Dr. Ronald Nino M. Perez is on a mission to bring personalized community care back to patients in San Diego County. A practicing physician since 2012, he made the decision in 2019 to open his own clinic in the Carlsbad area, foregoing an opportunity to practice medicine at Stanford in order to pursue his own dreams.
In his daily practice of medicine, Dr. Perez brings a practical, evidence-based, holistic yet personalized approach to deliver on what his patients need — and this time of year, it seems many patients need answers about Annual Election Period and what it means for their Medicare coverage.
Note: Tri-City Medical Center has scheduled events to answer your questions about Annual Election Period. To find a list of scheduled events, click here.
Advice for Medicare Patients During Annual Election Period
Dr. Perez understands how tricky it can be to navigate the world of insurance coverage these days.
Here is his advice for Medicare patients during Annual Election Period:
- When you’re looking for a potential family practice provider, look for someone who is willing to go out of their way to care for you and give you advice, whether it’s about your coverage or anything else.
- Think about what specialists you want to see, or if there are certain clinics or providers you want to visit. This is especially critical if you have specialists you’ve been seeing long-term, and this can help you identify coverages that include those providers or services.
- Remember that you are your own best advocate. Be proactive about finding the right insurance for you. Look at what healthcare services you needed over the last year, and use that information to try to forecast for the coming year.
- Look into available education opportunities. You can register for small group meetings, seminars, or even webinars which your local hospital or insurance broker provides. As noted above, Tri-City Medical Center is offering events to answer your questions about Annual Election Period.
- Remember that most insurance plans are now more competitive than ever. Some are offering no copays for visits; however, in exchange, they may charge higher fees for tests. Others have higher copays, but the yearly allowances for medications and tests is higher. If you’re taking an expensive medication, it’s good to know how that would be covered under different plans formularies.
Ultimately, Annual Election Period is an opportunity for Medicare patients to review any issues they had with their insurance over the last year and take steps to put themselves in a better situation for next year. It’s a great time to get educated on the changes within specific plans as well.
Finding the Right Primary Care Provider
We’ve written before about how to find the right primary care provider, and we know it’s no small task. Dr. Perez says, “How to find the right doctor? That seems to be the proverbial question right now because there’s an undeniable shortage. I do believe a patient should be discerning in who they entrust their care and lives to.”
At Dr. Perez’s clinic, the staff welcomes calls and walk-ins, even if it’s just a prospective patient wanting to meet him. He remembers a day when clinics had meet-and-greet events with patients, and he’s disappointed these seem to be very rare these days. However, his mission is to offer value-oriented service, and he’s happy to indulge a patient wanting to understand who he is before choosing him as their provider.
Bringing Personalized Care Back in Focus
Over his 7 years in medicine, Dr. Perez has seen lots of changes but stands by his belief that the delivery of care should not change, but rather, adapt with the times. He considers himself a “hybrid” trained physician; he grew up in the Philippines, which as a third-world country has a similar, yet more personal approach to medicine. Later, he went to high school in the DC suburbs, which exposed him to a wide range of diversity.
Dr. Perez completed his specialty training at Wheeling Hospital in WV in an unopposed residency training program, which meant he was trained in how to take care of everyone from pregnant women to babies to adults and seniors in the nursing home. He has worked in multi-specialty groups specializing in outpatient medicine, urgent care, home health visit, corporate/occupational medicine, and places in between.
Dr. Perez has seen patients on all ends of the spectrum, from the less fortunate to the very affluent. Receiving the offer to work permanently for Stanford Health Care was a “pinnacle moment” for a Philippines-trained physician, but he chose to come to San Diego instead and start his own clinic because he’s so passionate about personalized care. He places emphasis on evidence-based, quality medicine but at the end of the day, it is still about the patient’s needs, goals and wishes.
“Back in the day,” Dr. Perez says, “People felt like they got personalized care — and then that went away. I want to bring that back. I want to be the community doctor in this area. In today’s world, that’s become difficult, but I want patients to know they don’t have to rely on corporate-type medicine. It can still be personal. There can be trust shared between us.”
Tri-City Medical Center is Your Community Hospital
Dr. Perez chose to affiliate with Tri-City Medical Center over other facilities because here at Tri-City, he found the opportunity to start his own practice despite current conditions in which most clinics are being bought or turned corporate. “I saw Tri-City’s commitment to change and improvement. They understand the needs of this community,” he explains.
Want to learn more about Dr. Perez? We’d love to have you as a patient at Tri-City Medical Center! Dr. Perez is accepting new patients and is happy to answer any questions you have regarding coverage or services. For more information call 855-222-8262.
About Dr. Perez
Dr. Perez is a board-certified physician with the American Board of Family Medicine. He has an undergraduate degree in Bachelor in Science Major in Physical Therapy and obtained his medical degree from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, Philippines. He trained at the Wheeling Hospital Family Residency Program in Wheeling WV. He has been in practice since 2012. He enjoys playing basketball, golf, doing DIY projects, stock picking and traveling. He speaks English and Filipino.