To our patients, current and future:
Welcome to our practice! On behalf of everyone at Summit Dermatology, I’d like to thank you for allowing us to help care for you. Our goal is Superior Patient Care. We went into the healthcare field to help people, namely you and your family, and treasure the times when we make a difference that you appreciate.
Medicine has and will continue to change due to advances in technology and this will impact patient care. We evaluate these advances and adopt them as they improve our ability to provide you with excellent care.
Genetically engineered medicines have made a huge difference in psoriasis. Once treatment consisted of topical creams and medicines that worked in a broad manner and carried the potential for significant side effects. Now we have precise medicines that target specific chemicals responsible for this condition and are much safer. Summit Dermatology was the first in the Pikes Peak area to participate in clinical trials and advance the knowledge of these medicines. We are experts in the use of these medicines and using them to treat our patients.
We take digital pictures prior to biopsying suspicious lesions. Many times the biopsy site heals very well before a patient would come back for definitive treatment. If the biopsy showed a cancer, it’s important that we know exactly where the biopsy was taken. A digital picture helps us to precisely locate the spot biopsied so we can make sure we treat that cancer. Digital pictures are also helpful when we work with outside physicians so they too know the exact area to be treated. We’ve been using digital pictures since our first day, September 1, 2000.
EMRs, or electronic medical records, take a lot of time to complete and over the years have become more burdensome. Yet they’ve helped us in one important way, which is responding to your questions. Before, in the time of paper charts, a chart could be in any number of places or in piles in an office. If you called and had a question it could take minutes to hours to find the chart and get back to you. With EMRs we can access your chart in an instant and respond to your question much more quickly. Our providers are focused on you and your concerns. To help record the visit details in the EMRs we have trained MAs (medical assistants) and nurses who transcribe the visit work under the direction of the providers. Summit Dermatology was among the first of any medical providers in Colorado Springs to implement electronic medical records back in January 2005. We adopted EMRs years before either Memorial or Penrose hospitals.
Everyone, including providers, is frustrated with the increasing cost of medicines. Our staff is trained in working with insurance companies to obtain the medicines you need and coach you about more affordable options. This past year we started dispensing some medicines from our office to provide our patients a less expensive alternative. Many times these medicines cost less than a similar medicine you would pick up from your pharmacy. However if your pharmacy has a lower price we encourage you to buy it from them. Again, our mission at Summit Dermatology is to provide superior patient care, including cost effective care. If we can provide a medicine at a lower cost you are welcome, but not required, to buy it from us. We will continue to evaluate this benefit and expand the options as the opportunity arises.
To help care for our patients of the Colorado Springs/Monument area we recently opened a new office in Monument, Colorado, adjacent to the Monument YMCA and in the same building. We noticed that, whereas Colorado Springs has numerous dermatologists often down the street from each other, the Monument area was underserved in that there were no permanent dermatologists there. We are pleased to be able to provide more convenient care for our patients in Monument. As part of meeting the increased demand for our services, Dr. Andrew Johnson joined us in August 2017. We now have four providers, two female providers and two male providers to address your concerns. Three of our providers and many of our staff are Colorado natives and understand the environmental challenges of living in such a beautiful place. That said we have lived in numerous states and countries such as Japan, France, Germany and Macedonia. We have a world of experience, literally.
We’re committed to continually thinking outside of the box, and innovating with new and better options to provide you, our patients, with Superior Care.
We enjoy seeing you, visiting with you, talking about your recent trips or experiences, your families and of course your health. If you have any questions, we invite you to call or visit us. We look forward to taking care of you and your family.
Sincerely,
