Doctors Center New Practice Around Patient Relationships

By Dayna Drum | Reporter

Doctors Malena Law and Peter Galier are standing in the gap between big system healthcare and quality patient care.

The two Palisadian doctors opened a new medical practice in Santa Monica in November 2015 to offer a more time-invested type of patient service. The physicians worked at UCLA Medical Center together and encountered similar setbacks in caring for their patients.

“Being in a big system and part of a system healthcare, we saw the challenges to giving and providing excellent care,” Law told the Palisadian-Post.

The challenges continued to grow, and patients took notice of having less and less access to their doctors.

“I was spending more time doing non-direct patient care than direct patient care,” Galier said.

The issues had started to grow in just the last few years with added regulations regarding electronic health records, among other things.

“The electronic record lends itself to finding the easiest, fastest way to get your check boxes done without necessarily communicating important medical information…it doesn’t help the patient,” Galier explained.

The process of getting in touch with doctors through an automated system or a call center was another frustrating factor for patients, creating a barrier between them and their doctor.

The new practice is operating with a quasi-concierge format, meaning most of their patients pay an annual fee rather than billing their insurance or paying for each visit.

A few of their patients who transferred with them from UCLA are still able to pay with Medicare rendering the practice only partly concierge.

Law explained that the concierge model has been a trend in medical practices for some time now, but speculated that patients might start gravitating to this model more and more.

The longtime Highlands residents, who live within a mile from each other, were seeking a lifestyle change when they decided to branch out on their own.

Their personal lives and their patient relationships were at the center of the move, and so far, it’s been a success.

The only surprises the doctors have encountered so far have been positive ones, Law said.

“I love having time with my patients,” Law pointed to as her favorite part of the new practice.

Galier explained that their patients who have transitioned with them have noticed a difference in not only the care they receive, but in the doctors and the staff as well.

“They comment all the time, ‘You look less pressured’,” Galier said.

The goals of the new practice are simple—make it through the first year.

Beyond that, Law said, she wanted to be able to be more involved with her young children.

The goal is to step out of the practice once it is running smoothly and dedicate more of their time into various passions.

“Once the business aspect of this is settled down I think we’d both like to spend some of that extra free time doing things for our community,” she said.