Our Company - Newsroom - Archived Press Releases -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 8/31/2003
Last Visited: 7/20/2004
TAMPA - Dr. Philip Adler, a Tampa pediatrician for four decades, has cared for countless children through the years.During that time he has witnessed many changes in health care.To him, the most important change is the affordability and easy and frequent access made possible by HMOs.Dr. Adler points to his detection of a life-threatening medical condition in one of his young patients as proof.
During a recent bi-monthly physical examination of an infant encouraged by the child's HMO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida's Health Options, Dr. Adler discovered a heart murmur.In many children heart murmurs are common, diagnosed at some point in the lives of as many as 90 percent.However, Dr. Adler determined this infant's heart murmur was significant enough to be further examined by a specialist.
He referred the baby to a pediatric cardiologist, who discovered a heart lesion.Because the heart lesion was diagnosed early, the problem can be corrected by surgery before the risk of cardiac arrest grows to the point of threatening the young child's life.
"If this child hadn't been brought in for a routine check-up, the heart lesion would have gone undetected.The baby could have become very ill, or even died," explains Dr. Adler.
"Health Options made the difference for this infant," says Dr. Adler, adding the bi-monthly physical examination is a benefit of Health Options' "Well Baby Care" program.
...
For Dr. Adler, the success of a program like Well Baby Care is just one example out of many which lead him to feel the arrival of HMOs is one of the greatest advancements in the 40 years he's been practicing medicine.
"HMOs are very good, particularly for young families.I recommend HMOs all the time.They allow patients to receive quality care, and at an affordable price," says Dr. Adler.