With ChatGPT, Claud, Perplexity and the list goes on with the different AI chat platforms and with the vast knowledge that is on the web and video and podcast platforms, why do you need a specialist for anything? You may even venture to say, if I or my child am healthy, why even visit the doctor? There are a multitude of podcasts and influencers who have boldly stated, you don’t need a physician and you can be your own doctor.
You could be your own electrician, plumber, accountant, lawyer and a multitude of other professions. And for some, you may be excellent at it. But one thing about any profession, there are those who are professionals and have sought out much time and energy over years to hone in their skills and become an “expert”. Being an expert is developed from the knowledge that many of us now have, all the access to which we didn’t have before, but the unique thing about being an expert is you have taken that knowledge and applied it on the daily in your scope of work. So your experience is something that no social media platform, podcast or AI chat is ever going to substitute. Your conscious and subconscious and unconscious experience will never be replaced.
In the healthcare space, you would hope that the “experience” of a healthcare provider or entity is in close alignment to your knowledge that you have gained as a parent from your research and experience. So what is something that SHINE can add to this relationship-match, of parent expectations and knowledge to our SHINE knowledge and experience. The term is relationship capital.
RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL Is Built During the Healthy Years
One of the beautiful things about primary care is that we don’t have to wait until something is wrong to begin building a relationship.
In fact, some of the most important visits happen when your child is completely healthy.
A well-child checkup is not only for looking for something that might be wrong. It is an opportunity to understand how your child is growing, developing, learning, sleeping, eating, and navigating life. It gives us an opportunity to listen, answer questions, notice patterns, celebrate milestones, and continue getting to know your family from a physical well-being but also philosophy and spiritual aspects to families.
For families who choose traditional vaccines, modified vaccine schedules, or who do not vaccinate at all, we recognize that parents come to healthcare with different experiences, perspectives, and beliefs.
Our hope is that SHINE can be a place where families feel heard, validated, and able to have thoughtful conversations about their child’s health.
We also believe in the importance of an ongoing primary care relationship and regular well-child care that can space out to every 2 years for children who are beyond the elementary school years unless school physicals are a requirement annually. These visits allow us to build something that cannot be created during a single urgent visit: familiarity, trust, and shared understanding.
When Life Does NOT Go as Planned
Most of the time, our children are healthy. Sometimes life changes unexpectedly. An accident happens.A new symptom appears.A child develops a chronic condition. A parent becomes worried about something that doesn’t feel right. Or a situation arises that requires more medical attention than anyone anticipated.
When that happens, we don’t want to be meeting your family for the first time. We want to already know your child. We want to know what is normal for them. We want to understand your family’s history and values and belief systems.
We want you to know how we think, how we communicate, and that we are here to walk alongside you. Our team has complex processes to allow for very individualized personal care that most healthcare systems have not created. Their interest is to only get you in the door and make the transaction. We want to dig deep and know your child and family before the first illness.
That is the value of the relationship we have built together. From your onboarding experience, to your first wellness visit, to the other tiers of appointments for children with chronic health conditions before joining SHINE, to those kiddos who develop chronic conditions while starting at SHINE, though rare, can and will happen to some children, so for any of these scenarios or tiers of reason, we want to know you over time. Nothing will ever be solved in just one appointment.
Throughout the healthy years, we (both SHINE and the child and their family) make deposits: visits, conversations, address developmental gains/deficits, questions answered, concerns discussed, experiences shared, and trust earned. These deposits build our relationship capital because heaven forbid that a health concern from physical to mental to spiritual, a withdrawal will have to be made. We want to ensure we have “relationship” capital.
SCHEDULE YOUR ANNUAL WELLNESS VISIT OR 1ST INTEGRATIVE VISIT (CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS) WHEN YOU REGISTER AS A PATIENT.