When you feel a pinch in your shoulder or wake up with a sore throat, your options might be waiting for days to see your primary care doctor, visiting an urgent care clinic with an unfamiliar provider, or ignoring the issue and hoping it goes away.
But for members of Delphi Enhanced Primary Care, there’s another way. Patients can call or text their doctor on a direct line for guidance and recommendations. Then, if needed, they can get a same-day or next-day appointment.
Rapid access is only just the first part of the great quality of care Delphi offers.
“I think the most important thing is just being able to get people in when they need to get in,” said Delphi provider Dr. Jennifer Fishbein. “When you’re sick, you want to see someone who knows you, but also just if things wait, then they get worse.”
Delphi’s membership model ensures each physician has a manageable panel of about 600 patients — dramatically lower than the national average of 2,300 — allowing hour-long appointments and personalized care.
Andy Vailas, president of Delphi, said coming up with that 600 number, they looked at the average number of times patients went to primary care. Then, instead of using the U.S. average of 15 minutes for their primary care doctors to spend with each patient, Delphi set hour-long appointments.
“We’ve provided an environment for the doctors to be able to focus on medicine and give time to their patients, to be able to just understand them and figure out what their needs are,” Vailas said.
With a lower-than-average patient panel size and visit length four times what’s typical, Delphi’s patients don’t have to worry that their own doctor won’t have time for them.
“Patients felt before, they would tell me, ‘I didn’t want to bother you,’ or ‘I didn’t want to come in if I didn’t need to there,’” Dr. Fishbein said. “They would always say things like, ‘There’s so many people that are so much sicker than I am, and I wanted to leave those appointments for them.’”
Dr. Fishbein explained regardless of whether they are working in a traditional model or a model like Delphi’s, physicians are trying to build a relationship with patients. However, in a traditional system where primary care doctors are mandated to bill for some 20 or so appointments a day, they are too rushed to do so.
“I can’t speak too much to traditional health care, other than what I hear and what I’ve experienced myself,” Vailas said. “We had someone who called the other day, they said they literally had three minutes with their doctor, the actual doctor, and even then, the doctor was looking at their watch the whole time.” That experience had the patient looking to leave that practice, leading to their call to Delphi.
With increased access and time with their doctor, Delphi’s patients have a greater opportunity to build a relationship with their provider. This relationship forms a foundation that can improve physical and mental health across the board.
“Fostering that trusting doctor-patient relationship is really hard to do with the time crunch,” Dr. Fishbein said. “A lot of times, things just don’t get done. We have to get through our set list of things to get an appointment covered by the insurance, and then the patient has three or four things that they’re concerned about, and then you’re just not able to get to everything in the time that’s allotted.”
At Delphi, having the time to dedicate to a patient’s concerns and just knowing them as people outside of a health context can make all the difference.
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“If it’s a physical, we still do all the regular things that we would do, it’s just that you have more time to delve more deeply into the issues that you’re taking care of that particular day,” Dr. Fishbein said. “You have more time for the emotional connection. Patients feel that they’re able to tell you when something is going on, like they’re more depressed or they’re more anxious, and they’re able to talk about those things.”
This personal touch is particularly vital to address the growing mental health crisis, where trust and time are essential for providing effective care.
“Your mental health provider used to be your primary care provider. You could talk to them about those issues. That’s part of their training is to learn,” Vailas said. “Our doctors say all the time, that the first 15 to 20 minutes (of an appointment) is just touching base on ‘how’s your family,’ ‘how are you feeling,’ ‘how’s everything going on?’ Not only is it just a normal conversation where you want to get to know the people, but at the same time, that’s where you can start picking up on cues. That’s where I think there are a lot of younger people who can still get a lot of value from Delphi, if it’s maybe not bumps and bruises and sicknesses, but the mental health component.”
For patients who are tired of the hassles of healthcare, Vailas wants them to know there are other options.
“Many people accept the status quo of high costs, billing, limited access, and reactive care, basically sick care, because we’ve all been convinced that it’s just how it is. Healthcare is just broken,” he said. “It’s hard to convince someone that this is a better opportunity. What we’re trying to do is educate people that these solutions do exist.”
The proof is in the patients who have already become members of Delphi Enhanced Primary Care. Online, they repeatedly commend Delphi’s attentiveness and care, with one reviewing, “This is how healthcare should be: a doctor who knows you, your medical history, and who takes the time to listen and explain.”
For people seeking a primary care provider that emphasizes the “care” part, you can contact Delphi at delphihc.com or call 603-255-5579.
