#17: Let's Get Healthy with Guest Chelsea Thomas, Owner & Nurse Practitioner at Inspire Health and Wellness, PLLC

I have paid more to do a telehealth visit than I would pay to just go to the doctor and use my insurance because I don't have time. I don't have time to go to the doctor. So you end up paying a little bit more sometimes because maybe it wasn't in my insurance or maybe it was whatever. But like, I've got a sore throat and I don't want to have it anymore.

I think it leaves— I mean, because you spend so little time in that way of doing it, so little time of spending with the clients, you're going to miss things. Like when I walk into the doctor's office, I sometimes don't recall, oh yeah, I did have that pain. You know, it's come and goes. Like, you know, when you start talking to them, actually, I guess you can be more comprehensive by spending more time with them.

And then she would go into the office finally for like her next checkup. And she would tell the doctor like, hey, I was trying to let them know I didn't feel good or I had X, Y, and Z going on. And every time, I wish they would have told me. I didn't get the message. That would just drive me crazy.

We're Erika Radis and Marie Lifschultz, a San Antonio area realtor and lender, but most importantly, we're working moms.

The goal of this podcast is to provide support and a sense of community to San Antonio area working moms like us. So join us in trying to find a balance between career, family, and everything in between. Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We're here with Chelsea. She's the owner and nurse practitioner at Inspire Health and Wellness. And so we're going to turn over, uh, the podcast to her to let her talk about her business and all her services and just let her take it over from here.

Hello everyone. Hi. So like, of course, like, um, like she said, my name is Chelsea. I'm the owner and nurse practitioner for Inspire Health and Wellness. We are a new direct primary care that's just opened up, um, we are located in Westover Hills area by the, um, Second Plaza behind Christus Westover Hills. So not the actual hospital plaza, but right behind it. And so our services are actually really, really amazing. It is trying to make healthcare more affordable is what the goal is. There is a couple direct primary cares in San Antonio that are all trying to kind of jump on this, making things more accessible for people. And then there's a lot all over the country that people aren't really hearing about or understanding what it is. So mine, for example, is the no insurance model at all, because with the direct primary care, it's a doctor's office, it's primary care. But you can either do what's called a like a full, um, no insurance model, or you can have a hybrid model. So the hybrid model means that they may accept insurance, but then there's differences that they have to do, and things aren't as personalized because you have insurance regulations in there as well. So mine is a— what's called a pure DPC, a pure direct primary care. So no insurance model at all. And so patients pay basically for their services like a subscription model almost. So it's almost like paying for your insurance every month, but then it's, it's of course not insurance. Like, you know, if you go to the hospital, if you go to the urgent cares, of course that's not covered. But the goal is that you have this subscription model or this, this care that you already have where you have direct access to your nurse practitioner. So you don't have to worry about, you know, you're sick, but you can't get into the doctor's office for 2 weeks out. You know, there's same-day appointments, next-day appointments. We can do mostly all the things that the urgent cares could do. Like we can do flu, COVID testing, strep testing here. I can do labs in office for people and then it just goes through. We have a contract agreement with Quest. So I can draw your labs in office. You don't have to go to Quest and wait in that crazy line. I was just in there yesterday picking up supplies and I was like, it is so busy in here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that because that is really a pain, right?

I was like, I was like, I personally had never been inside Quest and I was like, oh my gosh, it's really, really small. It's a lot of people in here, it's a lot of, like, a lot of stuff going on there. Um, so that's a good thing too, you know, get your labs drawn in office at your appointment and then you just get to go home after that, nothing else. That's beautiful. Um, but then also with direct primary care, it's personalized, so you have the nurse practitioner or if it's a doctor at that practice their number, their direct cell phone number, their email, so that you can reach out to them personally. So if you need a medication refill, it's not, hey, call in the office, hey, I need a medication refill, and you're speaking to the front office, and then they're like, oh, we'll let the medical assistant know, we'll let the nurse know. And then you're waiting like a day, 2 days, 3 days, still don't hear back. Or, you know, they send it, but you wanted a 90-day supply and they only sent a 30. So now you're trying to call them back. So you have direct access to me as your nurse practitioner. And I know a lot of people, the big question that they ask is, but as a nurse practitioner, can you prescribe medications? And of course, because nurse practitioners still aren't known to a lot of people about what exactly you can do.

Right.

