Our focus is Quality.

When Should I Come to the doctor's office and when should I go to the ER?

There are many symptoms and conditions that can be addressed at primary care without ever having to take a trip to the ER. We have same day appointments available each day to better accommodate your needs. Below are some examples of problems that can be treated in our office:

Health Maintenance: Annual Wellness Visits

At Ritner Medical we believe regular wellness visits are vital for maintaining your health. Our goal is to have a yearly office visit that allows us to spend time planning for your health. This is not a “yearly physical” – while physical examination may occur, it is not the purpose of this visit.

Many aspects of care will be addressed. Our philosophy is to prevent avoidable illness and to aspire to ideal management of existing conditions. We will focus on cancer prevention, cardiovascular screening, immunization and medication reviews. Management of disease will focus on diet, exercise and reviewing goals of treatments.

We believe caring for patients must be a partnership with equal participation. Separating an annual wellness visit from a traditional sick visit will allow time for us to discuss what your goals of treatment and expectations for managing your health.

Please contact us to schedule this visit 215-336-2145 (or book on our ZocDoc link!). While we can perform this visit at any time, and will, it is preferable to have it in early in the calendar year when possible.

Transitions of Care: What are They & Why They are So Important?

For anyone that has recently had an unplanned trip to the hospital, it is likely you received a call from us requesting you come in for an office visit. Why? According to CMS, nearly 1 in every 6 patients admitted to a hospital will be readmitted within 30 days. Two thirds of the admissions will occur before 14 days. An evidence-based approach to reducing the percentage of getting readmitted is having a Transitional Care visit—especially within 5-10 days of discharge. This visit is a very important time out for both the provider and patient to review and discuss the discharge plan of care and also do medication reconciliation. Medication reconciliation is when the provider compares our current medication list and the list of medications the patient was given at discharge. One study estimated that 80% of ineffective transitions (including transitions home without a primary care office visit) lead to adverse events. It is critical for your primary care practitioner to see any patient that has had an unplanned admission—so when we call make sure you schedule—it could save you an unnecessary trip back to the hospital!

Diabetes & Eye Exams: Why You Shouldn't Wait

Diabetes affects many parts of your body—and eyes are not excluded. Having diabetes puts you at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the small blood vessels behind your eye, in your retina. Diabetes can also increase the risk of developing glaucoma, a condition that can damage the optic nerve.

In many diabetic patients, they are unaware that any harm has occurred to their eyes until it is very severe and cannot be reversed. These conditions can lead to blindness. Having a yearly eye exam can help to prevent the onset of diabetic retinopathy or try to slow down the disease process. If you haven’t scheduled your yearly visit yet this year do it now—we can help! Ask any staff member and we can schedule for you!

Prep Step: Getting Blood work before your Visit

Completing lab work prior to your visit is an essential step to having a meaningful office visit. By doing this “prep step” a week prior to your office visit, this allows time for the provider to review your labs or tests and discuss the results at your visit. Any questions or decisions regarding care or medications can be discussed face-to-face with the providers and everyone has a clear plan of care to move forward. Before you leave, ensure your labs are sent over electronically or you have a paper copy should you require it.

This process is a win-win for everyone; increasing the value of the visits for you and it relieves more staff to answer more incoming calls!