There are many ways to calculate cost. The immediate expenses are those you can see and count in dollars like health insurance premiums, annual deductibles, and the cost of medical visits. Deferred expenses, attributed to the development of chronic diseases over time, can add eight to twenty thousand dollars per year in additional medical expenses.

What value can be assigned to the loss of your strength and mobility? Your eyesight? Your pain and suffering? We don't often think about this when we are thinking about healthcare. But really, this is where we should begin. We need to place our emphasis on value. Having more time to enjoy friends and family has value.  Being able to breathe more freely has value.  So does, being able to enjoy activities like fishing, reading, traveling, or going to church.  What value is attending your daughter's wedding or the joy of playing with your grandkids?  This is where our focus needs to be - living better lives through better health.  This is the value MyPreference™ brings to Dr. Carol Rupe's patients.

MyPreference™ is not health insurance. Dr. Carol Rupe does not participate in any health insurance network or government program. But, having Dr. Rupe as your personal family physician and participating in her MyPreference™ program, along with making progress on your custom health objectives, can significantly reduce your risk of developing most, non-age dependent chronic diseases. Participating in MyPreference™ now, can significantly improve the quality of your life and save you tens of thousands of dollars on medical care in the years ahead. The monthly cost of MyPreference™ is only a cell phone bill for an individual, or a cable bill for a family of four.

How does it work? Dr. Carol Rupe's patients sign an annual agreement to participate in her MyPreference™ program. The monthly participation fee and any medical visits, if necessary, are invoiced for greater financial flexibility. Dr. Rupe tries to solve many medical problems by phone if she can. WellCraft Health™ includes clinical diagnostics and a limited number of medications and injectables at no extra charge. WellCraft Health forwards your insurance information to LabCorp for lab work, and to your pharmacy of choice for medications. We strive to work with the "Best of the Best" in specialty care and hospitalization.

1. QUIT being held hostage by our traditional, health insurance driven medical system.
2. Provide BETTER primary medical care.
3. Save your clientele money through promotion of better health and reduction of specialty referrals.
4. Have greater community impact.
5. Enjoy your chosen profession again!
6. Have more time for yourself and family.
7. Develop key academic and business partnerships
8. Obtain financing to explore licensing and franchising options for WellCraft Health.
9. As WellCraft Health grows, so will the rewards of those who commit to help building our future model for primary care. Any “Secret Sauce” discussions involving WellCraft Health’s future plans are restricted to equity physician partners only.

Large systems do what large systems do best. Maximize revenue and minimize expenses. Implement systemic, uniform standard delivery for large scale population throughput. The process is prioritized over results, and organizational priorities are designed for the benefit of the system. Less emphasis is placed on the needs of physicians, nurses, technicians and staff. Even less emphasis is placed on the needs of individual patients.

Large medical systems implement their large scale solutions from the demand side of the equation. The hospital system makes more money through specialty care diagnostics, procedures, and hospitalization.

Primary care is viewed as a loss leader, and fulfilling a gatekeeper referal function for the insurance industry. Physician extenders are less expensive, and perform upwards of 80% of all primary care visits. Primary care physicians, having been devalued and overly burdened with administrative tasks, are increasingly disillusioned with their profession. Unhappy. Contemplating quitting medicine or early retirement.

Upwards to 48% of primary care physicians will be retiring or deciding to change careers within FIVE years.

Learn more from this in depth ECU Healthcare System report.
The State Of Rural Health Care

Big city living and small town living are two different things. We have either lived in or spent extensive time in major metro areas - Pittsburgh, DC, NYC, Tampa, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, San Diego, LA, East Bay area CA, and Phoenix. As Air Force officers we were able to experience Berlin, Copenhagen, Vienna, London, and Paris.

As a physician, I have done USAF medicine, large system medicine, and had my own private practice in Charlotte, NC operating with four family nurse practitioners and a physician assistant. I rounded on my patients in the hospital, saw patients in my traditional, insurance driven medical clinic, and served as a Medical Director for several 100+ bed skilled nursing facilities. I was working, working working. Working to pay bills, employees, and operating expenses. I was working to pay ever higher property and income taxes. I was missing out on life. I was spending too much time in traffic and not enough time with my kids.

I was not terribly happy with my chosen profession. I was tired of fighting the insurance companies and government to get paid for the services my office provided. I had the advantage of being my own boss, but I was working seven days a week approximately twelve hourse Monday through Friday, and four to eight hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Yes. I could go to shows, restaurants, and musems. Yes, I could go to Charlotte Panthers, Hornets, Knights baseball games, and Checkers hockey games. And on my rare times off, when I wasn't too tired or have other oblications, I did. But I can do this NOW, when I choose to do so, from the Roanoke Rapids area. I have MORE time to enjoy life. I can easily drive to Raleigh, Richmond, Norfolk, New Berne, Charleston and Charlotte. With the choice of two airports, I can fly where I want. If I want to go out on the lake, to the mountains, or to the beach, I can do that too.

God had different plans for me, or Fate, if you prefer. My car was struck by a teenager, shooting across two lanes of traffic. I suffered broken ribs, internal injuries, head injuries, and paralysis of my left arm and hand and was in the ICU for almost five months. My husband was told that I had less than 20% chance of leaving the hospital alive.

But we were blessed. We lost our clinic and our house, but I recovered. Although it was a terrible experience, I was freed from the gerbil wheel that my life had become. I was free to choose where we would start over. I chose to move to Roanoke Rapids. I chose to move where I could have significantly more impact providing medical care to an area needing more experienced physicians.

You are free to make your own choices, and we would love to have you. Smaller town living is not for everyone, but if you value family and friends, knowing and socializing with your neighbors, and having a huge impact on the health and wellbeing of others, then our area is well worth your consideration!

We have restaurants and several live entertainment venues, a distillery and a craft brewery being built. We have public and private schools, and plenty of churches to choose from. From area art and music festivals, outdoor activities, horses, and small track auto racing. But most importantly, you have a sense of peace, often lacking in larger cities. You have time to enjoy life, and at WellCraft Health you have FREEDOM from the dictates of insurance driven medicine.

Come, and check us out! Make good friends and have GREAT times!