Category: News

As you all know the festive season is arriving and we are all looking forward to the holidays. Please make note of changes to our schedule in light of the holiday season.

11/25/2020  Both offices closing at 4PM 

11/26/2020 Closed

11/27/2020 Both offices closing at 12PM

11/28/2020 Walk in Clinic open normal business hours

12/24/2020  Both offices closing at 12PM

12/26/2020 Walk in Clinic open normal business hours

12/31/2020  Both offices closing at 2pm

1/02/2021 Walk in Clinic open normal business hours

Have a safe and happy holidays!

This year, AIM is offering in-office and drive-thru appointments to any of our patients who wish to receive a flu shot.  Appointments can be scheduled through your Patient Portal, or by contacting us at 410-897-9841, option 4. Please see the schedule below:

Thursday, October 15th 8:00am-3:15pm  in-office only

Saturday, October 17th 8:00am-12:00pm drive-thru only

Thursday, October 22nd 8:00am-3:15pm  in-office only

Saturday, October 24th 8:00am-12:00pm  drive-thru only

Saturday, October 31st 8:00am-12:00pm  drive-thru only

Please note: When scheduling through the portal, please select “Flu Shot Visit” as the appointment type. 

During this unprecedented time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our practice continues to provide compassionate care for all patients.   We have taken careful steps to ensure both our main office and walk-in clinic offers a safe environment for in-person appointments by expanding our safety measures and adhering to federal and state executive orders and guidance. Below are details of our scheduling process and visit preparation process. Following these measures will help keep you, your care team, and all our patients safe:

Scheduling Your Appointment
AIM continue’s to support patients and address their healthcare concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both face-to-face and virtual visits are available for your convenience. No matter if you need a routine physical, management of chronic care, or treatment for an acute issue, we are here to help. No matter the type of visit being requested, our staff will ask a few questions to help identify any symptoms or recent exposures you may have had to COVID-19. If a virtual visit is needed, we will verify your demographic information, collect a co-payment (if required) and provide you with instructions on how to connect with your provider. Due to these additional steps, we’ve been experiencing higher than normal wait times and apologize in advance for any inconvenience that may cause.

Prior to Arriving
If you’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or develop a fever, shortness of breath, sudden loss of taste or smell, cough or diarrhea, please call our office and do not come in for your appointment. Your face-to-face visit will need to be rescheduled to a different day, or switched over to a video visit.

During your Appointment
Visitors will be limited in both the main office, and walk-in clinic. Patients may have one individual accompany them in situations where the patient is cognitively or physically limited.
All patients, visitors and staff are required to wear a mask. We will provide you with a mask upon your arrival if needed.
All patients and visitors will have their temperature checked upon arrival. A COVID-19 screening questionnaire will also be completed prior to being checked in. If any concerns are identified, our staff members will determine and advise you if the appointment needs to be rescheduled, or switched to a video visit.
We also ask that you not bring children to the office.
All patients, visitors and staff are asked to socially distance and keep a distance of six feet from one another. Markers have been placed in our waiting rooms, as well as spaced out seating.

What should you do to stay healthy?
Information published by the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) recommend you take the usual precautions for avoiding respiratory viruses:

Wash your hands with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with someone who is sick.

We thank you for entrusting us with your care.

We are proud to annouce the arrival of Margaret “Maggie” Banks-Wilson, CRNP to Annapolis Internal Medicine! Maggie is a Family Nurse Practitioner with experience in providing Primary Care. She will be joining us mid-July and is accepting new patients. Please click on our “About” tab (under Nurse Practitioners) for her biography. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with Maggie!

AIM is accepting new patients and can conduct your initial visit virtually.  Most insurance companies are allowing  these types of visits to be done remotely.  If you are in need of establishing care, but hesitant about coming into the office, contact us today and one of our staff members will be more than happy to assist you. Call 410-897-9841 option 4. We have new patients openings in May!

