Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Merritt
Hi Christina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After 15 years of being a pediatrician in a traditional medical practice, I found myself burned out. I was expected to see more patients than I wanted, and I spent my evenings charting for hours. I was just a cog in the corporate medicine machine. Weekends I spent trying to catch up on all the charting, returning messages, doing refills, signing home health orders, etc. I found myself having to rush with patients because I only had 15 minutes or less with them. That is simply not enough time for a well visit or an ADHD evaluation! I was not able to spend the time with patients that they deserved, and I didn’t feel like I had the bandwidth to enjoy the things I wanted to enjoy in my personal life because my life was revolving around charting. Frustration at the system grew, this was not how I imagined practicing medicine. There had to be a better way. Then I learned about Direct Primary Care, a style of medical practice where I could be a good doctor – I could spend adequate time with my patients, be accessible to my patients, and still have a life of my own. With the guidance of other doctors who have formed similar practices, I decided to leave my stressful albeit financially stable job as an employed physician to branch out on my own to form my own practice – with my own rules where patients’ time as well as my own are valued. I started Merritt Pediatrics in October 2024 and could not be happier with my decision. I have had to learn so much about being a business owner and how to navigate the administrative aspect of my practice. They don’t teach you these things in medical school, and I wish they would. Now I am truly a part of my patients lives, I get updates daily from my patients about how school is going, how they are doing in sports, etc.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Leaving behind a job where I was making good money and benefits was a tough decision. I was a well established pediatrician with probably about 2000 patients, I must be crazy to leave that behind. I had some good mentors along the way, but this is all brand new to me and I’m having to learn on the fly. There were definitely times when I didn’t think I could do it and thought I had made a huge mistake. There was so much work to do while I was still working at the old job, so essentially I was working 2 jobs during the busiest time of year for a pediatrician (back to school physicals). My mom definitely had to talk me down a few times when I called her in tears. And even though I have had excellent mentors, I still am doing it all on my own. I had to work with lawyers, accountant, realtors, landlord, vendors, stuff that was definitely out of my element. I am usually a confident person (most doctors are) but this has been a very humbling experience, learning things that I previously knew nothing about – like how to learn to use Quickbooks, a new EHR, how to do all the things nurses do. Staying organized knowing when certain bills are due and keeping the lights on while still having to be a doctor and make sure my patients are taken care of. It has been a challenge learning the balancing act between business owner and physician.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Merritt Pediatrics?
My pediatric practice is a Direct Primary Care model, which is gaining popularity nationwide. It is a concierge type practice that is membership based. I do not bill to any insurance, patients pay a monthly membership, just like they would for Netflix. That membership includes all office visits (can be well, sick, mental health), most in office tests (hearing, vision, strep/covid/flu, urinalysis, glucose monitoring), unlimited phone calls/texts/messages with me. The concept is called “Direct” because patients have direct access to their doctor. In my office, I don’t have any employees, so when patients call, they talk to me directly. We use a secure messaging app where patients can text me any questions or concerns, pictures, videos. We have the ability to do a virtual visit also. In a traditional practice, it could days before you hear back from your doctor or the nurse, but in my practice patients hear back within minutes usually during office hours, and fairly quickly after hours as well. One of my goals is to try to decrease unnecessary urgent care visits, which I can do by being accessible via phone/text and with flexibility of schedule to get the patient seen as soon as possible. I feel like a lot of parents would feel comfortable not going to urgent care if they could just talk to their doctor. I have traditional office hours M-F 8-5, but really if a patient needs to be seen outside those hours I can be flexible. This style of practice allows for a much more personalized experience, for both doctor and patient.
What’s next?
I’ve only been open for a few months, so I of course have big plans for the future. I would like to continue to grow my practice, with an eventual goal of about 250 patients. I also plan to continue to grow my social media expertise, as the new generation of parents are quite tech savvy. So my goal is continued growth.
Pricing:
- Ages 0-3: $175/month
- Ages 3-6 $150/month
- Ages 6-18: $125/month
- Enrollment fee $100
- Family maximum $400
Contact Info:
- Website: https://merrittpediatrics.com
- Instagram: merritt_peds
- Facebook: Christina Merritt
- LinkedIn: Christina Merritt
