This new Canberra GP practice is changing the way chronic health conditions are seen, heard and managed
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If you, like me, manage one or more chronic health conditions, you’ll understand the mental load that can come with making a GP appointment – especially when seeing someone new.
Will the appointment be long enough? Do I need printed notes from my specialists? Is there anything to update them about? Then there’s the risk of a negative experience – one that leaves you feeling unseen, unheard or worse, untreated.
Canberra GP Dr Laura Chapman has experienced this first-hand as someone who balances chronic health conditions with her demanding career; and after years of practising in GP clinics, she has established The Know You Co. to change the way chronic health conditions are managed in Canberra.
For those who have navigated 15-minute GP appointments with apprehension, The Know You Co. turns the modern care model on its head. The new patient journey starts with a one-hour long ‘Getting to Know You’ session, giving new patients the time and space for their doctor to take a thorough medical history and assess current challenges and future hopes.
Subsequent ‘In The Know’ follow-up appointments are 30 minutes long (longer times can be arranged as needed) with shorter appointments available for discussing test and scan results or if you need a script. There is also the option of a more urgent appointment, as chronic conditions “don’t always follow a predictable pathway”.
Dr Laura Chapman.
For Laura, this dynamic, multi-format approach to health management is the key to unlocking the best outcomes for a patient – both for their physical and emotional well-being.
“The desire for one-hour initial appointments came from my experience both as a clinician and a patient,” she explains. “I think from the patient perspective it’s become really evident to me that the current mainstream model of general practice is not well designed for anything that’s complex or chronic or is going to take more than 10 to 15 minutes to sort.”
“I am all too familiar with that experience where you end up self-triaging, you know, ‘what am I going to have an opportunity to discuss with my doctor today, probably one to two straightforward things, and then everything else is going to have to wait until next time’.”
“From the clinician side of things, I am definitely a people person. I love my job and I love getting to know my patients and helping them sort through complex and multifactorial problems, but rarely is the 10-to-15-minute model of medicine enough.”
Laura felt she had two options when it came to her clients with chronic conditions: address all issues and impact the time of her next patient (and all other patients that day) or cut the patient off and ask them to book in again. It was lose/lose and, as she put it, “not a very fulfilling way to practice medicine”, which speaks to Australia’s broader issue of GP burnout.
“I feel like I am a vocational general practitioner – I love what I do…but running later and later and working through lunch and feeling like we’re scrambling for time is not really conducive to the longevity of a practitioner.” For Laura, there had to be a better way. Luckily, there was.
Since their doors opened six months ago, The Know You Co. has been welcomed with open arms. Initially a one-woman operation, Laura has welcomed two more GPs to the business – Dr Jung Le-Qui and Dr Krystle Marca.
“I’m so passionate about managing chronic conditions and I now have a team of people who are just as passionate and invested in the process as I am. The practice has only gotten better as a result – I want Canberrans to know that whoever they see at this practice, what I say represents how they feel too.”
Practice Managers Megan Phipps and Charlotte Rooks.
At the end of the day, for Laura it’s all about allowing each and every patient to feel as safe, supported and seen as they can be.
“The thing that like gives me just the most joy and excitement is when I get a new patient and they mirror the values of The Know You Co. back at me and it’s like…oh gosh, you’re looking for exactly what we’ve created.”
Find out more at theknowyouco.com.au
Photography: Rohan Thomson, Pew Pew Studios
