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Local Living
A community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland.
Local Living
Dr. Alicia Morrison: Transforming Pediatric Care at Rise and Shine Pediatrics
Discover the future of pediatric care with Dr. Alicia Morrison from Rise and Shine Pediatrics in Boca Raton. This episode of Local Living offers a firsthand look at how Dr. Morrison is breaking new ground with the Direct Primary Care (DPC) model. She shares her inspiring journey from the high-stress environment of a large pediatric group to establishing her own practice that puts families first. Learn how her innovative approach, which includes an affordable monthly subscription, eliminates the headaches of traditional insurance and allows her to offer compassionate, personalized care.
From her childhood passion for working with children to the disciplined upbringing that prepared her for a demanding medical career, Dr. Morrison's story is both captivating and informative. Tune in for a refreshing perspective that challenges the status quo in pediatric medicine and showcases a more flexible and accessible way to provide high-quality healthcare
Reach out directly to Dr. Morrison at Rise & Shine Pediatrics
www.riseshinepediatrics.com
561-269-8492
Local Living is a community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. Are You A Local Business, Resident, Leader or Non-Profit? If so, we would love to have you on the podcast!
Go to www.locallivingpodcast.com for all of the info.
Welcome, welcome everyone to Local Living. We are a community podcast for Palm Beach to Parkland. I'm David Conway, your host for today, and we've got someone with us who is really changing the way that we practice pediatric medicine. Our guest today Dr Alicia Morrison, with Rise and Shine Pediatrics here in Boca Raton. Doctor, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you Good morning. Good morning, thank you for having me, david. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:My pleasure. I was looking forward to having you on, because what I said, I think, was true you are kind of changing the way that we do things in regards to pediatric medicine. When I met you found out what you do. I found it very refreshing For me, a little old school in a sense, which is great. So if you could start out, just tell us a little bit more about Rise and Shine Pediatrics.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely so. Starting off with the name Rise and Shine Pediatrics, it's truly just a reflection of my faith and represent just being a beacon of light for others. So, with that being said, in the practice I'm really committed to just this compassionate care and combining my calling to serve the pediatric community and through that I'm able to kind of just shine through every interaction that I have with my patient and families, just offering that hope and that guidance to whoever that walks through the doors. And so, with Rise and Shine Pediatrics, it's providing this innovative pediatric approach in which families are able to have access directly to me at an affordable monthly subscription price and through that they're able to get their routine care and their sick visits without really dealing with the hassles of long wait times, rushed visits and just truly poor quality care that's out there in a lot of our big companies.
Speaker 1:So is this concierge medicine, but applied to pediatrics.
Speaker 2:Yes, basically you could say it like that yeah. So the idea is that they're able to see me for this affordable price, not using insurance at all, and it allows me to be able to have flexibility in my schedule for the time that I need to spend with them.
Speaker 1:So if they need to reach the doctor, do they see a PA or nurse practitioner or someone that works for you? Do they go directly to you? How does that work?
Speaker 2:So it's directly me. Lately what I've been realizing is when I pick up the phone, a lot of families don't realize it's me. So when you're calling, it is me, I am the one picking up the phone. I am the nurse, I am the me, I am the one picking up the phone, I am the nurse, I am the PA, I am the office manager and I love that. I really get to be involved in every aspect of the practice and just be able to provide that quality of care that I so much want for my families.
Speaker 1:So did you ever work for one of the big pediatric groups out there? Did you work for someone else? What was your background with practicing medicine?
Speaker 2:Yes. So right out of residency I was able to work for a big company here in South Florida and really about nine months in I just found myself really burnt out with the way that we were practicing. I found it very difficult just to be able to see a numerous amount of patients in such a short amount of time and equally hearing the frustration from my families. So I quickly kind of got out of there and was hoping to find a practice that truly aligned with the way that I believe that we should be practicing medicine. But unfortunately that wasn't the case. So when I thought about what were the next steps, what did I want to do, that's when I learned about DPC and it just truly aligned with what I was envisioning of what I wanted. And so, taking a lot of those concerns from patients, I really made sure to implement that, providing solutions, in my practice.
Speaker 1:So help me out with the acronym DPC.
Speaker 2:Yes, so it's direct primary care, so it really just reflects direct access, providing that primary care for pediatricians and very well, for adults. But for me, being a pediatrician is for my pediatric patients.
Speaker 1:So I know there's a lot of great doctors working at those pediatric groups. It was a pretty big leap for you to make, am I correct?
Speaker 2:Absolutely Starting off from residency. I was just getting my feet wet and there was people who have been doing this for years. What I think after speaking with a few colleagues is A you get comfortable. B it takes a lot of courage and strength to walk away from something that is the traditional way of medicine and the norm, to step into something that may be new to the community but in actuality is kind of the old way of doing medicine right, the way that most of us went into medicine for. But thankfully I've had a lot of supportive friends and families and when I told them I was set out to do this and the fact that I was truly passionate about this, it truly just gave me the energy and the strength that I needed to do this.