So as a nurse practitioner, of course, we are not doctors. We don't claim to be doctors. Some of them have doctorate in nursing practice, which means that they basically completed another 2 years of school. So they have an extra 2 years of education, more research-based. But then we're still not doctors. We can, however, do 90% of what doctors can do. Like our skills, we learn what the doctors learn as far as skills. The only thing that's kind of different is when it comes to insurance reimbursements. That's pretty much the big difference. And then of course, there are certain medications that we cannot prescribe. Like if you need morphine, for example, we definitely can't prescribe that one. You know, there's certain things we cannot prescribe. And so that's pretty much the only difference. Like we still can take care of you, prescribe medications, you know, incision and drainages, normal testing, lab draws, send medications to the pharmacies, whatever, like a normal doctor could. We can still do all of those things.

Okay, wow, wow, that's great.

Is it, is it all ages, Chelsea, that you serve? Like, like if it's the family, like, you know, from, from pediatrics to, you know, adults?

So for mine, I actually am doing 14 and up only because I've worked more, um, like adults. And because I'm family— I'm a family nurse practitioner, I should have said that. Sorry, I'm a family nurse practitioner. So technically my education is from birth all the way through like, you know, 101. That's what my education is from. But my actual specialty, like what I've worked with the most, what I know I do the best, is ages 14 and up because I have worked emergency room. I've worked in the doctor's offices, but that was my age range. I've also worked in like nursing homes and everything like that. So I know that my age base that I do the best with is 14 and up. For patients, that's for like for memberships, like truly like I'm your primary care, 14 and up. Patients who want to come in and they're like, hey, I just want to bring my 4-year-old to check and see if she has— they have strep, absolutely bring them in. I can definitely do that. I do that in the ER all the time. That's not a problem. But as far as being the actual primary care for under 14, I would recommend them to try to go to a pediatrician still.

Sure, sure. Now, so direct primary care, is that like interchangeable with when people say concierge doctors? Like, I've heard that term.

Yeah, okay.

The only difference with that part is, is that concierge is again one of those where they do a lot of insurance billing typically.

Okay.

So primary care, the whole model of it, like the big thing about it, the push is trying to completely stop the insurance use inside the office. So you don't have copays, there's no deductibles, um, you get the personalized care. Of course, concierge medicine, you're still using the insurance, they're still going to need your copay at the front when you come in. And then they still have to say, you know, oh, you want to, you know, you want to have this procedure done, or you want us to go ahead and see you for this, or you just want to come in because you have questions about your medications. Well, if you're trying to bill through your insurance, it has to be able to be approved. So there has to be a true need. Like, you can't just come in, you're confused about your diabetes medication, and we're talking over the phone, you understand? You'd have to pay your copay first of all to come in for that. And then also they still have to figure out a way to get insurance to approve that visit. Versus with primary care, no one's telling me like, hey, I can't do a 30-minute session with my patient who's depressed right now and just go ahead and see her. She comes in, she pays nothing because she's already paid her monthly fee, and then we talk if we need to adjust meds, whatever we need to do. That's all it is.

Yeah.

Well, and I've seen people, uh, with this type of care— I think I've heard of it maybe once or twice. Not—

not—

it's not very common yet, right? But I see where, like, people who do have insurance, they utilize their, um, HSA, plan in order to pay for it out of pocket. So you can reimburse yourself with that type of— and so you have maybe a high deductible type insurance plan. And, um, a lot of those type of insurance— I'm not insurance carrier or anything like that, but I believe that's the way people have— I'm like, why do you have insurance? Because sometimes you want— obviously if you had to go to the emergency room, that you— insurance will help cover for that. But, um, they utilize your HSS HSA plan to cover, um, or reimburse themselves, um, for this type of direct care.

Yes, the way I see people who have the HSA, the cards that are almost like little debit cards, those are actually perfect because you just put your information in and then it just charges like a normal card and it's under medical services. So then 99% of the time it does get reimbursed and there's not a problem. Um, a lot of people too, like you were saying, they do get the high deductible plans, and even if they don't have the HSA, like I think probably half of my patients right now so far, since of course we did just open, you know, a week ago, fully launched. Um, over 50% of them have insurance and they're just like, you know, they're tired of trying to get in touch with the office or tired of not have— being able to get quick visits in. Just they're trying to have to pay their copays or worry about deductibles. Um, another thing people do not realize is actually— I don't know why, I'm still trying to figure out the methodology behind it— if you go in and you get your full annual panel of labs it could— when it's billed to your insurance, it might be $700, $800, right? And then people don't even realize that. And then they may get back in the mail and tell them, oh, you know, you haven't met your deductible yet, or your coinsurance is that you owe $100, $120. Well, for whatever reason, whenever, like, we have our contracts with the labs, we just bill it to them, like, bill to us, like, you, like, you bill us, and then our contracted rates are significantly lower. For example, I had a lady the other day who wanted to try to use her insurance because she felt like she was close to meeting her deductible. I was like, yeah, no problem, let's do it. And then called me the next day and was like, oh, they called me and said that for those labs it would be $180 to do it, to pay out of pocket after her insurance. I was like, oh yeah, no, let's just void that. It will be $35 for me to just bill it to me and then you pay the office.

