I have just returned from my 30th (yes 30th) consecutive annual physical exam with FMA, with perhaps another 30 pop-up visits interspersed over the three decades. I’ve read each review here on Yelp, and while I would certainly never question anyone’s perception of their own experience, I can honestly say that I am personally a perfect 60-for-60 in receiving exceptionally personal, professional and deeply concerned care at FMA. I started 30 years ago with the noted patriarch of FMA, Dr. Richard Honaker, whom has recently retired from his decades of "Keeping me going." However, the key to FMA is the quality of ALL of the physicians on the team, whom are interchangeable from a professionalism standpoint, and thus one is nearly always available to see you on short notice. And if the Physicians are all booked, their staff of Physician Assistants (PA’s) are both phenomenal and available. I routinely request my own PA (the simply unparalleled Marla Lehmann) at a frequency ratio of 4 to 1 over my also gifted (albeit quite busy) primary physician, Dr. Jeff Hischke (whom Dr. Honaker personally matched with me upon his retirement.) And I feel quite compelled to address the complaints (and misunderstanding of) the "Two-Part" physical exam process. This system is infinitely more informative and useful than the typical "One-stop-shop," wherein your blood is drawn at the same time as your poke-and-prod...however, given the week it takes to garner the lab results, you receive no detailed review or discussion of exactly where you stand with regard to the dozens of critical health measurements and parameters within the report, and how they relate to each other, and to you personally. The one-stop-Doc will simply tell you: "If you don’t hear from us, your good to go." However each measurement is a placement within lower and upper limits, and wouldn’t you like to know how close to the edge of each limit you are? And what if your numbers in vital measurements are trending steeply toward a limit year-to-year (such as safely-low to very high) but have not yet exceeded that upper limit, and thus are not brought to your attention. The analysis of each these numbers, and your personal trend (which is a core element of the FMA second visit) is the most critical part of the entire exam, which is totally ignored by the "We’ll call you if it’s bad" approach. Furthermore, the examination of each number individually points to specific dietary, vitamin, or lifestyle changes necessary to remedy that particular issue. For instance, if you are an aging male, is it enough to simply know that your PSA (Prostate) numbers are "Within limits?" I personally prefer to know that they are "Way" within limits, and not just barely below the line, and going to blow well into the Red a year from that visit. And as far as complaints regarding billing issues, I am not qualified to comment, as I’ve not experienced such an issue in 30 years. In summary, this practice is "Family" to me.
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