Eps. 17 | Beyond Business Hours: Access to Healthcare Beyond the 9 to 5

🎙️ Beyond Business Hours: Access to Healthcare Beyond the 9 to 5
In this episode, our host Crystal Sullivan takes a turn in the guest chair to share about her new clinic, Advanced Care Clinic, and the importance of accessible extended hours healthcare for our community.

Joined by guest host Megan Gietzen, the conversation covers all things extended hours care, why flexibility matters for families and working individuals, and the vision behind the clinic.

⏰ Clinic Hours
Monday through Friday: 9 AM to 8 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 11 AM to 8 PM

📞 Call or Text: 701-829-3396
💻 Book online:
https://app.elationemr.com/book/1241012341702660
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The EmpowerND Podcast is hosted by Women Empowering Women, a membership based non-profit organization dedicated to connecting, supporting, and educating women. Through community, events, and resources, Women Empowering Women helps women grow, build confidence, and explore their potential, supporting them every step of the way as they become the best version of themselves. To learn more about Women Empowering Women’s projects or how to become a member, visit wewnetwork.org.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to Empower India Podcast. The Empower India Podcast is produced by Women Empowering Women, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting, supporting, and educating women to help them become the best versions of themselves. To become a member or learn more, visit wewnetwork.org.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Today we're talking about something that sits right at the intersection of access, timing, and health outcomes, and that's after hours and weekend care. In healthcare, a lot of conversations focus on treatment, but just as important is when people are actually able to get that care. Because for many families, symptoms don't follow a nine-to-five schedule, and decisions often come down to what's available in that moment. We're going to dig in into what providers are seeing on the ground, the most common situations that show up outside of regular clinic hours, and what happens when care gets delayed because it's evenings or the weekend. Today we have Crystal from Advanced Care Clinic. Let's get started. Okay, so excited to be in this seat. Yeah, thank you for coming and thank you for letting giving me the host abilities. I hopefully won't screw that up too much. But tell us a little bit about your new clinic and what patterns you're seeing in patient care that made after hours and weekend access a real health need in this community.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Okay, so in primary care, a lot of times I notice that my patients are really struggling with work schedules, with kids schedules, with having to use their PTO to have doctor's appointments. Like just to get basic care, they have to take their time off that could be spent with their family for vacation to get care. Or they spend hours and hours in a walk-in clinic or in a yard. And then just being exposed to everything that's there. Right. So it's a vicious cycle. And they don't a lot, and then a lot of men or um husbands are not getting care at all because they work 12-hour shifts or even, you know, nurses, like they work 12-hour shifts. If they, if it's not on their day off that they can do, again, they have to take their day off and they have to go where it's not convenient for family life or work life.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Yeah, it just doesn't work. And with just everything kind of changing in this modern day, too, like it's not just simple nine to five jobs anymore. Yeah. Um, what are the most common health situations that tend to show up outside of traditional clinic hours? Ear infections.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Probably the biggest one for like kids. Yeah. You know, for family practice is those really simple illnesses that are things that they catch at school, that they, you know, they have a fever, they're not getting better, they're fussy, the parents aren't getting to sleep at night, you know, things like that. Um, the the things that also just kind of get dismissed or or ignored for a long time are diabetes because they're justifying the symptoms. You know, it's a slow progression. It's not like you wake up one day and you just don't feel good. It's so slow that you don't realize it's happening and you keep putting off the primary care, you keep putting off the preventative labs, and then by the time it's a problem, it's a real problem. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

And that's a lot of workup too. So it's not something that you can just hop on over and get most of the time, especially when you have a pretty demanding job. Yeah. Um, well, that kind of leads into the next question. Then what happens clinically when people delay care because it's the evening or the weekend? Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

So it ends up causing a bigger mess because the small problem that maybe we would have caught their blood sugar, you know, at a lower rate becomes a huge problem. Maybe their blood pressure was a little bit lower if they had gotten care earlier. But because they're not able to get access to care, then it cascades and it becomes a huge problem. And then it's huge workups and it's specialty visits and it's a lot of time from work.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yeah, and a lot more money and yeah, resources for sure. What are the biggest reasons people avoid seeking care after hours, even when they probably should? I think probably cost.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Cost is a big one. So having to go to an urgent care or an emergency room costs a lot more than going to a primary care provider. So to be able to have a primary care provider that's providing some of those after hours times that you can be in network with, that it's not gonna be those emergent cases. Yeah, you're still getting the same-day care or you're still getting that preventative care, but it's not after hours and it's not at a higher level of care.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Well, and it's with somebody that they know, you know, and and that's the point of like being a private practice primary career is that they have more of the of that accessibility and they don't have to go through eight different people to reach you. And um, and I do find that people like that in all access of their care because it has become so streamlined, right? You know, the the um medical care. So um what do you mostly see patients try first before they decide to come in? Uh Google. Yeah. Usually Google. Dr.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Google, chat now. Chat's a big one. Yes. So they usually find every option they can that's over the counter that is home remedies. Um, and it just a lot of times could be taken care of quickly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Well, which is also a good thing, though, because I feel like in the modern day now, we we don't pass those things down generations anymore. So we got to find that access somewhere. And it is a good thing to try those things before they come in, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:31

And I think it's a cultural thing too, because they're trying all of those things and they're going to Google and they're going to chat because the approach that they get when they go in and they haven't tried everything is that they shouldn't be there.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yeah, that's very true. Yeah, and that hinders access as well. Because then that makes them scared. Right. It makes them scared to be ashamed and embarrassed to come back. Yeah. How do you help patients decide then whether something is urgent, can wait, or needs emergency care?

