Edgefield Internal Medicine
Your Home Town Doctor.
Our Family, Caring for Yours.
The Value Our Service Gives You!
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No Insurance Issues (no insurance accepted)
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Unlimited Physician Visits with TIME you need
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Easy to Get an Appointment
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Diagnostics
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Telemedicine Visits
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24/7 Telephone & Email Access
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Emergency House Call
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Guidance, Support, Education with "Docs Blog"
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Compassionate & Experienced Medical Care
About The Doc
About Richard "Rick" Oster, D.O.
Hello, I am Dr. Rick Oster. Having graduated with Honors from Medical School 25 years ago at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; I then completed my Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at Charleston Area Medical Center.
I entered a traditional office and hospital practice in SW GA for some years. After an F5 tornado destroyed our hospital and much of our community, I filled in as an Emergency Medicine Physician in temporary facilities until things stabilized in the community.
After that I decided to specialize in inpatient medicine as a Hospitalist. For more than a decade I worked as a hospitalist, taking care of the sickest of the sick, and ultimately managing the Hospitalist Groups.
This range of practice gave me some invaluable experience, and allowed me see and experience the most common aspects of care and delivery, both the good and the not so good.
Having watched the changes in medicine, particularly over the last decade, and having a birds eye view on how business, bureaucrats, and third parties were affecting our system, and dictating how, when, and where care would be provided, I began to look for a better way. I wanted to recapture the joy of practicing medicine, and deliver it in a better fashion. I was honestly tired of being pushed to see more patients in less time, spending half my day on computer, and feeling like I was managing an assembly line. I needed to get my medical mojo back.
I learned about Direct Primary Care (Please see “Why DPC” above), and realized I found the pathway to provide primary care in the way should be.
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So….here we are. My goal is to provide personalized care that harkens back to bygone days. The idea is that we get to know each other, and together figure out how to keep you as healthy as is possible. To that end, practicing in this way, with a much smaller group of patients, I can also have true availability for my patients. When you call, you get me, not a buffer person in between. If you need to be seen that day, you will be seen. If we need a longer appointment, we just have it, that’s it. Because I will know you better than someone with a 2000-3000 member practice, we will ultimately be able to confidently handle some simple things by phone, or computer if we so choose. We can also deal with appointments around work schedules, house calls when necessary, and do it all in a non-rushed fashion (unless you are in hurry, then we can step it up a bit).
This practice model may not be for everyone. For those that want a level of care that is more personal, and much more accessible, it just may be your answer!
I want to provide better care, in a better way, to help people get or stay better. It really is that simple.
Edgefield, SC Circa 1800
Johnston, SC Circa 1800s
How Direct Primary Care Works
How our Membership Plan Works
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We Do Not Accept or Bill Insurance or Medicare
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We Do Accept Patients With or Without Insurance
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We Charge A Monthly Fee – Instead of charging for each time a person comes to the office, we charge a low monthly fee for most of the care we give. There are no added fees or copays for coming to our office to be seen. Why do we do this? There are several advantages of doing things this way:
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We are more willing to handle things over the phone or via secure messaging, as our revenue doesn’t rely on a busy office.
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Our office is less busy, so when you do need to come in there is usually very little wait.
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You are not penalized for being sick by having to pay more.
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You never have to worry about having enough money to come to the office.
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We focus on people rather than getting every dollar out of each visit.
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