And that is wild. What is that about?

I don't— what— I maybe because they can get more from insurance. Is that—

yes, because the insurance— that's just like if you go to the ER, like even like the private ERs, if you go to the ER and you pay cash, it might be for whatever you had done, it might be $250, $500. Like, say for a CT scan, for example, that may be $500 if you pay out of pocket same day. When they bill it to the insurance, you're charging— you're getting billed at least $3,000, if not more.

Well, that's why insurance is so expensive.

Yes, right? Like, that's where— that's, that's the problem. Why people— like, insurance is great. Like, people need health insurance. It is a beautiful thing, especially if you're going into the hospitals and things like that. Like, absolutely everybody should have some form of health insurance, even if it's a high deductible plan, even if it's hospital coverage, you know, critical illness coverage, something. But for the other things below it, people end up paying like, you know, for even like for my daughter and I and my husband, I pay $800 a month for our insurance. And then every time we go to the doctors, I'm like, okay, that's $25, another $25. I go see my OB-GYN, that's $50. I'm like, good Lord. Like last month we all three went to the doctors and then I paid $150 just in copays on top of the $800 I already paid.

That was before—

Yeah, I was like, oh my God, you don't think about that.

You don't. Yeah, I think about it.

We just had a girl on yesterday, actually. Who— she sells insurance, um, health insurance. And we had kind of a conversation about how, like— and I can't be the only one that feels like this— you pay for insurance and things, and you go into the doctor, and it seems like you're charged sometimes just like random amount. Like, I don't know, you walk in and I just don't ever know what I'm gonna walk out really paying.

And then you—

and then you get home and like a week goes by or two weeks go by, and you get a bill, and it's like, but I already paid here, but now you owe over here. It's like, well, I just don't— I just never really understand what's going on. But because you need it You just sort of are like, well, you know, I guess we got to pay it. So it's, you know, whatever. And so I just feel like—

you know that there are other options or that you could do those higher deductible options like this. Like, yes, there's no true transparency when it comes to health insurance. Like, you know, they are transparent with your copay is this, your coinsurance is that, right? You pay this monthly for your premium. That's pretty much all people know. And so especially when people are like, oh yeah, my health insurance is so good, I only pay $150 a month. That's great. But that's probably because it's a super high deductible plan that's never going to cover anything all year because you're never going to meet that deductible.

Deductible.

Yeah, right.

And then they're having to pay these extravagant bills because they can never meet that deductible every time.

Yeah, well, I think what people don't realize is there's options. Like, I remember growing up, um, and having a doctor tell my parents, no, we— you can't do that, or the insurance won't cover that. So the, you know, and then, so then when I became an adult, got my, you know, got my insurance, okay, I'm gonna do a PPO plan so I can pick and choose Even then you still sometimes need to be referred out. Like, I don't want to wait. If I know what I need, I can phone call the doctor myself. But the biggest thing is I've heard that the most people have said about a direct primary care or like a concierge type doctor is that the waiting, like if I feel bad today, I want to be able to see my doctor today. Like, I don't want to wait 2 weeks to come in because I have a stomachache. Like, yeah, yeah, you won't have it in 2 weeks.

I'm having really, really bad headaches again, you know, like, I think we need to look at my meds. Yeah, sounds great. We have an appointment in 2 and a half weeks. We'll see you then. So what do they do for that 2 and a half week period?

Yeah, just suffer.

Really?

Yeah.

They're like, yeah, yeah.

Or you go to the urgent care, you go to the emergency room. Well, who can afford that?

Yeah, I don't go to the emergency room. I think you get sicker when you go to the emergency room.

Yeah, they find a whole bunch of extra things.

They're just there to triage. They're not there to fix. Yes. Yeah. Chelsea, so what made— so obviously you said you've been in different— you've worked in the emergency room, you've done different things. What made you decide to open your own practice? Like, what? What?

Why? I am such an old soul, it is so funny. So I am barely 30. I am barely 30, but I've been in healthcare for— I actually was— became a nurse when I was 18. My mom's military, so she was like all over me, like, you know, get your plan together, figure it out, what are you doing? And I was like, no, I just want to have fun. She's like, yeah, you have fun when you're older.

Okay, it's true.

