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By Michele Lerner | Contributing Writer
Originally published January 2008  Dr. Robert G. Graw Jr. at Nighttime Care Centers’ Technical Operations Center, which manages all the company’s locations and reduces patient wait time. Photo by Marilyn DiMarco.
In response to this dilemma, Dr. Robert G. Graw Jr. and nine other pediatricians opened Nighttime Pediatrics in Annapolis nearly 20 years ago.
“By the end of the 1980s, most women had returned to work so families were having a hard time getting their children to the doctor's office before it closed,” said Graw. “When we started, our centers provided pediatric care from 5:00 p.m. to midnight.”
Now four more Nighttime Pediatrics locations have opened in Maryland with expanded hours and care for adults. The company is currently undergoing a branding campaign changing its name to Nighttime Care Centers to encompass its wide variety of patients — not just children anymore.
“We added adults because parents called and wanted to be seen,” said Graw. “Then we started getting calls from people who weren't parents but who needed our services.”
Graw and his partners are opening four more centers, two in Montgomery County, one in Baltimore County and one in Harford County to join the current Nighttime Care Centers located in Annapolis, Columbia, Gambrills, Pasadena and Rockville.
Future plans include a structured growth plan to expand into other states.
Graw, CEO and chief pediatrician, carefully differentiates his business from “retail medical centers,” which he said provide quick care for conditions that have often been pre-diagnosed by the patients.
“We have 155 doctors on our staff plus about 20 physician's assistants and 18 nurse practitioners,” said Graw, who sees patients almost everyday either at the centers in the evening or at his private practice during the day. “Patients always see a doctor when they come to one of our centers.”
 At the Technical Operations Center in Crofton, Dr. Graw speaks to Amber Clayton about scheduling patients. Photo by Marilyn DiMarco.
Patients call ahead to make an appointment at a care center.
A meticulous triage protocol is followed with symptoms evaluated by trained staff.
Graw said about 3 to 4 percent of patients who call are directed to call 911 or go to an emergency room. About 1 percent of patients are sent to an emergency room after being seen at a care center for additional treatment.
The Technical Operations Center for the Nighttime Care Centers, located in Crofton, manages all the locations and reduces patient wait time, once they are in the center, to five to 10 minutes.
Staffed by 20 people, the operations center usually has seven managers and receptionists working at any one time.
The sophisticated technology tracks all the centers, so if a caller wants to be seen in Annapolis they can be told that an appointment may not be available for two hours, but if they are willing to go to the Gambrills location they can have an appointment within 30 minutes.
“The high level of technology in our control room is what holds this whole business together,” said Graw. “We use it to manage patient flow and track everything that happens.”
Dr. Martin Wasserman, executive director of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, said a concern with centers such as Nighttime Care is that patients do not have an ongoing doctor-patient relationship with the providers.
“My first concern with going to a clinic is to make sure it is staffed by doctors who have sufficient training rather than nurse practitioners or physician assistants,” said Wasserman. “Second, the quality of care at a center can be good and convenient if it is given by a licensed physician, but it is still not as good as the continuity of care and overall benefits of the home medical office.”
Graw stresses that Nighttime Care is not a substitute for a primary care doctor or an emergency room if that is needed.
“All we do is provide care when patients cannot obtain care from their regular doctor,” said Graw. “We fulfill a need when necessary, but we stress that all patients need to continue to have a relationship with their primary care doctor.”
The Nighttime Care Center doctors contact the primary doctors and send reports as well as follow up with the patients by phone. < Michele Lerner is a contributing writer in Washington, D.C. No one has commented on this article. J! Reactions • General Site LicenseCopyright © 2006 S. A. DeCaro |