Speaker 1:So do you find that people maybe have some misunderstandings or there's some myths out there about DPC or direct primary care?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. A lot of times I'll hear for pediatrics I thought this is only for adults.
Speaker 1:I did too.
Speaker 2:It's just as beneficial for our children, right? Being able to have access to your pediatrician. That many times can save trips that are not necessary for the ear in urgent care. So a lot of times when they hear, can I do it for the kids? Absolutely. Of course our visits are going to be different from adults, but the overall theme of providing that direct access is still there.
Speaker 1:And what a benefit it seems for the child and for the family to be able to develop that relationship right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. One thing that I truly value is now I get to get those text messages or those picture emails of the patients that I'm seeing. Versus in my previous jobs, I really didn't get to see those milestones or those quick text messages that you typically went to whoever was in charge in business and marketing. So now I get to truly grow and learn with these families.
Speaker 1:So I want to ask you was this when I say this, I mean you becoming a doctor was it an evolution? Or was there a moment when you said to yourself doc, I want to practice medicine, this is what I want to do. When did you first realize that this was going to be your path?
Speaker 2:So I definitely was one of those kids that knew from early on I truly enjoyed working with kids. In the beginning I wasn't sure if I was going to be within education as far as a teacher, but once I got a little dose of medicine I fell in love. So I knew from early on that I wanted to be in medicine working with children, and so I spent a lot of time just volunteering at hospitals, working specifically on the pediatric floor, just to kind of see what it all included.
Speaker 1:Now? Was this during undergrad? Was this before college? Was this during med school? When was this?
Speaker 2:This was probably late middle school, early high school.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, I think I was watching Gilligan's Island. I wasn't volunteering anywhere in middle school or junior high as it was during that time, and were there any challenges that you went through during the process that you find might help make you stronger now?
Speaker 2:As far as the process of getting into medicine.
Speaker 1:Sure, All of it just going through school, going through life and all the challenges that it brings, along with the demands of actually becoming a doctor. I hear there's some actual classes involved in that and some studying and a lot of time invested.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. If I reflect back, I feel like every year in my education and schooling definitely had its challenging events, but one thing that really was consistent throughout was just having that balance between education and then spending that time with my family. The studies it takes a lot of your time. The studies it takes a lot of your time. So being organized and dedicated is really important to have, and that's something that I've always had from early on. I was in martial arts and I also did swimming as a child, so I grew up with just a lot of organization and structure. I was also a morning person, so I functioned best in the morning, so I always made sure that I had everything set for the day.
Speaker 1:Should we suggest that your patients visit you early, when you're a little more in time? I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:It's in the name rise and shine, wake up and I'm ready for you. But no, they can come at any time.
Speaker 1:What's the availability for you over there, is it? I mean, is this standard? They call up, they make an appointment, if they're sick, are there after hours. How does that work?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Once they're involved and they've joined Rise and Shine, they get access to me at all times. And they've joined Rise and Shine, they get access to me at all times. There is office times that I have typically, for example, monday, thursday and Friday, from 8.30 to 4.30 pm, but if there is any urgent text messages or calls that I receive outside of those hours, depending on the call, I can always meet them in the office if I need to see them in person, or we can also do a telehealth, whichever is flexible and suited based on their concern.
Speaker 1:And for someone out there that might be somewhat set in their ways, used to traditional medicine. I've got insurance. I've got the $10,000 deductible. I go see the pediatric group when I have to. Is there something that you may want to say to them or want them to know about really making the switch to what you do?
Speaker 2:Absolutely A lot of the visits and concerns that people look to make. Many of them can be solved if they did have more access to their doctors, to limit some of these visits and limit some of the ER and urgent care visits. I had a patient yesterday that had a nosebleed and mom initially thought she had to go to the urgent care ER and was worried about the cost. But I was able to help solve that issue right there in the office. It was included in the membership and I was able to do it outside of the after hours and it just worked perfectly. She was able to come after work, I was able to control the nosebleed and they both left happy that's awesome.
Speaker 1:So if someone wants to reach out to you, what's the best way to get a hold of you? Should they call, go on a website.
Speaker 2:I am flexible to all avenues. You can always call, you can also go to the website and you can fill out an inquiry form. Or I also do meet and greets, whether it's via telehealth or Google Meet, or I can do an office if there's ever families that want to come by and check out the office and see what it looks like and meet me.
Speaker 1:And what's the telephone number for Rise and Shine Pediatrics doctor.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's 561-269-8492. And your?
Speaker 1:website.
Speaker 2:And your website wwwRiseShinePediatricscom.
Speaker 1:Well, everyone, this is Dr Alicia Morrison, with Rise and Shine Pediatrics Doctor. I thank you for joining us today on Local Living.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me, David.
Speaker 1:It's been great and folks, once again, dr Alicia Morrison Rise and Shine. Pediatrics. Great, great lady, great concept. Reach out to her. I'm David Conway, with Local Living, and I look forward to having you back next time.