There is a physician located on Shaker Drive in Columbia who loves the ocean and treats her patients to a day at the beach – or at least that’s the way it feels when you stop in for a check-up or follow-up appointment with Dr. Joi Johnson-Weaver.
Johnson-Weaver is a family doctor, a mother, and a basketball player who has a desire to make her patients feel exceptionally comfortable.
When you arrive at your appointment you are greeted at the door by none other than the doctor. Once inside you may find that you are the only patient in the waiting room, which is cozy and ocean-themed. Pleasant pastel blue puts the client at ease.
“When you go to the beach, the muscles relax and the heart rate goes down,” Johnson Weaver said. She added that the ocean contributes to calm. She wants the same effect for her patients. “I designed the office to help people relax.”
The wait time in the office is minimal, according to Johnson-Weaver.
She opened her new practice on August 1, 2018 after 12 years in what she called the “rat race.” She described a work atmosphere where she was encouraged to spend as little time with patients as possible to meet insurance requirements. As a result of that hectic experience, Johnson-Weaver left a larger practice in the White Marsh and Owings Mills areas to open Resolve MD, a hands-on, country doctor sort of deal where she does house calls, spends time with patients, and helps them save money on prescription medications.
The practice, which is comprised of just one physician, allows patients to enroll in a membership with affordable monthly dues. No insurance is required. In this practice, the patient has options. Johnson-Weaver allows patients to send text messages to her about their health concerns. The system she uses sends those texts directly to the patient’s online chart. She deletes extraneous texts having nothing to do with a patient’s case.
In some cases she visits her patients via an online portal rather than having them drive to her office. In other circumstances, for people who are within 12 miles of her location, she will make a house call.
With home visits “you get to just kind of see where they live and who they are. You get to look at their habits and understand [the patient’s] objectives.” She seemed to like the idea of home visits. She said, “I think they’re wonderful.”
Johnson-Weaver lives in Ellicott City with her three children where she also coaches youth basketball. The doctor is also an athlete who played basketball while attending Princeton University.
In moving from the comfort of a large practice to starting a business, she admits, “It was scary. “ Johnson-Weaver said, “We don’t look at ourselves as business people, but there comes a time when you have to expand and do more.” She added, “As doctors, we usually just want to see our patients and go home.” With her practice, quickly dispensing of patients is not the order of the day.
In starting her new business, some of her patients from her prior job followed her to the new practice. But Johnson-Weaver is running a business, so she must do marketing to grow her practice. Of the transition she said, “It has been a fun challenge and a steep learning curve on the business end.”
On day one, her office was not ready, so she began taking patients by doing house calls. She explained that many people like the experience because they are comfortable in their own spaces. On the other hand, some do not want home visits due to anxieties about the conditions of their homes. Either way, Johnson-Weaver is fine with her clients’ choices.
She made her decision after hanging out for a while in a Facebook group for physicians. During one of the online gripe sessions, according to Johnson-Weaver, someone asked, “Has anyone considered Direct Primary Care?” DPC is a business model that allows doctors to charge patients directly and “get rid of the middle man – insurance,” says Johnson-Weaver.
Under this model, doctors can focus more directly on the quality of care rather than the billable hours and insurance limitations and requirements.
The doctor is working to increase her partnerships with other providers such as specialists, testing laboratories, and pharmacies. At present, she has a relationship with Quest Labs that allows her patients to have work done for a minimal fee. “The next big piece is distributing medications through the practice without having the big mark-up.”
Johnson-Weaver said, “I want to add a lot of value to my practice. I already add value, but I want to offer more.” She wants to find more specialists who use a cash-pay process. However, she said because of the amount of time she spends with her clients, she is able to decrease the number of referrals to other physicians.
Insurance schemes present another obstacle. For instance, according to Johnson-Weaver, Medicare will not recognize a doctor who does not use the Government’s billing schedule. Also, with Maryland Medicaid there are other barriers, so she tells patients that they may need to find a different doctor who can accept that insurance.
To help with finances, Johnson-Weaver rents space within her suite to several other compatible businesses. Three psycho-therapists use space there and Chakramoon, an acupuncturist. In three years Johnson-Weaver projects that she will have reached capacity. She said, “I imagine I will have reached my goal.”
Johnson-Weaver has 15 years of experience practicing medicine according to the practice’s website. She is a Family Physician certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. According to the website CertificationMatters.org, she is participating in the Maintenance of Certification program for ongoing learning and assessment.
To build her business and recruit new clients, Johnson-Weaver uses several marketing methods. She attends local community events as a vendor to provide information about her practice. She said, “I do try to hammer home that I’ve been practicing medicine for more than 12 years.”
Johnson-Weaver concluded, “I’m not trying to have fees that are expensive. My goal is to remove the middle man, but have a high quality doctor in [the patient’s] life.” She added, “So the concept really is old-school medicine in the modern age – giving our patients longer visit; really getting to know them.”