Family Life continued
for her for more than 20 years. He took
care of her parents before that. He now
cares for her four daughters, husband,
brother, nieces, and nephew. “He knows
everything about us,” Mrs. Woosley says.
When she calls to tell him that her
husband has come down with his yearly
bout of the croup, Dr. Rascoe can just
e-mail a prescription to the Woosleys’
local pharmacy.
Dr. Rascoe also coordinated her
care when she was diagnosed and treated
for breast cancer in November 2008.
“He would always look up information
for me, and really just check in on me.”
Mrs. Woosley remembers how Dr. Rascoe
and his nursing staff would adjust their
own schedules to make sure that when one
of her children was sick, she was seen
quickly so that Mrs. Woosley wouldn’t be
surrounded by sick kids during her
chemotherapy treatments. In a kind
gesture, he even gave her his home phone
number. “He’s gone above and beyond for
us,” she says. “He always does.” Dr. Rascoe
says it’s all just part of his job.
Caring for a whole array of patients
from many backgrounds requires a
different skill set than a specialist needs.
Family medicine doctors have to know
about a wide range of common diseases
that affect their patients and the
procedures and medications they should
employ. “I like to try to figure it out
for my patients,” says David Gogulski,
MD, a family medicine doctor at Scott
& White’s Cedar Park Clinic. He
credits the combination of intellectual
investigation and rich relationships with
patients for his choice of family medicine
as a career practice. “I enjoy the pursuit of
inquiry and using that knowledge to
benefit my patients,” he says.
A system of care for each patient
Scott & White’s Department of Family
Medicine is the largest group of doctors in
the healthcare system. More than 130
family medicine doctors, along with almost
50 nurse practitioners and physician
assistants, see patients in all of the
regional clinics. Just as a person chooses a
pediatrician or internal medicine specialist
to care for certain members of his or her
“He’s gone above
and beyond for us.
He always does.”
—Melissa Woosley (second from
right), referring to Dr. Rascoe
12
THE CATALYST Summer/Fall 11 | www.sw.org
family, an individual may choose a family
medicine practitioner at Scott & White to
manage the entire family’s healthcare or
work in partnership with other specialists,
such as internists or pediatricians.
Scott & White’s family medicine
physicians also have a unique backup team
in the hundreds of medical and surgical
specialists who are right there and
available. If a family medicine doctor has a
question or a patient for whom common
treatments don’t work, he or she can often
consult with a specialist without even
needing a referral. “Our patients don’t
necessarily know this, but if they have a
primary care doctor at Scott & White, they
may also have about 600 specialists helping
out,” says Dr. Reis.
Because of Scott & White’s systemwide electronic medical records (EMR)
system, specialists can review a patient’s
medical history and lab results and make
recommendations to a primary care doctor,
possibly without even seeing the patient
first. (For more on EMR, see the Spring
2011 issue of THE CATALYST.) “And if
they want to see my patient, they’ll fit her
in right away and have access to all her tests
and blood work ahead of time,” Dr. Reis
says. This often saves a second or third
specialty visit to follow up.
The relationship works both ways.
Scott & White’s family medicine doctors
often help with post-surgical care and
healing. If a patient has a question after
surgery but doesn’t want to drive back to
the Temple or Round Rock hospital, he or
she can visit the family medicine doctors at
the local clinic.