There are a lot of reasons why primary care matters for everyone! See a few of the reasons below.

Relationships:

Primary care allows patients and providers to develop a relationship over time. This relationship enables the provider to give the patient more personalized care. When the patient gets sick or has a new or worsening medical condition, the provider and patient can more readily discuss what has already been tried, and what will work best for the patient going forward.

Identify asymptomatic but dangerous medical conditions:

Primary care helps to identify and prevent medical issues that are currently asymptomatic but may become dangerous or even deadly. For example, many people with high blood pressure or high blood sugar may have no symptoms. When left untreated, both of these conditions can, over time, lead to complications including heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, neurological conditions, and more. Primary care can identify these issues, treat them, and prevent new medical complications, hospitalization, and death.

Prevention:

Primary care provides patients with recommendations for preventative screenings that have been shown to save lives! This includes recommendations for yearly lab work, screenings for cancer or other common medical conditions, and vaccinations. We are always happy to discuss which preventative measures may be right for certain patients, but we never force or judge any patient by what medical tests or treatments they choose or do not choose to do.

Save money:

Patients with untreated chronic medical conditions often end up with increased hospitalizations and medical complications. In addition, many severe medical conditions can be prevented or detected very early through screenings or preventative treatments. Not only do complications and hospitalizations lead to worsening health, pain, and decreased quality of life, they are also very expensive! Prevention is so much cheaper than treating advanced medical conditions. One of the main purposes of primary care is just that: prevention.

At Paloma Primary Care, our priority is taking care of patients, not convincing insurance companies that patients require and deserve basic medical care.

Time spent face to face:

Most medical providers spend a total of 5-15 minutes face to face with the patients. Unfortunately, this is due to the fact that most medical providers have to spend around 50% of their time completing tasks required by insurance companies in order to get basic healthcare for their patients, (getting prior authorizations, submitting claims, or coding their office visits or treatments).

Our medical providers do not think that 5-15 minutes is enough time to thoroughly investigate complex complaints or cover a patient's healthcare needs. Instead, our providers spend an average of 25-45 minutes face to face with patients, depending on the complexity and severity of their healthcare needs.

Affordable Pricing:

Due to insurance company billing, medical pricing has become more and more cryptic. Providers and patients often have to wait until after a procedure or test is done before their insurance company will give the patient an out-of-pocket price. Then, the out-of-pocket price is often unnecessarily high.

For every visit, lab, and procedure, we are happy to tell you the price beforehand. We are also willing to discuss what tests/lab work/treatments may be necessary and what can wait. And given that our upfront costs are greatly reduced by not taking insurance, our prices are often much cheaper than the self-pay price of many offices that do take insurance and often similar to the out-of-pocket copay cost that patients with insurance would be responsible for anyway. For a list of our prices, please click here. We also understand that sometimes, the necessity for medical care does not always match up with the availability of personal funds. For any new patient visit, we require at least 50% of the visit cost to be paid at the time of the visit (this includes the cost for any testing/lab work that is done at the time of the visit). We offer generous and flexible payment plans for the remaining 50%.

Yes!

We see patients with and without insurance, including Medicare. All patients pay the same price regardless of whether they have insurance or not. We are also happy to provide any patient with a SuperBill for them to submit to their insurance company for potential reimbursement.

If you have Medicare and would like to be a patient at Paloma Primary Care, we will have you sign a form stating that you understand that we have opted out of Medicare.

Children 4-18 years old

Adults of all ages

Yes!

We can provide referrals to any specialist when medically indicated. The only exception is for patients with HMO insurance plans that require referrals to be sent from a primary care provider who is covered under the HMO plan.

Yes!

While we will always review the recommendations from evidence-based research, we are happy to discuss alternative options including vitamins, supplements, and alternative treatments. We aim to discuss and provide options that align with the available medical evidence and with the patients values, beliefs, desires, and finances.

No.

Any and all patients are welcome to wear a mask, but the only patients required to wear a mask are those with respiratory symptoms. This is to protect other patients, especially those with compromised immune systems. When symptomatic patients wears masks, they protect our staff from getting sick, allowing us to continue caring for everyone. We understand that some children do not tolerate wearing a mask. If this is the case for your child, we will work to get them back in a room as quickly as possible.

Respiratory symptoms include: Runny nose, coughing, sore throat, congestion, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

Step 1: Check the prescription bottle or call the pharmacy to see if you have any refills.

Step 2: Schedule an appointment if you are due for a check up or follow up visit.

We almost always give patients enough medication until their next appointment. If you do not have refills, it usually means it is time for another appointment. If you are unable to come for an appointment for 2-3 weeks, we usually can provide you with a prescription for 2-3 weeks worth of medication to get you to your appointment, at which time we will provide a more long term prescription.

*The exceptions are Controlled Substances (all narcotics and benzodiazepines, certain stimulants and sleep medications, etc). Depending on the time since your last appointment where we discussed your controlled substance prescription, we may legally not be able to send another prescription until you come in for an appointment (or in some circumstances, a televisit).

Step 3: If you are not due for a follow up/check up appointment, please text the following number: (512) 772-2885. You can also call us at (512) 772-2929.

Please include your full name, date of birth, preferred pharmacy, and the medication(s) needing a refill.

We prefer text as we can text you back when we have sent the refill.

Timing for receiving refills

While we work hard to send refills on the day that they are requested, we sometimes need 1-3 business days to process the request. Please be aware that we may need to call you back for clarification before sending the refill.

Nurse Practitioners are medical providers that assess, evaluate, and treat medical conditions. This includes making diagnoses of medical conditions and prescribing medication.

What is the difference between a doctor and a nurse practitioner?

Nurse practitioners and doctors undergo different training.

Nurse practitioners complete a Bachelor’s Degrees of Science in Nursing which includes two years dedicated solely to nursing school. After working as a registered nurse for usually at least a few years, they then complete a master’s or doctorate degree in Nursing Practice where they specialize in one of several specialties. These specialties include family practice (Family Nurse practitioner), acute care, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, pediatrics, or psychiatry/mental health.

Medicals Doctors (MDs) or Doctors of Osteopathy (DOs) complete a Bachelor’s Degree usually in one or multiple science disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, or math/statistics. They then complete a doctoral program and earn a Doctorate of Medicine or a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine. They then work as a Resident Doctor, training in a specialty for 3-7 years.

In the medical environment, Nurse practitioner and Doctor roles and duties often overlap, especially in primary care. Both are qualified to be primary care providers. Both assess, evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients. Both prescribe medications and medical treatments.

Where do Nurse practitioners work?

Depending on their specialty, nurse practitioners can work in private practices (including owning and running their own private practice in Texas), clinics, mental health facilities, emergency rooms, hospitals, outpatient treatment centers, nursing homes, and many more settings.