Gallian Medial Group
Say Goodbye to Assembly Line Medicine
You may have to take a number and stand in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, but you don’t have to settle for the assembly line-like experience growing so common nowadays.
Advances in medical science in the United States have dramatically enhanced life expectancies from 54.1 years in 1918 to 78.9 years in 2020. However, these revolutionary advances in medicine have come at an enormous financial and personal cost to patients as many rural hospitals are forced to close their doors and urban hospitals and medical centers are forced to consolidate or face going out of business. Today only one-third of physicians are still in private practice, and it is estimated that only 50% of our current health system will remain in place during the next decade.
If you’re the type of individual who truly values your relationships with your medical providers once so prevalent in the healthcare community, it’s easy to appreciate your concern for the future as medical care becomes increasingly driven by bottom lines – often at the expense of you, the patient.
Fortunately, a growing number of private practice medical providers are pushing back against these managed care, socialized medical models so common in Europe and elsewhere today.
Launched in 2016 by husband and wife team, Scott Gallian, MD, MBA, and U.S. Air Force veteran, and Lauren Gallian, FNP-BC, Gallian Medical Group in nearby Hardin Valley offers a fresh and totally new approach to providing caring and compassionate, full-service primary care to their patients, unlike the socialized medicine trends that so much of our healthcare system has embarked on. Complete with in-house diagnostic lab, EKG, and X-ray services, Gallian Medical Group offers their patients a level of medical excellence that’s becoming increasingly more difficult to find today.
What patients appreciate the most about Gallian Medical Group is a level of compassionate caring that they remember from their past. Gone are the “bus station-like” waiting room experiences and “steeple chase-like” visits with your healthcare provider. What remains is a team of dedicated medical professionals who are totally committed to your individual healthcare needs in a caring, compassionate, and unrushed environment.
We trust that you are going to enjoy this month’s issue of Everything Knoxville and our interview with Scott Gallian, MD, and Family Nurse Practitioner, Lauren Gallian, FNC-BC, and the newest member of the Gallian healthcare team, Family Nurse Practitioner, Gina Bearden, FNC-BC. We believe that at Gallian Medical Group, you will rediscover an entirely new level of personalized healthcare that you might have thought no longer existed.
EK: You have all experienced today’s socialized medical trends firsthand as providers. Describe your experiences and how they helped you to envision a new future for your patients at Gallian Medical Group.
Scott: In the outpatient setting, we felt as if our employers were dictating the level of care and not the patient in consultation with their physician. At Gallian Medical Group, we put the focus back on the patient and provide them with the time needed to fully describe their symptoms and to treat them. We don’t lock our patients into 15 minute blocks of time.
EK: How have your patients responded to the level of care they receive at Gallian Medical Group?
Lauren: They thoroughly enjoy it. They don’t like being rushed or ignored. I think most of our new patients are surprised at our more measured approach to healthcare. Accustomed as they are to the assembly line medical treatments they experience elsewhere, they are often surprised to discover that we take the time to really listen to them. They genuinely appreciate the fact that we desire to have a meaningful provider/patient relationship with them. Patients who wish to be more proactive in achieving their optimum level of health really enjoy their new provider/patient relationships.
EK: I guess another indication of your success is the fact that your are currently expanding your medical facility to meet the needs of your growing group of patients. Tell us about your expansion plans.
Scott: We’re grateful to our growing number of new patients, for their trust in us and their support and encouragement. To meet this growing patient base and the additional providers, we are currently expanding our medical facility. We are adding 1,500 additional square feet of exam rooms, provider offices, and nurse work centers. Our new addition is scheduled to be complete in October.
EK: Gina, as the newest addition to the Gallian Medical Group healthcare team, tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Gina: My family moved to Tennessee from Michigan when I was eight. I attended nursing school at Tennessee State University and earned my master’s degree from Vanderbilt University. I have worked as an ICU nurse and have 20 years of experience as a Nurse Practitioner, with a decade of that practicing in Endocrinology.
EK: What most influenced your decision to join the Gallian Medical Group team?
Gina: Like the entire team at Gallian, I practice evidence-based medicine and feel passionate about treating the patient as a whole – truly listening to them and getting to the root of their problem. Like my fellow team members, I am extremely thorough and detailed in my management and want the patient to feel comfortable and confident in their care, but, most importantly, I want to show compassion to each patient. I look forward to making a valuable contribution to Gallian Medical Group and their family of patients throughout our East Tennessee community.
EK: What services do you provide at Gallian Medical Group?
Lauren: We provide evidence-based primary care for patients age 12 and up. We have our own lab and X-ray machine. We also perform EKGs and spirometry services. We offer preventative care and immunizations, chronic disease management, hypertension management, nutrition and wellness management, diabetes management, physicals, and a variety of other services. Our hours are Monday through Friday from 7 am to 6 pm. Same-day appointments are available. We also offer Telemedicine for your convenience.
EK: Because you’re a private practice medical practice facility, in what other ways do your patients benefit?
Scott: Choice is clearly an important way in which our patients benefit. If they need a service we can’t provide, then they are free to go wherever they like. They can choose any specialist, any hospital, any other ancillary service they want – not just the ones under a certain corporate umbrella. Patients also want a provider they can stay with for life, not someone that will move on after the provider’s contract expires or if the corporate employer makes decisions affecting the doctor-patient relationship. Patients want their provider, not a replacement or substitute. We plan on being here for many years to come.
EK: Unlike other area healthcare providers that experience high staff turnover, your team has been with you for a number of years. How important is this to your patients?
Lauren: Extremely important. Our staff is a big reason for our success. We feel the patient’s relationship with our staff is as important as the patient’s relationship with us. Our staff is like family to us.
EK: What is a typical patient wait time?
Lauren: Most of the time less than 15 minutes. Rarely more than 30 minutes.
EK: You appear to attract a great many Medicare patients. Why is that?
Scott: Medicare patients are a special population. They generally have more healthcare needs and have higher expectations than other groups of patients. They usually are more in tune with their health than a younger person and more self-educated about their health. We want them to know we’re here to meet their expectations and provide the quality care they deserve in order to achieve their optimal level of health and well-being.
EK: What other types of insurance do you accept?
Scott: Almost all commercial insurances, Medicare, and Medicare Advantage plans. We don’t discriminate based on a patient’s insurance status.
EK: How can people learn more about Gallian Medical Group?
Lauren: Our website is www.gallianmedical.com. We also encourage people to visit our Facebook page.
EK: In closing, is there anything else you would like to add?
Scott: We want your readers to know that we will go the extra mile to ensure they have a truly wonderful healthcare experience, the type of experience they might have thought no longer existed in today’s steeple-chase medical marketplace.
Gallian Medical Group
10744 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville, TN 37932