New Primary Care Model Slashes Wait Times: Same Day Care Transforms Lives

You wake up in the morning groggy and clammy. You’re congested and coughing; it hurts to swallow. All your joints are achy.

You drag yourself to the kitchen and while you make a cup of tea, you call your primary care doctor’s office.

Sure, they can get you in … in three to four weeks.

That’s too long to figure out whether you have strep, flu, pneumonia, COVID, or a viral cold.

Meanwhile, another person, who is struggling with depression and anxiety, reaches out to their existing provider and is told they couldn’t be seen for five to six weeks.

Their next call was to Delphi Enhanced Primary Care in Bedford.

“That person signed up with us, and we saw them the same day that they signed up,” said Andy Vailas, president of Delphi. “They were able to talk to the doctor for a significant amount of time, figure out some of the issues that were going on, and put together a model to help those problems.

“It’s scary to think about how that time frame could be a huge factor in that individual’s life,” Vailas said.

The average wait time for a new patient to see a primary care doctor is 21 days according to a 2022 survey by Merritt Hawkins.

At a typical practice, primary care physicians may have some 1,500 to more than 3,000 patients on their panel. A patient may get to spend 15 minutes with their provider – if they aren’t reassigned to a different practitioner – when they finally get an appointment.

“The biggest thing is people don’t have access to care,” Vailas said. “They want to be able to see their doctor when they can, around their schedule, and the traditional model really doesn’t allow for that.

Delphi is different.

“We had a patient just last week … they were blown away that they could pick the day that they wanted to come and see the doctor and pick the time in which that could happen,” Vailas said.

Delphi physicians have a patient panel of 600 each, meaning patients typically can get a same-day or next-day appointment. Plus, they can spend 40 minutes to an hour or more with their doctor to dig into the root of their symptoms.

Patients pay a monthly or annual fee to be a member, which helps the clinic maintain a smaller panel size. While Delphi recognizes that $120 per month or $1,200 a year is an additional expense for patients, they’ve found that by addressing health issues in the early stages, they can save the patient from the expense of more serious concerns down the road. Delphi also accepts insurance, including Medicare.

Vailas explained that Delphi believes that improving access to healthcare will improve the quality of care.

“The longer you wait, the bigger of a problem it could become, right? … The longer you wait, that sore throat could turn into a more serious infection,” Vailas said. “With more access, it allows you to treat the root cause of an issue rather than the symptoms.”

When a new or existing patient seeks an appointment, they can call or text the office or reach out via Delphi’s website. After a relationship is established, patients can reach their physician directly by phone or text any time of day or night.

Doctors have more flexibility in their schedule and have been willing to see patients later than typical weekday hours or on weekends, Vailas explained.

“That’s the beauty of an independent practice. You can set your own schedule,” Vailas said. “Our physicians are open to seeing patients later or earlier than our regular scheduled business hours, or there is potentially a chance they have to come in on a Saturday because it is a more serious situation.”

For true emergencies, patients are still advised to go to the hospital’s emergency department for care.

Since Delphi doctors have a smaller patient panel to keep track of, they can offer more customized care.

“One of our doctors has done home visits. … This specific individual went to an assisted living facility because the patient had transportation issues,” Vailas said. “It really will be a case-by-case basis. It may not be the case for everyone.”

In addition to calling or texting their physician for guidance or coming to the office, patients can schedule video telemedicine appointments.

Vailas did note however that more patients seem to be leaning away from the virtual visits. He highlighted that while Delphi is happy to communicate with patients by phone, text, or web, no one is required to download an app or set up a password to become a member.

Part of the practice’s commitment to access to quality care is the thought and follow-through that goes into specialist referrals.

“The difference between Delphi and others is that we make sure that you’re in the hands of not only a very good specialist, but we like to focus on independent specialists because of their availability, similar to how we operate,” Vailas said.

Since physicians can dedicate more time to individual patients, they are more involved in the process of specialist care.

“We preach advocacy as well as access,” Vailas said. “We had a patient who we referred to an ear, nose, and throat specialist … and this specialist was booking out, like a month, two months. Our doctor was able to get on the line and speak to that physician, and we were able to get that patient in the next day for a visit because they told them the situation that the patient was in and that they couldn’t wait five or six weeks.”

Whether you are seeking preventative care or need help managing a chronic condition, contact Delphi to access primary care that is available on your terms.

“We almost want to turn back the clock, go back to the days when people had their own doctor that they could see whenever they needed,” Vailas said. “That’s our biggest, biggest area of focus, is access to your doctor whenever you need them, focusing on quality of visits, not quantity.”