Durham Direct Primary Care

06/16/2024

Throwback!

My friends, here are the need to know tips to taking your blood pressure at home:
1. For your at home, you should never use a wrist cuff. They have a huge reputation of being in accurate and sometimes accurate blood pressure readings get us qualified or prevent us from participating from certain events. 
2. you can buy a good digital quality arm cuff from CVS pharmacy usually only for about $20. 
3. if you are checking your blood pressure out of curiosity, it is recommended that you do not check it no more than three times per week.
4. sometime your doctor will get what is called an elevated blood pressure reading without diagnosis of hypertension in the office. Usually, they will instruct you to go home and take your blood pressure every day. When you take your blood pressure, it should be at the same time every day, if the top number is in the 150 consistently, a call to your
doc’s nurse is warranted.
5. any doctor will tell you that it is a true phenomenon that if you continue to take your blood pressure after you stress over a high blood pressure that it will only get higher. My advice? Right down that high number, put the pin down and go do something else. 

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may recommend self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP) — taking your blood pressure at home.

03/13/2024

Get ready for a new chapter in your health journey! The page will be gone soon, but don't worry, we have an exciting alternative for you. Check out Enlightened Health Direct and discover the exceptional care of Dr. Alex Vilaythong, DO., who shares our belief in patient-centered medicine. His state-of-the-art office is conveniently located across from a pharmacy, making it easy to get everything you need under one roof. Enlightened Health Direct.

02/17/2024

Dr. Durham's clinic is closing on February 29, 2024. If you take controlled substances and are running low on refills, please schedule an appointment promptly to guarantee a seamless transition to a new healthcare provider. Non scheduled medications may be refilled according to the guidelines and policies of Dr. Durham. To request records for your new doctor, please contact Clinic for an authorization to release healthcare information. This form also should have been attached to your email that you received notifying you the last day of Clinic. 
please note that Dr. Durham is still available to be your physician in the event of acute illness request for annual lab work and so on.

On behalf of Dr. Durham, thank you so much for trusting us with your healthcare over the last few years. We will miss all of our patients and wish all of you good health in the years to come.

Shelley Durham, DO
Teresa Crosby, DNP, FNP-BC
Jared Sparks, LVN
Lindsey Snyder, OM

02/02/2024

Hi Everyone!

It’s Jared, Dr. Durham’s nurse. As we get nearer to 2/29, Dr. Durham and I want to make sure that you have enough medication to find a new primary care physician. Do not wait until the last minute because our schedule is filling up very quick since we sent out the announcement. If you are an established patient and need med refills, you may not even have to see the physician. Make sure to request the refills!
(DISCLAIMER: DR. DURHAM HAS GUIDELINES FOR HER STAFF TO GO BY WHEN IT COMES TO DECIDING IF A PATIENT NEEDS A FOLLOW UP WITH HER FOR CERTAIN REFILLS)

Thank you!

Jared Sparks, LVN

01/31/2024

https://www.mygnp.com/blog/how-to-take-your-blood-pressure-at-home/

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may recommend self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP) — taking your blood pressure at home.

01/31/2024

On February 29th, 2024, we sent out a mass email to our patients letting them know that we have decided to end Durham Direct Primary Care’s chapter in life and start a new chapter and adventure. The new adventure will be fun, challenging, rewarding, hard but overall, we feel strongly that it is time to take this new step in life. A step of growth and opportunity.

Durham Direct Primary Care’s last business day will be 02/29/2014. If you are a patient that is seen monthly, every 3 months or every 6 months, and you are out of refills, please reach out to Lindsey Snyder or Jared Sparks using their assigned EMR/Atlas phone numbers. You may also email either of them at lsnyder@durhamdpc.com OR jsparkslvn@durhamdpc.com

Since the notification was sent, our schedule is filling up quickly so that patients can get prescriptions with refills. This allows more time to establish with a new P*P.

If you have enjoyed the direct primary care experience and wish to continue to address your family medicine needs in the same model of care, there are other Direct Primary Care Physicians in the area. A simple google search should provide a few choices/websites to research.

If you wish to return to a traditional family medicine practice using your medical insurance and wish to research Family Medicine Physicians, you may go online to the Tarrant County Medical Society Alliance and you may review physicians there.

If you are our patient and need your records transferred to your new physician, even after 02/29/2024, Dr. Shelley Durham will remain the custodian of the records of any patient seen at Durham Direct Primary Care since the practice opened. Your email should contain an official authorization to release medical records form. If for any reason you did not receive the form, you may contact Lindsey or Jared at the contact information above and you will be provided with one.

The clinic would not have been so successful without the help of the amazing Lindsey Snyder, who took on the role of office manager/Jared’s designated person to keep him in line and to send him text reminders such as “Get this done TODAY or I am going to come punch you”. Seriously, we wish we would have found her sooner as she has been the glue that has held the practice together.

Last and definitely not least, we can never give Dr. Teresa Collier Crosby, DNP, FNP-BC the amount of thank yous that she is worth. Whether it was being available at the last minute to see patients if Dr. Durham fell ill, had to fulfill another obligation, if the doctor needed to go to the doctor, or Dr. Durham simply needed to rest, Dr. Crosby was always there in any capacity she was needed. Her vast medical knowledge and wisdom from years as a registered nurse and then nurse practitioner matched well with Dr. Durham and made the treatment plans of our patients, in my opinion, the best that they could be. She and her husband, fondly known as “Crosby”, will forever be family. Mr. Crosby is a retired physical therapist that added another modality to some patient’s care and optimized the care of the patients he consulted on.

On behalf of Lindsey Snyder, DNP Crosby, Mr. Crosby and other healthcare professionals that helped us along the way, thank you so much to our patients for allowing and trusting us to provide quality healthcare to you and your families.

- Shelley Durham, DO
- Jared Sparks, LVN

01/28/2024

This educational article review is great when it comes to prescribing antibiotics. Here are some highlights:

1. Believe it or not, Dr. Durham is not being mean when she does not prescribe your children antibiotics.

2.Repetitive prescriptions for antibiotics for viral illnesses does not get you better. Viral illness must simply run its course. However, we can control symptoms.

3.If you do get prescribed antibiotics, finish the entire prescription and do not stop them to “stock pile” or because you feel better.

4.Due to over prescribing of antibiotics, the country is seeing increased cases where their there is no antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection, depending on what it is.

5.Never attempt to pressure your physician to get an antibiotic prescription for yourself or your child.

The article below goes into more detail about the over prescribing of antibiotics, and what you can do to avoid being prescribed antibiotics such as good hand hygiene.

The overuse of antibiotics creates antibiotic-resistant germs. Protect yourself and others by using antibiotics wisely.

12/21/2023

As always, our patients are encouraged to call or text the nurse line (number below) for urgent medical matters, prescription refills, medication emergencies or for any concerns. As always, if you have a life threatening emergency, please call 911 or report to the nearest Emergency Department. On behalf of Dr. Shelley Durham, DO/Dr. Teresa Crosby, DNP, FNP-BC/Lindsey Snyder, Clinic Administrator & Jared Sparks, LVN, CNM, we hope everyone has a great Holiday Season!

11/16/2023

Of course, all members may continue to message in for urgent issues, medication emergencies, physician medical advice etc.. While there may be a delay in answering via secure text, you may call the assigned numbers to the nurse or office manager.
DURHAM DIRECT PRIMARY CARE WISHES ALL PATIENTS A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Durham Direct Primary Care