SPEAKER_01 5:56

I think that emergency care is like life-threatening. Like you feel, you know, extreme pain, you're dizzy, you have chest pain, like you have stroke symptoms, those things are emergency care. You know, you have a cut or a broken bone or something like that is emergent. Um, if if you're feeling like you're gonna pass out, if you're peeing or or having, you know, bloody stools, any of that, like those are emergencies. Yeah, severe abdominal pain, any kind of severe pain, that's an emergency. So I think that just knowing what emergent is, and also if it's just a knowledge deficit, they just don't really understand. I don't ever tell someone they shouldn't come. Yeah, right. And and they literally can come for any single thing, and it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, absolutely. So like and a lot of those symptoms all mimic each other too. And so how do you know?

SPEAKER_01 6:47

You know, and you don't know until you get that second opinion and you work with someone, and you work it up, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Um, what are the most common symptoms or scenarios that people underestimate and wait too long on? I think it's not the blood pressure, diabetes, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Sometimes the abdominal pain. Yeah, you know, abdominal pain can be um a cancerous mass or or something that they've ignored for a really long time.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Or they wait on that appendicitis and then it ruptures and then it's definitely an emergency and a long hospital stay. Um, what are the biggest misconceptions people have about what requires immediate care?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Just the I think the shame that comes with it of being worried that they're gonna be judged or that you know, that they shouldn't be there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Like they tried everything possible before they got like sometimes you just need to go. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what does delayed care tend to change in terms of treatment, recovery time, and complications?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Definitely complicates everything because those things that could have been prevented or or taken care of really early on become a lot bigger of a problem. Right. And then it takes a long time to reverse it if it's even reversible and it hasn't caused, you know, in-organ damage.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, and I think it just really goes back to the fact that like people, we need to feel comfortable with who is giving us care. Yes. And we need to know that we're a priority and that it is okay to ask those questions. Otherwise, they do get swept under the rug, and and then what do we do?

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah, and something that you know, as as we're opening this clinic is I really try to think, okay, what did or what do I need from healthcare? Yeah, you know, right. So I need to be able to know that I can go when I need to go when it is convenient for my family. So after hours care, weekend care, that helps, you know, that helps that need. I need to know, or in the past needed to know, you know, that even though I was on Medicaid or low income, that I was gonna be treated kindly. You know, that I that it didn't matter what my payment method was that I was going to get the best care and I was going to be treated appropriately, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Absolutely, absolutely, like human kindness. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Um, okay. Well, can you share some examples of conditions that become more serious simply because they were not addressed soon enough?

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, so I think the, you know, the diabetes, so they the diabetes affects all of the microvascular, you know, parts of the body. So the eyes have tiny vessels, the kidneys have tiny vessels, um, the peripheral veins do. So like the feet, the hands, so the nerves, all of those areas get damaged first. And a lot of times it's irreversible, like you can't reverse it. So, you know, that's how they end up with those, you know, vision changes and and vision loss and kidney failure. And so having that early prevention and intervention is super important.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, obviously that helps with timely access to prevent them from going to emergency rooms and and um those kinds of things, systems. What gaps in the current healthcare system does after hours access help address?

SPEAKER_01 9:54

So one of the big ones I think is those workers that have limited schedules, you know, being able to access primary care on the weekend is a game changer for a lot of people that normally don't get care. Right. They have insurance, they just don't use it because they can't.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Right. So I think we see that um in the emergency care, you know, where people are just using that as a primary care, a refill for some blood pressure medications for something simple. Yeah. Um, but like you said, if you ignore it, it can lead to some life-threatening issues.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Yeah. So I kind of explain it with um, like especially our oil workers in this area, you know, like they would never get in their rig without doing a pre-trip inspection. Like they would never not check. I love that you know that. They would never not walk around the vehicle and make sure everything looks good. So, and then they know that that's preventing issues later, you know. Just relate to them like that is so important. I also kind of relate it to them as like an athletic performance evaluation, not a physical.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Because they're athletes, they're doing athletic things, you know. So when I call it that, they're like, you're right, I am an athlete.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Elite, elite athlete. I'm an elite athlete. I love that so much. And I need to stretch too. Right. So I mean, it sounds like just, I mean, the the point and the purpose of the advanced care clinic is really just to give more access. Right. Yeah, and down at the level that the patient needs it.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah. So things that I have experienced in the past, you know, like not having access when I needed it, working 12-hour shifts and not being able to get my kids in when they were sick for a quick visit, or having to go on days off and spend my whole day off doing visits, you know, rather than PTO.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

You know, using all my PTO on a day I should have been at work.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Right, right. Absolutely. So tell us kind of what hours you're gonna have and and what that's gonna look like.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah, so we're doing um Sunday through Saturday and weekends it'll be 11 to 8. And then Monday through Friday, it'll be um until eight o'clock at night. So that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Such an important conversation around something that really impacts both access to care and patient outcomes. When care is available at the right time, it can make a real difference in comfort, recovery, and even preventing more serious complications down the line. Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Crystal. Thanks for letting me take over. It was fun being in the seat. Yeah. Until next time, stay informed, stay in power, and we will see you on the next Empower and D podcast.