So I'm like, okay, fine. And she's a director of nursing as well, like she's an RN as well. And she was like, no, she's like, you'll get all that done later. Right now focus on your career and everything. And I was like, oh, you're killing me. But my grandmother, because my mom was always working, she was always hustling— swear, I love that lady to death— but because of that, my grandma ended up raising me. So I'm an old soul by that, and I would end up going to doctor's appointments with her. And she was on disability. She had scleroderma since I was— I think before I was even born. So she always had a lot of illnesses going on, a lot of doctor's visits, a lot of hospitalizations. And I remember growing up, I would be sitting here and I'd watch her. She just, you know, she was on chemo at one point for breast cancer, and she just was not feeling good. And she would be calling the office trying to tell them, you know, she doesn't think her medications are working for the nausea. And I remember them always telling her, Okay, well, we'll have to go ahead and let the doctor know. We'll get back to you. One day goes by, two days go by. She's still not feeling better. And then I'm like, dang, why do these people not call her back? And then she would go into the office finally for like her next checkup and she would tell the doctor like, hey, I was trying to let them know I didn't feel good or I had X, Y, and Z going on. And every time I wish they would have told me, I didn't get the message. That would just drive me crazy. And I'm like, yeah, and even just like she'd be like, well, I wish I could just talk to you. And they're like, oh no, we do the phone tree system. And I'm like, the phone tree systems drive people crazy. Or, you know, just sitting there and watching her, you know, they know she needed this procedure or she needed to go in for this or she had questions, but it was always your insurance doesn't cover it, we have to see a way to get the insurance to cover it, oh, you can't just come in and talk because then that's not approved by the insurance. Like, so since I was younger, I always knew, like my mom used to tell me, you should go be a doctor then. I never wanted to be a doctor. I love doctors to death. I have some of my best friends are doctors. I never wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to have the bedside time with the patients as well.

Sure.

Like, I wanted to be sitting there doing procedures, holding their hands where they're not sick, you know, the Doctors, unfortunately, they're so busy being doctors, they just go in and out. They're talking to the patients real quick, they're creating the plan, and that's it. They're gone. Time to discharge you. Good. That's it. I wanted to be the one that was sitting there talking with you, holding your hand through it, doing the things at bedside with you, talking to the family, making sure you felt okay, you know, being that ray of sunshine for people when they were sick. But then on the other spectrum of it, I knew that I still wanted to be like a doctor. So then when I found out, you know, at like 17, oh, there's nurse practitioners. I was like, I'll do this and then I can open my own practice one day and make healthcare different. At the time I didn't know about direct primary care yet, but I always knew before I even graduated high school, I'm going to open something like this.

Right.

Yeah. You were going to figure it out, right? A way to make it a little bit different.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, that's great. Um, what, what does a typical day look like for you? Are you seeing people like from sunup to sundown and like, you know what's going on? Or I just, I wonder.

So I have, I have a 3-year-old, so I still have to flex my schedule and my husband's helpful, but he's a truck driver. So he's not, you know, around like that. Like not every day. So I still have to flex my schedule around, of course, you know, her going to her home daycare and everything. And then I still want to be really present for her, of course. So I start my day usually in the office about 9 AM, and then I'm done by about 4:30, 5 PM, and then I go pick her up. But in between there, I usually am seeing patients pretty much back to back. However, with Direct Primary Care, the visits are extended, which is one of the biggest things that are amazing. You know, normally there's sometimes you go into the doctors and you're there, you see the majority of the time with the medical assistant or the nurse, 5 minutes with the doctors, then you're out. So that's it. So for us, even like a new patient visit or an annual or complex visit, they're slotted for an hour. So I could literally have a patient in here with me for about 30, 45 minutes, and then I'm talking with them. Do they need to do labs, procedure, whatever it is? No rushing them whatsoever, giving them all the time that they need to express their concerns, make sure that they truly understand everything I'm saying, because it can be a lot of information at once. Yeah. Instead of rushing through it and then just be like, okay, that's it, we'll send your prescriptions, making sure they truly understand the entire plan of care, any new diagnoses. And then once they leave, say it's been 45 minutes, I still have a little bit extra time, and then I can finish that patient's note, and then I can move on to the next patient. So that it gives a balance for the patients where they're really happy when they leave, but then for me too, at the end of every visit, I'm done technically with that patient and moving on to the next one, so that when I get home, I'm actually present with my daughter. So it creates a balance for myself, but then also really makes them happy as well.

That just seems like almost like the best of both worlds, right?

Like, you get—

you, you— I mean, really, it's about time blocking and stuff. It sounds like you've got enough time to really do what you're supposed to do during the time that you're with these people so that when you go home, you can be home. I mean, that's great. I love that.

