To my patients,
I would like to take this opportunity to update you on my practice. As many of you may or may not have noticed, things have changed with regard to my medical practice over the last several years. Beginning with the birth of my son Joshua several years ago, I made the decision to give up seeing hospital patients. Our practice has an excellent full time Hospital physician, Dr Tom Hackford, and he admits and sees any of my patients that require hospital admission. We of course remain in contact regarding your care if you are hospitalized, and I receive a complete summary of your stay when you are discharged. This has allowed me to also focus further on my outpatient practice, which has also changed over time.
While my training and background is in general internal medicine, over the last ten years or so, my clinical focus has narrowed to the area of preventive cardiovascular medicine. I am one of a handful of board certified lipid (cholesterol) specialists in the United States, and also have obtained additional certification and training as a hypertension specialist. With this shift in practice focus, I see fewer patients for routine “general medicine issues” and more consults and evaluations for blood pressure, cholesterol and cardiovascular prevention.
As a result of my focus and expertise in the areas of cardiovascular disease prevention, I often am invited to lecture and teach in different venues around the country. This, along with my position as the medical director of the Bellevue Hospital Lipid Clinic, which meets once a week, and additional teaching, research and writing endeavors does take me away from the office, often 1-2 days a week.
I continue to work with a Nurse Practitioner, Vanessa Milne, FNP, who has been with me for more than a year now, after training at Columbia. She also has developed expertise in the same areas that I focus on, and in addition addresses many of the urgent medical issues that may come up in the course of any day. She continues to handle most phone calls throughout the day and most routine callbacks and lab reviews that require follow up.
What does this mean for you??
My time away from the office has increased. Because of this, my availability for more urgent issues, same day appointments, etc, is limited, either because I may not be in the office or because my schedule is booked with consultations ahead of time. Urgent visits will be accommodated based on need by me if possible, my nurse practitioner, or by another MD working in this office.
Given the above time limitations and our clinical focus on preventive cardiovascular issues, I may be more likely to refer you to a sub specialist for management of other chronic medical issues that arise (examples would be asthma, migraines, orthopedic problems, etc).
My new patient visits are generally limited now to patients with blood pressure, cholesterol or cardiovascular risk and prevention issues. New Patients wishing to see me for routine general medical issues will probably be referred to other MD’s in this practice, unless they have cardiovascular issues that also need to be addressed. This, of course, can always be reviewed on an individual patient basis.
I will probably begin to withdraw from some of the insurance plans that I currently participate with. For now everything is status quo. I have closed all my managed care panels, and am not accepting new patients in any plans, other than for certain exceptions such as family members and for one time referrals in the areas described above.
As a recognized expert in the field of preventive cardiovascular medicine, lipidology and hypertension, I am able to provide you with the highest level of care and treatment for these disorders. If you or anyone you know needs to see me for these or any other related issues please feel free to refer them for evaluation.
I remain committed to providing excellent medical care to all my patients. Life, however moves onward, and with that comes change. I would be remiss if I did not detail my changes and how they will affect those I care for. It is important for me to meet all of my patients’ needs and expectations. I hope this clarification of my practice details and protocols is helpful.
Wishing you heath and happiness always,
Dr Underberg
