We recently connected with Logan Andrews and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Logan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I first decided to start a in-home primary care practice while I was still a nurse. I worked at a nursing home in rural North Central Florida and I saw there was a huge need for that type of practice due to so many elderly patient being unable to physically go to a doctor’s office or clinic. The first thing I did was work with a provider to gain some experience and while I was doing this I also applied for in-network status with multiple different insurance companies that I knew were primarily used by patients in my area. This was also one of the key challenges to overcome as many insurance companies denied me access to their networks saying the limit of in-network providers were already met or the access was closed even though there was no other medical practice doing what I have been doing in our area. This required me to file multiple appeals for the denials I received and took a lot longer than I expected. For example I originally applied to be in-network with Humana in 2021 and just got approved to be a provider in their network January of 2023! If I would had know how difficult it was and the power of recommendation letters from insurance professionals and patients, I would have submitted those in the beginning of the process.

Advice to anyone looking to do the same or even open an office location would be to research the current insurance providers in your area and start with those. Have a cash pay payment plan available as well for anyone that wants to see you while you’re out-of-network with insurance companies as those patients may have to pay cash for a visit and still be willing to do so. Find a person that sells insurance and refer patients to them so they can help your patients sign up for plans that you are in-network with. Also do not be afraid to hire other providers to help you!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and my specialty is as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I started a solo in-home primary care practice called Andrews Healthcare Consulting in October 2021 after seeing such a huge need to help homebound seniors in my hometown and as of today I have 10 other nurse practitioners that work for me and we offer services including family practice, mental health, adult-geriontology, and even pain management all in the comfort of our patients home. We cover about 14 counties in rural North Central Florida and even follow our patients in many local area skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities. We are able to provider in-home imaging such as X-rays, ultrasound, and EKGs. We even do bloodwork in the patients home. All of this is covered by insurance the same way as if these patients went to a brick and mortar clinic.

It is such an awesome feeling knowing we are helping so many underserved communities receive affordable and quality healthcare that they otherwise would be without! I recently had a patient I saw that is bedbound due to being paralyzed from the neck down requiring ventilation and oxygen and when I came to see her for the first time her husband broke down crying saying she has not been seen by a provider in over 3 years since her accident as he is unable to get her out of the home. Since starting with us we were able to get him in contact with multiple different community resources and now he has caregivers paid for by his insurance that assists him 4 days a week and transportation services to specialist appointments that I have since referred her too.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Recently our community was affected by flooding. I had multiple patients that were homebound and unable to leave their homes. One patient had flood water that came all the way to her front door. Her him was situated on top of a small hill thankfully but I had to Wade in knee deep water to be able to see her every two week to provide medical care for her.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Absolutely! This has been SUCH a rewarding career choice. I love being able to help those in need

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andrewshealthcareconsulting.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewsHealthcareConsulting?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-andrews-rn
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/cHUAPCIPfZY

Image Credits
Karen Valentine, APRN Madeline Kelley, APRN, PMHNP-BC Katsie Bellamy, APRN Risa Clayton, APRN