Dear prospective travel group member:
I am willing to schedule travel medicine services for your group at a suitable
off-hours time and place, but it is important that you understand that there are
trade-offs; that is, there are both advantages and disadvantages to being part
of a group receiving travel services.
Advantages:
- Efficiencies of the group process, including:
- After a brief presentation, sometimes with slides, anyone gets to ask
questions; everyone gets to hear the questions and the answers.
- Physician time spent may be less, therefore fees are reduced.
- You don't have to take time off work or school or find parking at a
doctor's office.
- Almost all services you need will be available in one place, sort of
"one-stop shopping".
Disadvantages:
- More than office patients, you will need to do your part, which means
having information organized and available when we meet, and bringing certain
items to the meeting. These may include:
- a completed questionnaire (available to be downloaded and
printed from the website). The questionnaire needs to be completed BEFORE
you get to the meeting.
- accurate copies of immunization records. The immunization
records need to be collected BEFORE the meeting. Without records we
will have to guess, and decide between giving too few vaccines (maybe
risky) and giving too many (unnecessarily expensive).
- a "shopping list" (if I have prepared one for your group),
which needs to be read, understood, and "the rules followed" for the group
process to work. You can start now to mark what you will need on this
list.
- your checkbook; we prefer payment by check. Cash could be used
if you have the exact amount; we will not be able to make change.
- a clear copy of your insurance card, if we will be billing your
insurance.
- browsing pertinent material on our website, ideally BEFORE the
meeting.
- If we serve you outside the office, you won't be able to pay with a credit
card (VISA/MC).
- Inefficiencies of the group process; it will be inevitable that someone
will have to wait. If everyone is
prepared, waiting will be minimized.
- The services are less personal than in the office, sort of a "the cattle
car approach". Private information is less likely to remain private in the
group setting.
Whether we meet at my office, your home, school, church or workplace, in
addition to providing information, you will need to do some reading and studying
of handouts and other information for you to get the most out of this
experience.
Before we schedule a time to meet, you need to have a firm itinerary and a list
of people who will be going on your trip. It will help me help you if I have
your itinerary and list of participants (and their ages) a week before we meet.
I will also need written directions to our meeting place.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
John D. Wilson, M.D. |
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