one
individual has a cap of twosingle-use visits, and then we
recommend a membership.
So there's the single-usevisits and then we recommend a
membership.
So there's the single-usevisits and again $79 with a cap
of two, and then the membershiptiers are individual or family,
and they're either $1,000 or$2,000, and that's per year.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Okay, you've already talked about this a little bit,
but in terms of your patient,who would be your perfect avatar
, who are you?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
guys trying to reach.
So yeah, very good question.
We are happy to take care ofliterally anyone in the state of
(07:41):
Virginia, out of the state ofVirginia, certainly within the
continental US, but anybody whofeels as if they want the
convenience, we're their person.
If they feel like our pricepoint's affordable to them,
we're their person.
We are happy to literally workwith anyone.
So anyone that feels like we'rea good fit for them, we're
going to take care of you.
And again, we're staffed byemergency medicine trained
physicians, so they havetraining in all fields of
(08:02):
medicine.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I love that.
So outside of this businesswith your.
So what do you do?
I know you do have a lot of funin the community, but tell me a
little bit about what you dofor fun in Virginia Beach and
beyond.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So professionally.
I am a nurse practitioner withComplete Women's Care, where
I've been for almost 21 years,and I work part time which
allows me to be very involved inClub MD now.
I absolutely love my job.
I'm not going anywhere.
This is a passion, club MD Nowand I'm so excited that we got
(08:46):
it launched and off the ground.
But fortunately I have time tomaintain my career as well.
Our emergency medicinephysicians they also maintain
their emergency medicine jobsand are staffed, usually on
their days off.
That just kind of varies Forfun.
I mean, my husband and I loveVirginia Beach.
(09:08):
We have two children and haveused every aspect that this city
has to offer and really all ofHampton Roads.
We like to go out.
We definitely love to wine anddine.
We love the beach, we like toboat around the waterways.
So we feel really, really luckyto be in Virginia Beach and use
(09:29):
all that it has to offer.
We also like to travel, andtravel as much as we possibly
can.
But our son is down at theUniversity of Georgia and that's
become our new love to explorethe world of Athens, yes, and
experience UGA football.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So tell us a little bit about some life challenges
you guys have overcome.
That would help either peoplein their own personal life or in
their business life.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Sure, so we've definitely had life challenges.
Evan and I met when we were inour mid-20s and life was pretty
carefree.
It was where was the nexttravel destination, where was
the next dining destination?
And we're both from very loving, amazing families and we merged
(10:22):
and got married.
We had our son, ethan, in 2005.
He was then diagnosed withcancer in 2009.
2009.
(10:44):
So he was actually just shy ofhis fourth birthday when he was
diagnosed.
He had acute leukemia, which isthe most common childhood
cancer.
Our daughter was one at thetime of diagnosis.
So it was a very busy time inour lives.
But again, our amazing familiesand our huge friend population
just rose to the occasion andreally took very good care of us
, as well as the amazing staffat CHKD.
(11:06):
So we were able to sort of ridethat first really, really
difficult year of his cancertreatment with a ton of support.
He was treated for three years,three months and 30 days to be
exact, and after the first yearlife was a little bit better.
It was a maintenance regimen,but we had a lot of years of a
(11:30):
child with cancer and also atoddler who we really wanted to
still give every bit ofattention that she absolutely
deserved, and I think it wasprobably hard on her, although
she doesn't remember any of it,you know mom and dad were gone a
lot.
I slept every single solitarynight in the hospital with Ethan
(11:50):
when he was in the hospital.
Fortunately, a lot of his carewas outpatient.
But that was our first sort ofbig hiccup in life.
Fast forward to 2018, I wasdiagnosed with cancer.
I have leukemia as well andstill have it.
I have chronic leukemia.
Interestingly, our cancers arenot genetically related at all.
(12:13):
We both sort of just got a badlightning strike, but both of us
are doing amazing.
So my son has been free ofdisease really since very
shortly after treatment, has hadyearly follow-up and is healthy
.
I have a very, very treatableform of cancer that I just take
(12:34):
an oral chemotherapy tabletevery day and also I'm no
evidence of disease and reallyon a great path to live forever
and ever and ever, hopefully.
My husband's even had melanoma,so we've all kind of been down
the road of health challengesand it also opened up our eyes
(12:55):
to the medical system aspatients.
So we've always had theblessing of being medical
providers and you can kind ofslide in the back door.
Sometimes as a medical provider, you can get your lab work done
quickly or you can kind of popin and out of a physician's
office because you may know themas your colleague.
But we've both been insituations where there's really
(13:15):
no back door and we're patientstoo and unfortunately, with the
demand of healthcare right now,patients don't get quick service
and they again, if they feellike they have to go to an
urgent care, they're sitting inan urgent care getting exposed
to other ailments COVID flu,whatever the case may be and
(13:36):
we're trying to again bridgethat gap.
And we know what it's like tobe a patient, both my husband
and I.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I love the fact that you guys can really relate to
other people.
Yes, in this medical whateverpeople may be going through
Maybe it's not cancer, but youdo understand the kind of time
management you're going to haveto take the kind of care you
want, the respect from thedoctor, the kind of
communication you want.
And I love that you guys havebeen on both sides of that being
(14:08):
the provider and being thepatient yes.
And having a child who needsthat special care yes.
Well, I appreciate you being onthe show today.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Oh, I'm so happy to be here and thank you very much
for having me.
And thank you for highlightingClub MD.
Now.
We're super excited about itand really looking to further
expand our offerings into thecommunity.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
So give us your website and phone number, just
so we have that on the recordingwebsite and phone number, just
so we have that on the reporting.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Absolutely, it's clubmdnow.
com and we do have a web chat,if you need a quote phone number
.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
that's the easiest way to chat with us.
Okay, Thank you, Julie.
Recant with Club MD Now.
We appreciate all you're doingin the community and your story
and sharing it with us inVirginia Beach.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
You're absolutely welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpvirginiabeach.
com.
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