And then, and I, I did, I worked in the, a normal primary care office and it was great. However, one thing I noticed is, you know, big companies, they need to, they need to make their quota. So I would literally sit there and I'd come in some days because we didn't do our own schedules, unfortunately. And I'd come in some days and I'd have like 3 patients scheduled in a 30-minute block. And I was like, How am I gonna see all of them? Like, yeah, you know, I'd have the medical assistants like, hey, you're already behind. I only saw one while I was in there the whole 30 minutes. And I'm like, okay, well, it's okay, I'll try to catch up, or I'll work through lunch, you know. And then that's how the entire day was, you know, 15-minute blocks was how they would do it, maybe 30 minutes if it's, if it's a little complex. That was the most you got. Well, you can't do any charting or anything like that. You're really like watching the clock the whole time, like, okay, how long am I taking? Well, okay, I know she needs to understand this, but she's talking too long. Like, you're rushing. And that's why people always say, like, I feel like they rushed me.

They listen.

And then at the end of all of that, you get done at 5 o'clock and I've touched no charts, right? I saw 30 patients, which is a normal— a normal traditional primary care office, they will see like 30 patients in a day, and then they don't get to chart at all. And that's the biggest complaint out of nurse practitioners and doctors, even doctors. At the end of the day, leaving a traditional primary care office, they feel like they have to go home and they're charting all night.

Yeah.

So what I think—

I think it leaves— I mean, because you spend so little time in that way of doing it. So a little time of spending with the clients, you're going to miss things.

Yes.

Like when I walk into the doctor's office, I sometimes don't recall, oh yeah, I did have that pain. You know, it's come and goes. But like, you know, when you start talking to them as you— right. Yeah, I guess you can be more comprehensive by spending more time with them.

Yes. And versus, you know, they came in for a cough and then it's like, okay, we're focused on the cough today. That's it. And then they turn around, they're like, oh, but also about my blood pressure. Okay, no, we'll have to reschedule a visit for that where we talk about your I've had that happen. Then that's another copay. Yeah, yeah, like let's not do that. Another good thing too is I also will allow like the members, they can do telemedicine visits or like video chats like what we're doing. So if they're busy at work and they're like, hey, I have this rash I'm concerned about, they're like, can I just go ahead and can we talk? I'm like, yeah, either, you know, we have a HIPAA compliant or approved for privacy, um, app that we use, and then you can just send me a picture of it real quick and then I can tell you what I think. Or we can go ahead and do just like we're doing where we just go ahead and do a quick video call and then you can tell me what's going on and then I just tell you what we're going to do instead of you having to worry about taking off work, missing that money, dragging the kids, figuring out that part to come in, especially for things like that. You know, things like pictures. Look at that and see.

Sure. Yeah. I've done some telehealth appointments in the past and it is so convenient. And like, I mean, to be honest, and this is— I don't know if this is good or bad, but I have paid more to do a telehealth visit than I would pay to just go to the doctor and use my insurance because I don't have time. I don't have time to just go to the doctor. So you end up paying a little bit more. Sometimes because maybe it wasn't in my insurance or maybe it was whatever. But like, I've got a sore throat and I don't want to have it anymore.

So, you know, you're like, this is all seeming consistent. I know what it is. Like, can you help me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm 35 years old. Like, I know what a sore throat is and I can tell you about it. You know what I mean?

I don't need you to tell me that it's not a real sore throat. It's a sore throat for me. Can you like fix it?

Yeah, that's funny.

So you guys are like brand, brand new. And so I want to know, like, what, what were some of the struggles you had opening up this practice since you guys are just officially open a week? And then I want to know also, like, what have been some of the best things about opening up so far in this last week?

So opening up definitely was— it was challenging, of course. And so I was debating, of course, my husband— my husband is the owner-operator, so he already has his own business. So we focus on his business a lot the last year. And then, of course, we have a 3-year-old, not a lot of family help, you know, true working mom stuff, you know what I'm saying? I'm trying to still make sure I have that balance and everything. And I had told him, I was like, you know, I guess we'll just— every year I'm like, we'll just wait, we'll just wait, we'll do it next year, we'll do it next year for mine. And I was like, you know what, I'm really tired of waiting, especially because I do work in the emergency room still. And I'll have patients that, you know, come in and they come in so frequently and they'll be like, I know I shouldn't be here for this, but I can't even get a primary care, I can't get in for 2, 3 weeks. And I'm like, this is what I'm talking about, this right here, this is what I'm talking about.

Yeah.

Do you see patients outside of here? Not yet, not yet. So then I finally told him, I was like, listen, I was like, there— because the biggest thing for starting up when you're trying to open your own practice of any kind is if you're going to have a physical location, is being able to have enough money to start it, right?

