Health care
BY BRADLEY DOUNTZ
Health care shifts from traditional primary care
Zooming in
a variety of services including family medicine, women’s services, dental care and counseling with fees on a sliding scale based on a person’s income and the size of their household.
Another option for patients are mobile clinics, which can take on many forms, including vehicles or mobile stations such as OnMed’s CareStation, which is a clinic in a box inside Fiesta Mart in Missouri City, Community Impact reported. CareStation clinicians appear human-sized on screen and can remotely take patient vitals, including weight, temperature, blood pressure and more. Individuals can also visit community health centers such as AccessHealth, which has locations in Missouri City and Sta ord. The center o ers
OnMed, a hybrid health tech company, opened a mobile CareStation in Missouri City, aimed at providing access to primary and urgent care services outside of a clinical setting.
With the rise in health care costs and insurance across the country, local health care o cials said people who are uninsured, underinsured or simply hoping to save money are starting to venture out of the traditional primary care model. Several models including membership- based care, mobile clinics and community health centers have risen as alternatives available for people living in Sugar Land and Missouri City. Membership-based care is designed for people who want convenient access to medical treatment at a at monthly or annual cost instead of using traditional health care insurance. Next Level, a membership-based care clinic, began strictly as an urgent care before shifting towards the membership- based care model—called Next Level Prime—they use today, which o ers treatment for non-life threatening conditions in medical, mental and behavioral health. April Gillam, Next Level’s chief operating o cer, said besides the membership’s a ordability, patients having the freedom to see a doctor as late as 9 p.m. and 24/7 telemedicine access has been a huge draw. “Just like we all got used to Uber and DoorDash and Amazon, and we’ve gotten almost addicted to that easy button, people want their health care to be as easy as those radically delightful consumer experiences,” Gillam said.
PHOTO COURTESY ONMED
By the numbers
As the growing nancial strain continues to impact patients, many physicians are taking on more responsibilities with their rising caseload. Though burnout statistics for doctors have improved in recent years, over 43% of doctors have faced some level of burnout. While the over- all workweek has shortened for physicians, the American Medical Association found a majority of doctors still spend time on electronic health records outside of work. Ravi Aron, professor of health care strategy and technology at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, said the supply of physicians and clinicians is not expanding to meet
Patient to physician ratio There are higher numbers of patients per physicians due
to a physician shortage. Harris County: 1,717:1 Fort Bend County: 1,181:1 2025 Texas: 1,657:1
SOURCE: THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS FOUNDATION, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE, HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
the demand for clinical services, with a report by the Texas Department of State Health Services showing the Texas physician shortage is projected to increase through 2032.
Looking ahead
membership-based care, people pay a monthly fee to join Health Access. Goetze said with a $1,000 deductible, a single person aged 30-39 pays $316/month and a family of four in that same age range pays $778/month. “In the co-op world, price transparency does matter so we use our cash so that members are free to choose any care they want,” Goetze said. Aron said other solutions to the rising costs of insurance include the universal single payer, where one entity is responsible for providing health care instead of multiple private insurance companies.
Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, a online data tool that monitors the performance of the U.S. health care system, reports the United States’ health care spending will reach 19.7% of the county’s gross domestic product by 2032, which has health o cials looking at other alternative insurance options. One example of that is a health cooperative which aims to compete against private insurance by o ering a member-owned cooperative that pays doctors and hospitals directly to keep costs down. Art Goetze, CEO of Scoop Health, a health cooperative partnership with Next Level called Health Access Plus Prime, said like
National monthly insurance premiums
$550 $500 $450 $400 $350 $300 0
2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 SOURCE: PETERSON KFF HEALTH SYSTEM TRACKERCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION
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