We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ati Hakimi MD MBA. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ati below.
Ati, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
After working for various organizations from the VA, Department of dependence, skilled nursing facilities, hospices, outpatient care, and inpatient care, for 20 years. I finally had the support to start my own practice.
Vegas Direct Primary Care was started at six years ago after I had decided that Medicine wasn’t for me. I started volunteering at volunteers and Medicine Southern Nevada, and realize that I was a pretty excellent physician ! When I was able to just see patients and take care of them and not worry about billing and coding and all of those nonsense insurance words then I knew that I could not leave my calling.
I started doing research and found direct primary care to be exactly what I needed and with the encouragement of my friends and family. The practice began in June 2019.
My practice is small about 150 people and when I reach 200 I will be capped because I want to have relationships with every single member. That’s how I know I will be making a difference in their lives. And they have the comfort of knowing their physician is always with them. And that is how I have dreamed of quality care to be.
After all, I am a family physician, so I was supposed to be a part of your family. I need to know how you are eating, sleeping, hydrating, who your relationships are with. All of it! Because it all dictates your healing and how your cells change
Ati, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Dr. Ati Hakimi. I am a family medicine physician trained at Northwestern University with an extra year of fellowship training in geriatrics. I found my calling being a physician because I was the little girl who would bandage up her Barbies instead of dressing them. And I chose family medicine because I believe we are the true doctors. We take care of everyone from beginning of life to end of life. I also found a special affinity for seniors and found that our country needs a lot of work when it comes to respecting our elders.
I’ve been practicing medicine for over 20 years, but I finally got the strength to start my own practice six years ago because I was tired of being a part of a sick care model and here we are with Vegas Direct Primary Care. Direct primary care is a flat fee monthly healthcare membership, like Netflix. Where people have access to me whenever they need me. And because I am a solo female physician, when they text, call, email, telehealth, or come see me. It is always me therefore they have continuity.
Direct primary care has its benefits. I can order an entire set of labs from A-to-Z, including vitamins for $120. That is because I pay the lab directly and that cuts cost to wholesale value because the lab doesn’t have to run around looking for Co-pays and deductibles. Healthcare in primary care is not expensive! There are just too many hands in the pot that cause it to be expensive another benefit is Imaging with the local imaging center. I can get x-rays for $45, CAT scans for $300, MRIs for $500. With once again no pre-authorizations. Direct primary care is affordable, transparent, quality healthcare for everyone!
My practice has members from the Uber driver to the CEO of the businesses in town. My biggest hurdle however, is cost of marketing so my practice is pretty much word-of-mouth, but I do the best I can to tell everyone I meet about choices and healthcare. Once again insurance was made for catastrophe is not for prevention. And I pride myself and practicing lifestyle, Medicine, and holding my members accountable for taking themselves while I guide them. Almost like a healthcare coach as well as a physician. And because I am of Persian descent, I believe I can bring in some eastern medicine because that does a better job and prevention and then western Medicine does a better job in treating diseases so you have the best of both worlds!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I think my story speaks for itself. After attending medical school, training at Northwestern for family medicine, and then going to Rush University, Medical Center, for geriatrics, I was intent on making a difference in this world. And I thought I could do that by being a physician. My hopes and dreams were eliminated when I realize that we practice sick care in this country.
It was only until the age of 46 after practicing medicine for 20 years that I realize the only way to actually make a difference was to start my own practice and that’s what I did. It’s called Vegas Direct Primary Care and now I have a relationship with every single member even though there aren’t many of them, but I know that I make a difference every day in their lives.
Direct primary care is a concept that allows physicians to actually be a part of the family again. There was no way I was able to practice lifestyle medicine and hold people accountable for their well-being with their hydration, nutrition, relationships, exercise, and sleep if I didn’t have this type of care.
Now, I sleep with a clear, conscious, knowing that I spend quality time with each person instead of the 10 minutes that we are allowed in the current sick care model. I work for myself and my members and no one else.
Unfortunately, in our country people think insurance takes care of them. When in actuality, it is us who takes care of them. And to be stuck in a system or someone else dictates what you can and can’t do and you’re worth is like being a hamster in a wheel. We absolutely cannot be the true caregivers we are. Remember, physicians are chosen, we are not made. We are made to live a legacy and make a difference.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I pride myself on my reputation, and it has mostly been word-of-mouth that has helped me build my practice, even though it is small, it is very mighty! I have diagnosed cancers before they have become catastrophic. I have been there for my members even when they were on trips to Japan. Because chatGPT told them they were dying, and in actuality they just had a stomach bug. I have been available for members 24 seven even though I travel frequently. In fact, traveling is my passion and I have seen over 60 countries so far. But I am still there for them it unfortunately annoys my boyfriend, but I feel that if I don’t take care of my members, then somebody else will and I don’t want anything to happen to them. I truly feel like they are part of my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vegasdpc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegasdirectprimarycare?igsh=cjA1ZmVvOXdlczl1&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: Vegas Direct Primary Care
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ati-hakimi-md-mba-25907b84?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
- Twitter: None
- Youtube: None
- Yelp: None
- Soundcloud: None
Image Credits
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