The space.

Yeah, I could just, I could just wait another year, keep saving. But then, you know, life keeps happening, so then things change. And then things happen with his business, and I'm like, okay, now we have to wait again. So I actually found in the Medical Plaza, there's Harvest Medical Suites, which is actually where I am. They do a co-working medical space. So everybody is like— there's different— because like 10 rooms and there's different businesses in each room, which there's like a medispa, a psychiatrist, um, there is a doctor in here, but everybody has their own practice. And then inside you have your complete exam room, like you have an entire office, and then you have— but it's your office as well. So we can do everything you do in a normal office, but it's just again personalized, smaller starting space for me so that I can start building patients. And then next summer our big goal is that we're going to take everything we've started move all our patients, and we're actually going to get our own location. So that was the biggest piece for me, was trying to decide, do I wait, you know, something, wait some more and then keep trying to see if I can save up enough money to actually do it the big way, or do I start small and then just build it up from there? Yeah, I just need to start. You have to start somewhere, right?

Yeah, exactly.

That's what I tell people.

I didn't even know that that sort of thing existed. It's literally like a WeWork but for, but for medical professionals.

Yeah, because, yeah, because, right, because I was like, there's— I was like, I kept finding it, you know, for hair salons, everything like that, you know, like the beauty spaces. And then I would find it for like, oh, if you're doing admin or like, you know, like realtors, anything like that. I'm like, there's these— all these amazing co-working spaces. I was like, they don't have this for medical? And then out of nowhere I found this, and I was like, yes! And it's like right by me, it's in the perfect location.

I was like, it is, it's a great location. I actually was not there— there not too long ago, right in the— in the hospital, or I guess the building in front of yours, uh, for my son. There's an orthopedic place that he'd be when he broke his arm. So we were just there not too long ago. It's a great location.

Yeah, definitely. As far as— let me see. Oh, the biggest challenges in the first week, right? Oh no, I did that already. So then what I actually really like in this first week was actually how I was super surprised at how many patients, like I said, that I had already become members with insurance. So that was actually really, really exciting for me because I figured, you know, I know it's really, really appealing, really great for people who don't have insurance, which that's perfect. But then also making— having the patients who understood the value of it, who did have insurance, was really, really exciting. Like, super exciting.

Yeah, I love that. Were you— when you first were sort of introducing it, were you nervous that you wouldn't get sort of a response like you thought you would? I know exactly what you mean.

Especially on this side of town. I was like, okay, I don't know if this side of town is going to do great with it, but we're going to see.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think that's all you can do. I think it's really built it up in that area as well. Like, I, you know, I used to live not too far from the area. So I think it's really, really nice. And why I think you need to really focus on people during open enrollment.

No, that way people understand, like, get the higher deductible plan and then you just do this.

Yeah, team up with an insurance agent and start to— because I think it's, it's not because people won't do it. I think if they sat down and actually looked at their budget and said, okay, look, I spend out of my paycheck X amount of money to pay for health insurance that I'm not using. Like, I don't we don't go to the doctor very— if you're not someone who's, you know, has a chronic illness, I mean, yeah, we do our physicals once a year for the boys, you know, but we're, I mean, they're fairly healthy children. We're fairly healthy adults. We don't go on unless you have a cold here and there. A higher deductible plan might work for you because, and you have a lower monthly fee. It's right. And the money you would have been spending, just dump into an HSA account until you can afford for your monthly service for your— the direct primary care.

Exactly.

You know, people just—

then you want to avoid the urgent cares too with that, because even if it's a simple UTI, I can test for a UTI in office right here, get you the antibiotics. It is super simple. Strep, COVID, flu, mono, anything like you would do at an urgent care. If you get an abscess, incision and drainage, we can do all of that in here.

So I had— I had a— I remember I was— shit, it was years ago, I had a major like ear My ear was killing me. I hate ear pain. I can't stand it. I had an ear infection. I could not get in to see my doctor and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I could not. So I ended up going to what I thought was an urgent healthcare, but it was an emergency. It was a different— oh my God, it was a mess. But they ended up doing— because they didn't take the time. They're like, oh, it's just an earache. Take the time to actually look at me or, you know, really just give me some pain medicine and sent me on my way, basically. I ended up having more trouble. It took a long time for my ear to heal. Yeah. And I could not get in to see my primary care physician. And because I hadn't seen one in so long, like, other than just my normal physical, they just didn't have any appointments scheduled. So, yeah, it's very— I think if sitting down with someone and them understanding how the money part worries a lot of people, right? It always worries people sitting down with someone and making them understand, hey, rather than putting the money here, you're just putting it into this account, right? Typically it could be like a wash where they're paying almost about the same they're paying. It's just now you have better care. Absolutely.