We are happy to announce that we have come to an agreement with United Healthcare and will continue to be participating in-network providers. We would like to thank all of you for the outpouring of support during our negotiations, and look forward to continuing to serve you and your healthcare needs.

Regards,

The Physicians and Staff of Annapolis Internal Medicine

Preventive care is care you receive to prevent illness, detect medical conditions, and keep you healthy. Medicare Part B covers many preventive services, such as screenings, vaccines, and counseling. If you meet the eligibility requirements and guidelines for a preventive service, you must be allowed to receive the service. This is true for Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans. If you have recently enrolled in Medicare, meaning 12 months or less, please visit https://www.medicareinteractive.org/get-answers/medicare-covered-services/preventive-services/welcome-to-medicare-preventive-visit to learn more about your Welcome to Medicare preventive exam.  If you have had Medicare for more than a year, please visit https://www.medicareinteractive.org/get-answers/medicare-covered-services/preventive-services/annual-wellness-visit to learn about Medicare’s Annual Wellness Visit and what to expect during your visit.  

Is there is a difference between medical care and health care? There is.

Medical care is what physicians and other clinicians do every day with you in offices, labs, surgery centers, and hospitals. Titrating blood pressure meds. Checking blood sugar. Adding this medication on and stopping that medication. Heart bypass surgery. X-rays. MRI’s. All that constitutes medical care. In America, we do a lot of it and we are the best. Hands down. However, medical care probably constitutes only 10% – 20% of health outcomes.

Health care is a much broader idea of which medical care is only a subset and constitutes the remaining 80-90% of health outcomes. It incorporates other elements such as Social Determinants (the circumstances under which you are born, live, play, socialize, work and die), genetics, behaviors such as eating, smoking, exercise and drinking, and a myriad of other factors. All these issues may seem out of place in the context of a Primary Care practice but they matter more for health outcomes. And in this overall picture when considering infant mortality, the rates of chronic disease, mortality for certain demographic sections, and access to health insurance, the US does not do as well compared to other countries. True, the USA is much larger and much more diverse than other countries to which we are often compared, such as the Nordic countries or Canada but this just illustrates the challenge before us as a nation.

So how is Primary Care to engage with the rest of this Health Care paradigm?

First, we need to continue to do well what we have been doing well. We will continue to focus on making sure that the tests and procedures we recommend for you and the medications we prescribe to you are necessary and valuable for your overall medical care. We will continue to coordinate care among specialists and other players in your medical care. We will continue to try and improve access to high-quality medical care. All this we have to keep doing well and even continue to improve.

Second, we need to engage on a broader front. We need to help to connect you with resources or organizations that can help you with financial constraints. We need to continue efforts to improve counseling about smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and nutrition. We need to develop and implement strategies to better help you if you have issues with substance abuse and mental health. The need is great.

Primary Care has a front line role in health care, not just medical care, and we will always be seeking ways to help you improve your health.

Our practice is participating in the Maryland Primary Care Program (MDPCP), a state-wide initiative to improve primary care.

Giving Practices Extra Support to Help you Receive Better Care

Through MDPCP, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will give our practice additional resources to help us better manage your care. We hope to provide you the highest quality patient-centered care.

Additional Information for Traditional Medicare (Part A & Part B) Beneficiaries 

To help us provide you with the best care, Medicare will start sharing some of your personal health information with us and the State Designated Health Information Exchange (CRISP), to share with other health professionals providing care to you. This will provide us with a more complete picture of your health and allow us to better coordinate your care. 

Your Medicare benefits ARE NOT changing. Enhanced services covered by this program will not require additional cost-sharing for you. You still have the right to use or visit any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare at any time. Your doctor may continue to recommend that you see particular doctors for your specific health needs, but it’s always your choice which doctors or hospital(s) you visit.

Data Sharing Opt Out

If you want Medicare to stop sharing this personal health information, please contact 1-800-MEDICARE. A Health Information Exchange, or HIE, is a way of sharing your health information among participating doctors’ offices, hospitals, and care coordinators.