Heart in Healthcare: Putting Heart into Healthcare, One Patient at a Time
At Heart in Healthcare, Dr. Jeana Blalock is diligently working to change primary care in North Alabama for the better, one patient at a time. Dr. Blalock opened her DPC practice so that she can work for her patients, not insurance companies or corporate medicine. Practicing in a direct primary care model of medicine allows her to take my time. It enables her to customize care for each patient’s individual needs. She can focus on building a lasting relationship with her patient: getting to know each one as a person, not just a chart.
I chose to open Heart In Healthcare because direct primary care restores the patient-doctor relationship, creates cost transparency, and allows for affordable primary care. I am putting heart back into healthcare, one patient at a time.
Dr. Jeana Blalock is a board-certified family medicine doctor originally from Black, Alabama. She attended medical school at University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama after completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology at University of Alabama and the Rural Medicine program at Auburn University. She completed residency in Family Medicine and an OB fellowship at UAB Family Medicine Residency in Huntsville, Alabama. After several amazing opportunities of growth, Dr. Blalock then moved to back to Huntsville, AL in 2020. where she has opened a her own DPC practice so that she can better serve her patients.
I’ve ranted about this before. DPC is nice work if you can PICK the right area to set up a practice. I ended up in a traditional multi-specialty practice (rarer now) and there is no way in Hades a doc could survive in an environment with a higher percentage of public aid and medicare. These people expect everything handed to them on a silver platter. Shoot we had a couple of FP’s who left the practice and felt they could setup their own local independent ones. They failed within three years (many within one year) and then moved out of the area. I’m retired now but patients WOULD not consider paying a monthly fee for care whatsoever in my area. All the FP’s in the practice were expected to do it all. Office, hospital and call practice. I expect most DPC docs do “office only”. Like I said, nice work if you can get it and make enough for a decent living.
My wife died first and I have guardianship of an autistic spectrum mentally handicapped son. I continued to practice for a few years after she died but I retired at age 64. One year earlier than I planned. Don’t feel sorry for me as once my son got out of adolescence he’s not hard to take care of. His mom was able to experience his improvement before she died. My son fortunately has speech and I can take him out to fine restaurants and have a nice meal with him as his behavior now is great. Oh his older sister has co-guardianship of him if something happens to me. Oh, I still have patients who run into me at Walmart and exclaim that they thought I retired to Florida! I tell them, “No, though I have vacationed there sometimes I still live in the family home here in town!”