And it might be good for like someone like me. I— and my mother gets after me all the time. If she listens to this episode, she's going to say something to me about it. But I'm the kind of person that I never go to the doctor. And I mean, never. Like, I have to be like dead on the ground almost to go into the doctor. And so I don't know why I should go, but, you know, it might be good for somebody that isn't great. Like, I at the moment don't have a primary care doctor because I just never go to the doctor. So it might be good for somebody. I know it might be good for somebody that maybe needs encouragement to like get that annual physical and, you know, get those bloods done and that kind of stuff just for like, you know, maintenance reasons and like being generally healthy and that kind of thing. It might be good for someone like me who, if you're paying the subscription or whatever, it's like, oh, I should use this, right? Because even if I don't need to go to the doctor, I should at least get my labs done, you know, and do that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

And that's like a lot of people— I know a lot of people say that they're like, well, but I don't have to go to the doctors. Like, I'm— I usually don't ever go to the doctors. It's like, oh, that's great. I had a patient who was like, well, she was like, but she's like, I've never— I think she was like 28, 29. She's like, I've never had my labs done. I was like, oh, like since when? She's like, no, since I was like 16. I was like, oh, that— you should get like a baseline, like, yeah, something so you know.

I think someone told me once, like, hey, you're— I was in my early 30s, like, you should at least get a baseline. So you're healthy right now, but as you get older, things can change and you have diabetes that runs in your family, high blood pressure, that type of thing, kind of know where you're at so then you can keep track of it. I have a primary doctor that I've seen since I think I was really young and he makes us come in every 4 to 6 months. He automatically schedules you and he takes blood.

Yeah.

I feel like I just give a gallon of blood every time I go. I'm like, why? I'm not sick. You're like, I'm making sure you're not sick. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And a lot of people don't even realize, especially when they're younger— like, I've had actually a lot of patients who are younger that have type 2 diabetes because family history is a big portion in the genetics. And then they're like 22, 23, like, no, I'm healthy, I'm fine. And then they don't even realize, you know, the symptoms that even seem like diabetes. So like, for them, they're like, you know, oh, I'm thirsty all the time, but oh, but I work out a lot and stuff, and I'm always active and everything. And you're like, no, that could, that could possibly be setting in. And then they'll come in and like, I had one who did her A1C and she was shocked. I was shocked because she was very petite, you know, like I didn't— definitely didn't expect that. But I told her, I was like, your family history was very strong for diabetes, so it made sense. But she definitely had diabetes and she was completely shocked. And I was like, see, but we checked it. She really was not going to come in. She was like, well, let me just go ahead. She had saw all my videos on Facebook and she was like, I just want— I figured I'd just come and just check my labs. Well, good thing she did because of Things like that people don't realize, and you're sitting here walking around diabetes, and technically you're, you're okay as long as it doesn't drop too low, get too high, you want to be in the hospital. But over time, having diabetes, high blood pressure, they just damage your kidneys, they can damage your eyesight. So even though you look at— you'll find right now, right now you don't know what's going on inside your body from those diagnoses that are untreated or undiagnosed. So that's why the big health screening and, you know, just annual wellness exams are so important for people.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to go to the doctor. I guess I have to do that stuff.

I always joke and I tell people, you never know until you know.

Yeah, you don't. I mean, I think as, as moms, we make sure that our children go to their baby well, right? You don't miss those. First, I always wanted a little paper that they tell me, you know, they've met their milestone or what. I wanted those. But even as my, my boys are now teenagers, We still make their annual well baby— they hate when I call it well baby, but it's a well baby checkup with their pediatrician. But as adults or moms, we just tend to forget ourselves. But that's something that if you're paying for a subscription for like you would anything else, right? And again, a lot of times, Chelsea, I really do think— and like I said, I'm not an insurance agent, but when you look at the cost of it, you're just moving money from that you're paying anyway that you're not using to, you know, different type of an account that can help you pay for services that you will use. Yeah, definitely. This is great.

I like this whole setup.

I know, it's really neat. My eldest sister did something and she called it a concierge doctor. So like she lived out further out of town and the doctor, I think my brother-in-law fell and did something. It's like they actually came out and saw him. That was a different type. But the services that they provided was very similar to what you said. Hey, they spend the time with you. I felt more comfortable with them. It was like I typically feel more comfortable with a nurse because they get to know you a little bit better than the doctor does, but you have the ability to really treat them. So it's the best of both worlds. I really do. That's awesome. I'm so proud of you being— oh my goodness, has your own business and look at her.

