Innovative Family Medicine bringing new approach to Derby | Business

As innovative family medicine becomes a direct primary care practice, Panakos is using its own practice to bring a new approach to healthcare business models for local patients. To her knowledge, Panakos is her first practice to pursue that approach in the Derby.

“In typical healthcare, we have an insurance company and a lot of what we do is dictated by the insurance company,” Panakos said. “The goal of direct primary care is to restore the doctor-patient relationship and access insurance from within that relationship. I’m really excited about it.”

Direct Primary Care is registration-based, has a monthly fee (based on age), and has unlimited office visits. Panakos said he still recommends people take out some form of insurance to cover contingencies, ER visits, hospitalizations, and more.

Additionally, Panakos said the direct primary care model would allow patients to reach her by phone, email, FaceTime, or whatever means they need.

Outside of a direct primary care approach, Innovative Family Medicine functions like typical home medicine (physics, blood tests, etc.) and offers similar services to patients of all ages. The renovated residential space in the Buckner business district has two testing rooms, labs, waiting areas and offices.

Panakos can run tests, prescribe drugs, and do anything else a patient needs. She has 20 years of medical experience, much of it in rural areas, giving her an extensive background to help these patients.

“I think all these experiences have helped me because I feel comfortable working with just about anything a person needs, from babies to adults,” Panakos said. “I’ve practiced long enough and I’ve seen a lot.”

Raised in Malvern, Panakos graduated from Wichita State University before earning a medical degree from the College of Health Sciences School of Medicine. There she met her husband Constantine, who practices her medicine in Derby (Tanglewood). She then completed her residency at Via Her Christie in Wichita and then worked in family medicine for the next 20 years.

For Panachos, she admitted her grandfather was a big reason she started medicine.

“He didn’t like doctors, so he didn’t see many doctors at the time because it wasn’t a good experience for him,” Panakos said. “At the time, there were so many things I could do to help him. rice field.”

Panakos was off the medication for a while and was unsure if she would return, but convinced her in person at a primary care conference that if given the chance, she would have practiced that model “for my entire life.” I admit it.

Given that the majority of people have high deductible insurance or no insurance, Panakos is hopeful innovative family medicine Offer another option. With so many issues now available to be handled by her primary care physicians, she wants to help as many patients as possible at Derby.

“We built this with the sole goal of providing our patients with excellent care and wanting them to walk through the door and feel welcomed, comfortable and cared for,” said Panakos. “That’s the goal.”