One doctor’s journey from family clinician to Express Care physician

When the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to our shores, UC Davis Health was one of the first health systems to respond to the evolving crisis. In early 2020, the medical center treated a patient with the first apparent case of community spread.

Even before the first few cases of the virus were recorded in California, UC Davis Health was looking to the future of health care through digital telehealth visits to reach more patients in more places. After COVID-19 cases skyrocketed, it turned out to be an invaluable resource to deliver care to patients in the comfort of their own homes, while promoting health and safety measures.

Soon after rolling out expanded telehealth options, UC Davis Health launched the Express Care platform, a way for patients to connect with UC Davis Health care teams for same-day and extended-hours video visits to discuss non-emergency issues. Joshua Elder, the medical director and co-founder of the service, noted that the platform was created to enhance “patient access, coordination of care, and health equity.”

Key players in the incredible success of the platform are physicians like Kurt J. Slapnik, who has been treating patients for over 37 years. His passion for people, relationship-building, treating patients and listening to their concerns have always been his favorite parts of practicing medicine.

“Building meaningful relationships is really the foundation of treating patients. After all, they are the center of everything we do,” explained Slapnik, who said he always knew he wanted to be a family physician.

Slapnik served as the medical director for the UC Davis Health Community Physicians for 11 years. Before that, he served as the clinic medical director of the UC Davis Health Community Physician Folsom clinic for nearly a decade. He believes strongly in forming health partnerships with patients.

Dr. Slapnik meeting with one of his patients on the Express Care platform.

“If patients know they can trust you and come to you with anything, they will follow your recommendations, and ultimately that leads to better health outcomes,” Slapnik said. 

As a family physician, Slapnik has greatly cherished the moments he has spent with patients. He has been modeling UC Davis Health’s values of Kindness, Trust and Inclusion throughout his long and fruitful career and believes that these patient-physician partnerships are what make patients better in the end.

But with the pandemic, he wasn’t sure how things would shake out, or if patients would receive the ongoing care that they would continue to need.

While Slapnik contemplated retiring when the pandemic hit, he knew that his work was not over. He signed on to be an Express Care physician so he could provide the care, connection and expertise he’s renowned for a while longer.

“Even though I may not have deep relationships with each of the Express Care patients, I know most of their primary care physicians. I tell them I know their doctors personally and that I will inform them about their visit with me,” said Slapnik. “This helps the patient connect with me more easily and gives them a sense of relief knowing that I have an open dialogue with their general practitioner.”

In September 2020, UC Davis Health launched the Express Care platform, which had been in development for a year leading up to the pandemic to expand the regional system of care and enable virtual interactions with patients from the comfort of their own home.

With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, Express Care is seeing roughly 80 patients per day who have immediate care questions and needs but have no appointment with their primary care physician.

Patients are able to connect with a doctor within five minutes through the MyUCDavisHealth app and web portal. The Express Care line is staffed from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Patients can also order a COVID-19 test through their Express Care physician, thus making COVID-19 testing easy, efficient and safe.

The service is now the largest direct-to-consumer academic telemedicine service in California.

Slapnik is committed to the cause of bringing patients the care they need and showing them that he cares, listens and hears patients’ needs, whether he’s been seeing them for 20 years or 20 minutes.

“Dr. Slapnik is continuing to have a profound impact on patient care in our community and doing it through telemedicine, one patient at a time,” said Tamara Scott, Ambulatory Clinical Operations program manager and co-founder of the Express Care platform.

Slapnik, who received his medical degree from the UC Davis School of Medicine in 1984, is set to retire June 2022 – after contributing yet another chapter of innovative and compassionate care.