In an ongoing effort to bridge collaboration between DPC Doctors and Specialists we want to share information about Dr. Girnita:
My name is Diana Girnita M.D., Ph.D. I am US Board-Certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine and licensed to treat patients in multiple states in the USA, including Arizona, California, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas. I have clinical, teaching, and research background, including a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, followed by an immunology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and a rheumatology fellowship at the University of Cincinnati. I am a volunteer faculty for rheumatology fellows at the University of Cincinnati. Over the last four years, I promoted five medical residents into the field of rheumatology.
I am a volunteer speaker and advocate for the National Arthritis Foundation and have been for many years. My peers recognized me with a ‘Top Doctors’ award in Ohio multiple consecutive years in a row.
I am a great advocate of evidence-based medicine, complemented by integrative medicine. I treat the patient, their body, mind, and spirit – not the disease. I am a graduate of a Nutrition Science course at Stanford University and from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center MBSR course.
For many years, I admired a few colleagues of mine who dared to start their DPC practice. I always wanted to be able to practice medicine in a transparent, affordable, and personable way. For me, the interaction with the patient and other physicians means everything. The access to specialists should not be limited by insurance, undisclosed costs, regional barriers.
In our days, everyone has a smartphone in the pocket. We use it as a GPS to pay bills, access our bank account, make purchases, communicate with others, listen to music, see movies…….why should we not use it to go to the doctor?
At the beginning of 2020, I established a telemedicine company called Rheumatologist Oncall that introduces convenience to specialized medicine. Rheumatologist Oncall provides instant access to specialist care in a digital format to meet the patient’s lifestyle. Patients can access me from their phone, laptop, or desktop. As you likely know, access to rheumatological services is limited to metropolitan areas, mostly on the west and east coast of the US, but scarcely any in the nation’s middle, northern or southern regions. The cost to access specialists is often a significant burden to the patient. The cost of the visit, labs, or imaging can be prohibitive. Patients without insurance generally have no options to access specialist care.
My company, Rheumatologist Oncall, accelerates the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.
Rheumatologist Oncall is the only company that offers a unique approach. When comparing the traditional healthcare systems with my company, there are a few highlights, which are contained in the table attached. My company does not discriminate based on the insurance company and offers easy access, very affordable and transparent cost to patients in many US states.
For the last 8 months, I am giving free rheumatology educational lectures to the DPC community nationwide. The DPC physicians join me to discuss their cases in a fun and relaxed environment, with everyone’s imputing. I also addressed common topics like:
- “What to do with a positive ANA?”
- “How to evaluate back pain?”
- “Fibromyalgia evaluation and approach for the PCP.”
- etc
I have also sent a weekly newsletter called “Tip of The Week in Rheumatology” with valuable information for patients and physicians.
I enjoy the collaboration with the DPC community. I gave many free e-consults too and helped them in no time. My goal is to:
- Raise awareness that specialists are interested in pursuing DIRECT care, I actually started a group where specialists that practice direct care/ membership/ concierge medicine started to join. So far about 90 doctors. I am educating them about the DPC model and telemedicine options and I am bringing people that could also educate them to make the BIG step to get out of the traditional FFS.
- Raisie awareness that my practice can help the DPC community with e-consults and telemedicine in the states that I am licensed (OH, IN, KY, CA, AZ, soon in TX)
- Learn more from you about the DPC culture that could be applied to specialist care (especially chronic disease management like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis etc in rheumatology)
- Educate the DPC community about common things in rheumatology. I am happy to give free curbside consults, I have gave many of them.
Here is my website: https://dianagirnitamd.com/
Or http://www.rheumatologistoncall.com
FB page:https://www.facebook.com/Rheumatologistoncall
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-girnita-md-phd-07b57810/
[…] The title of this website is DPC News, which stands for Direct Primary Care, but we want to give recognition to our specialist counterparts who are leaving the system. Medscape just published a nice piece on them and you can find it here. And a shout out to Dr. Girnita who we highlighted way back. […]