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INSPIRATIONAL
MEDICINE

Editor’s Note

San Antonio has a great variety of wonderful, little known community health services,
many created by doctors who also practice, research and teach. They see dire needs and
are moved to address them directly, leveraging community strength through their volunteer
leadership. San Antonio Medicine magazine will spotlight organizations in coming months,
their service to the community, and the inspirations that guide them.

For the Patient’s Sake

By David Schulz, CHP

Can an abundance of healthcare be hazardous Fortunately, the answer was less elusive than it was obvious: there
to one’s wellbeing? was no one in charge. Each patient had a variety of specialists; each
prescribing a variety of medications; and there was usually no pri-
The startling answer inspired Dr. Adam Ratner, along with family mary care physician involved.
members and colleagues, to found The Patient Institute in 2008. It
all began with a series of phone calls from strangers. “Or the primary caregiver wasn’t engaged,” said Ratner. “And
with so many disparate medications, there was no way to know how
“It was really rather peculiar,” said Dr. Ratner, a diagnostic radi- they would combine. Between an orthopedist, an endocrinologist,
ologist. “As a ‘picture-doctor,’ you don’t expect to get calls from lay a cardiologist and perhaps a psychiatrist, every patient became an
people asking for general advice.” uncontrolled clinical trial.”

But after completing medical training and establishing a practice Dr. Ratner is quick to point not to the specialists, but to a sys-
here in San Antonio, he was getting calls from people around the temic lack of coordination from an expert who can see both forest
country. and trees. “No one had the big picture. Each time it happened,
we offered the same advice and it always worked. The first step
“It was always the same story,” he explained. “It was always about was to find a good primary care physician. The second was to fig-
the parent of a friend, or a parent of a relative, or a parent of a rela- ure out how to work with them in an effective way and develop a
tive of a friend, and they all had these in common: long-term relationship.”

“All were of a high socioeconomic level; Recognizing the need for patients to educate and empower them-
“All had insurance; selves, Dr. Ratner found a new sense of assignment and The Patient
“All had Medicare; Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was created in San Antonio to fulfill
“All had money; this strategic mission. Initially offering programs like, “Caring for
“All were seeing many specialists; Your Aging Parent;” “How to Talk to Your Doctor;” “Taking Control
“All were taking way too many medications.” He paused to drive of Your Healthcare” and “Preparing for Your Appointment,” as a
the last point home. foundation, the Institute, thanks to a committed board and a com-
“And they were all circling the drain, about to die.” munity of volunteers, expanded in a variety of directions, all with a
They were calling a stranger out of complete desperation. “I mean, goal of establishing relationships between patients and caring doctors.
why else would people in Florida and other places around the coun-
try be calling a radiologist in South Texas to talk about their parent. In fact, it was helping bridge the two groups that the Institute
They didn’t know what to do. And it was always the same thing… found its second project, and deepened its collaboration with the
the same thing.”

12 San Antonio Medicine • November 2016