Dr. Chalfin and the Ideal Neurology Clinic stands for old-fashioned service with the most up-to-date evidence-based medicine. Call us today at 561-961-8575 to speak with us or to book your first appointment! You can also book on our website here.
Boca Raton neurologist Dr. Renata Chalfin explains the benefits of seeing an independent neurologist (or any independent doctor for that matter!).
I’ve been asked countless times: why should I see you, when there are neurologists on my insurance plan? Why see you when I get my care at such and such hospital's neurology clinic? Why see you when my other neurologists offer all these other services/have more staff/have fancier offices?
Here are the top 6 reasons:
An independent neurologist like myself works for you, not for any corporate entity.
I don’t have any administrator hovering over me, telling me to see more patients in an hour, perform unnecessary tests or procedures, meet arbitrary metrics, or to document specific details into an EMR.
I don’t have insurance companies telling me what diagnosis I can give you, whether I coded our visit correctly or documented sufficient or specific details they’re looking for. I don’t have anyone dictating how frequently or infrequently we can meet, whether a home visit is medically necessary, or how much time we can spend together, how much counseling or care coordination I can provide, or whether I can perform a physical or a procedure on the same day as your office visit. I don't get tied up in insurer phone calls in order to maneuver our complicated and ever-changing commercial reimbursement system, to chase after payment for services by sending claim after claim only to be rejected for arbitrary reasons.
To learn more about how putting insurance companies between doctors and patients decreases quality of care, read this article which is a quite accurate analogy.
I am not restricted to the use of specific physicians, laboratories, imaging centers, or healthcare providers because of political or systemic connections or to maximize corporate revenue and profit.
Rather, I am free to refer you to whomever I believe will provide you with the highest quality of care.
I forge relationships with other independent physicians, labs, pharmacies, and imaging centers that focus on minimizing cost, thereby providing you with options that may be more affordable and/or convenient than what your insurance may provide.
While getting an MRI at the hospital may get you lost in a maze and run you (even with insurance!) in the thousands of dollars, several local independent imaging centers have offered prices for my patients as low as $250!
I will spend time with you, in a relaxed visit so you don’t feel rushed and so all your questions are answered.
If you’ve ever gone to the doctor’s office only to leave confused because you only spent 5 minutes with the doctor and none of your questions were answered, that doesn’t happen with an independent doctor. I will do my best to make sure your questions are answered or we have another follow-up scheduled shortly to further address your concerns.
I spend my overhead on things that matter - office rent and supplies - and limit spending on things that don't.
No unnecessary office aesthetics, staff, or services that do not add to the quality of your care. By being able to control and limit my overhead as well as minimize unpaid balances, I can see fewer patients, spending more time with each one to provide the care they need.
I can change office policies or procedures in an instant, control my fees, prescribe new medications, and adopt new treatment algorithms better and more quickly. I do not need anyone’s permission to do so, and I have the time and infrastructure in place to make those changes quickly.
If you’re looking for an independent neurologist that will put your needs first, look no further. I am an independent, board-certified, Ivy League-educated neurologist right here in Boca Raton, waiting to serve you! Call 561-961-8575 to ask me more questions and to schedule your first consultation with me today.
Aside from brains 🧠, guts 💪🏻, and a strong support system 👨👩👦👦, what makes a neurologist?
I've seen a lot of people and places use the term "neurologist" recently. Ask anyone what a neurologist is, and you may get answers varied from a medical doctor to neurosurgeon to chiropractor or psychologist. See my previous post explaining what a neurologist does and the difference between a neurologist and say, a neurosurgeon or psychologist. But now that you know what kinds of patients and diseases a neurologist sees, you may wonder how a neurologist becomes ... well, a neurologist.
A neurologist is a type of specialist, which is a specialized medical doctor. After their primary and secondary education, a neurologist has to complete:
four years of undergraduate (college/university) education to obtain their bachelor's degree
four years of medical school to obtain their M.D. (during which the first two years he or she learns all of the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the human body and its diseases; and the final two years he or she rotates through many of the various medical and surgical specialties in and out of the hospital, independently interviewing, examining, researching, and presenting on their assigned patients, accumulating over 5,000 patient contact hours)
three 8-hour US Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE) as well as one all-day in-person exam where he or she interviews, examines, and documents several "mock" patients, to become licensed to practice medicine
one year of Internal Medicine training (internship), during which the intern is the "front line" of the medical team, rotating mostly in the hospital, on various medical rotations, from cardiology to infectious diseases, amounting to almost 4,000 patient contact hours on average
three years of Neurology training (residency), during which the resident is primarily responsible for neurology patients and is overseen by "attending physicians," amounting to another 11,000 or so patient contact hours on average
another 8-hour examination by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, to become "board-certified."
By the end of their education and training, a neurologist has accrued over 20,000 patient contact hours, most of which where he or she independently managed their patients (though attendings were available to supervise, advise, and revise the plan if necessary). If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is. 20,000 hours is the equivalent of almost ten years of a job with 40-hour workweeks.
Always be sure your neurologist is a medical doctor and is board certified. Some offices use physician's assistants (PAs) or nurse practitioners (NPs). These "midlevel" providers have different education and training philosophies. PAs have 2-3 total years of education including a year of clinical rotations much like a medical student; they do not complete formal specialty training. NPs, though traditionally had nursing degrees, have recently been able to obtain their degree without a nursing background, in online programs, some of which have 100% acceptance rates (though there are still excellent NPs that were traditionally educated following a nursing background). NP students often find their own physicians to shadow and have a couple of days' experience in each specialty. PAs and NPs can be valuable members of the healthcare team, but be wary if you are only meeting with the PA or NP in your doctor's office; in the ideal situation, they would have direct oversight from their supervising physician.
Rarely, you will meet a "functional neurologist" which is not a neurologist as defined above, but rather a type of chiropractor. Chiropractors complete four years of chiropractic school after college to obtain their "doctorate" (D.C.), which includes 4,200 patient contact hours, mainly in the alternative treatment of the musculoskeletal system. Chiropractors are not medical doctors.
Are you interested in becoming a neurologist? Call Dr. Chalfin and see what it's like!
If you or your loved one is searching for a board-certified, holistic neurologist in Boca Raton or its surrounding areas, search no further. Dr. Renata Chalfin is a board-certified neurologist available to treat you or your family members. Call 561-961-8575 to make an appointment today!
