Bringing more care to healthcare
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WRITTEN BY JAN WINDHORST PHOTOS BY CHUCK BILLIOT
It’s refreshing to meet a young woman with a vision for her life’s work. It’s even more inspiring when it’s TWO innovators working together to improve healthcare delivery to their patients. Impressive enough to have excelled in medical school and completed difficult residencies, Dr. Ashley Mays and Dr. Laura Roan are now using their shared experience as emergency department physicians for a higher purpose. When choosing her medical career, Dr. Roan’s passion for learning led her to consider many options including physical therapy, research and even veterinary care. But it was her inherent leadership qualities that steered her towards medical school. “I didn’t want to be involved in only a small part of patient care. I wanted to treat the whole person without needing permission from others to do my piece.” While many roads were appealing, another difficult decision came when it was time for Dr. Roan to choose an area of focus. “I like a hands on and rapid paced environment,” continues the accomplished physician, “so I chose EM/IM, a five-year program combining emergency medicine and internal medicine. It was intense, but I got great training in a broad skillset, and now I have experience in a wide range of practice settings including inpatient hospital medicine, clinic, emergency medicine, and providing home-based medical care for seniors.” Also sharing the need and ability to address a wide range of patient needs, Dr. Mays explains why she was initially drawn to work in the emergency department. “When I was doing rotations in med school, I didn’t find one core area that I felt would be fulfilling long term, but I found pieces of each appealing. Those pieces came together for me in the ER. Minor surgery, trauma, orthopedics, cardiology, neurology, psychiatry – we see everything on a wide variety of patients, and I’m able to make quick decisions and take action.” Despite the appealing aspects of emergency medicine to each of these dynamic caregivers, both experienced drawbacks of the system. Dr. Mays explains, “The emergency department is designed to treat acute illness and injury, but people also come to us for the wrong reasons. Through no fault of their own, many have primary care physicians on paper, but when they seek an appointment, they can’t get scheduled in a timely manner and feel the ER is their only option.” Dr. Roan agrees, adding, “The system is definitely broken. One issue is the lack of accessible primary care providers. The cost and time spent on things that go into billing and claims in a traditional setting makes it difficult to practice medicine in the most beneficial way to the patient. I was tired of being overscheduled in order to see enough patients to pay for the high cost of administration and frustrated with fighting for approval of necessary treatments.” Frustrated with a system that employs on average 11 administrators for every one doctor while inadequately serving patients and those caring for patients, Drs. Roan and Mays became allies who wanted to create an elevated practice while affecting change for their patients. In 2023, along with their nurse and founding partner, Chad Carrone, the pair teamed up to lead Integrated Concierge, a direct primary care medical clinic in Slidell that provides services in person or via text and video. For those unfamiliar with the direct primary care model, Dr. Roan suggests that it’s worth the time to research. “At Integrated Concierge, members pay a monthly subscription fee for unlimited healthcare and 24/7 access to us. There’s no copay, and patients can see us as many times as they want. We’re able to provide more care at less cost because we don’t pay the high cost of personnel navigating the complicated and time-consuming world of insurance claims.” Dr. Roan adds that Integrated Concierge also offers medications and lab work at wholesale costs. “I really just want to practice good medicine
January 2024 | Sophisticated Woman 21