Yeah, just barely 30. Yeah, right? Yeah.

I'm like, my mom, she's a drill sergeant. I was like, no, I just really want to be young and have fun, like, you know, spring breaks and everything in college. She's like, yeah, no, you don't need to do that.

You don't need to do that.

Yeah.

Okay, good mom.

I bet now you're glad that she did say all that stuff.

And I always laugh now because I'm the one of the middles, and my older sister was the one who did— would not listen to anything my mom said. And now she's just now— like, she's like 4 years older than me, so now she's trying to go and she's trying to be a nurse and she's trying to start it up. My mom's like, see, if you would have listened to me like your other sister, you would have been fine. And my little sister, she's, she's 20 and she just finished her bachelor's in healthcare administration. So I'm like, I mean, we don't like it, but yeah, moms are right.

Yeah, they are. Yeah, they are right. A lot more time. Yeah. I'm telling the boys, I tell them the same thing. Work hard now. You won't have to do it later. You do the stuff when you're young. Do all the hard things now because it's harder to do stuff like go back to school and that stuff when you're 40s. Forget.

Oh yeah.

Yeah. I got time for that.

I'm like, yeah, no, I am very happy I listened to her because like she's, she was always to say like the joke, you know, you work, you work hard now, play hard later. And I'm like, I want to play hard now. Now I'm okay. Now I'm okay. Worked out.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, we always ask everybody what is the favorite thing that they have about what they're doing. And so what do you think? And that's sometimes hard to answer, but what do you think is your favorite thing right now about what you're doing?

Honestly, I think it's just getting to be able to sit here with patients and I'm not rushed and I completely get to get like we get to know each other and everything. It's a lot of laughs when they come see me, you know, just talking about random things. Things. Some things is just allowing them to vent about different family stressors. But like, just feeling it, being able to get to know the patients, kind of like if I was at the hospital where I'm not rushed at all. I'm just— I could just, you know, at the hospital I could take a little bit extra time and I could sit in the room with them, you know, tell them, you know, what's going on and everything. I get to do that now in the primary care setting, and I absolutely have loved it so far this last week, just being able to laugh with them and everything. Like, our— my front desk staff, they're like, they're like, it's always so much laughing in there. I'm like, it's a good vibe in here. Yes. Yes.

Yeah, I love that.

That's awesome. And then lastly, do you want to just tell everybody like where you're located and how they can, you know, book with you and do that kind of stuff?

Yeah, absolutely.

So of course, um, anybody can reach out to me. I have my Facebook page, Instagram page. It is Inspire Health and Wellness. And then you can definitely call us as well. Um, we're— um, the phones— the phone goes straight to my— when you call it, goes straight to my cell phone. So I answer 24/7 anytime anybody needs anything. And then booking is actually super easy, even if you're a non-member. That's one thing I forgot to say. Even if you don't want to be a member, you just want to do a one-time visit, um, I also do DOT physicals because my husband's a truck driver. He was super big on me being able to do the Department of Transportation physicals, um, for the truck drivers and like bus drivers. So I can also do those as well, even if you're not a member. And then sports physical, sports physicals, even if the kids aren't members, I can do sports physicals in office. And then also I've been doing some clinics where they set it up and I can go to the school or however they want to set it up, or the camps, and I can do sports physicals for them there, even if they're non-members. That's something I've been doing also. Non-member wellness visits, telemedicine visits. So just if anybody, even if they're not a member, are sick and they just want to go ahead and do a quick visit, I'm concerned about a sprain or concerned about a rash, I can do those as well too. All the booking is done. They can always call me, but it's just a lot easier to do it online because it completely pulls up my calendar. When you go to the website, there's a link that just says book appointment online. And then they can book, pick which type of appointment they're trying to book for, and then it shows them full availability. And then it's an auto confirmation. So as soon as you book it, it confirms and sends to me. And then of course my website is www.inspirehealthsatx.com. But it's super easy to find me. If anybody has any questions at all, they can reach out to me. And then I also do free consultations if anybody has questions about direct primary care and they're not sure exactly if they want to do it, want to make sure it's going to make sense for them. Them, then we can do a video chat as well or a phone call where I answer all of their questions.

That's awesome.

Yeah, yeah, you make it easy. That's, that's very easy. So good. Cool. Well, thank you so much for being on. Um, I feel like you have provided a lot of information for our listeners, especially those that don't know, um, what direct primary care is. Now I feel like I know more about it, and, and they do too. So thank you for being on with us.

Um, thank you.

Yes, and I'm gonna say thank you to our listeners for tuning into this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. And we will just catch you guys next week.

See you guys next week.

Bye.

Bye.

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