Welcome to CovenantMD! 

Thank you for choosing us as your site of primary care!  We wanted to take just a minute to outline a few things: 

 

1) What you should do next 
2) How we are different from the typical primary care practice  
3) All the ways to reach us 
4) Some precautions we’re taking (we think temporarily) due to the COVID-19 pandemic 

What you should do next 

  • Fill out release of information forms, so we can get records from your last primary care practice and specialist offices. If you will be enrolling at our LANCASTER office, click here. If you will be enrolling at our YORK office, click here. You can fill out more of these if you need to send us records from more than one site.

  • Download the Spruce Health app to your phone (if you haven’t already). You will use Spruce to text us, call us, send us photos as needed, and join us on remote video visits.

    • If your provider will be Dr. Stacey Denlinger (in Lancaster), click here from your smart phone.

    • If your provider will be Suzanne Brill, PA-C (in York), click here from your smart phone.

  • Set up Elation Passport (if you haven’t already). Passport allows us to send you secure emails, and it allows us to attach secure documents, such as lab results. Passport also functions as a portal, where you can review your medical history, your drug allergies, and your medications, and have this information readily available whenever you need it. If you’ve not yet received the email invitation to Passport, shoot us an email in Lancaster at lancasterdpc@covenantmd.net, or in York at yorkdpc@covenantmd.net.

  • Sign our HIPAA form by clicking here. You can also designate family members to whom we can convey medical information on your behalf.

How CovenantMD is different than the typical primary care practice 

At CovenantMD, we do something called Direct Primary Care.  Our patients (or our patients’ employer) pay our practice a monthly fee, and we do not bill health insurance for our services.   

Why would we do that?!  We firmly believe that when it comes to the lower-cost items in our healthcare, insurance complicates more than it helps.  Take a moment to think about “insurance” in other areas.  Does your car insurance policy pay for oil changes?  Does your homeowner’s policy pay for lawn care?  What might car insurance or homeowners insurance look like if they did pay for such things, and how might that change our experience of owning a car or owning a home?   

By contracting directly with our patients or their employers, and cutting out the insurance middleman with its inflated costs and complexity, CovenantMD offers several benefits.  These are: 

  • Unlimited visits to the doctor with no copays

  • Same and next-day urgent visits

  • Visits that are not time-limited

  • Streamlined access to your provider and nurse via secure text-messaging, email, and phone

  • After-hours, weekend, and holiday coverage for urgent issues, directly to the provider’s cell phone

  • Substantial discounts on lab tests (often more than 90% less of what an insurance company pays for the same tests)

  • Substantial discounts on generic medications, which we can dispense from our office or arrange to have mailed right to your door, again, at a fraction of what you would otherwise pay at a local pharmacy

How to reach us 

  • BY TEXT: This (or calling us) is the best way to reach us for any urgent issues after hours. Best to use the Spruce Health app. Your nurse will text you the link to download this when you sign up for the practice. Or just send us a text to request the link. You may also use standard SMS (regular texting) to text us, but we don’t prefer this, as any communications over SMS are not secure. You may text the phone number of your office, either CovenantMD Lancaster (717-287-1983) or CovenantMD York (717-210-4880).

  • BY PHONE: Again, best to use the Spruce App. Just pull up the app and tap the phone icon. This also is a good way to reach us after hours.

  • BY EMAIL: We typically respond to emails on the next business day, so text us on the Spruce app or call us if you have an urgent issue. Best to use Elation Passport for this, as this is more secure than using standard email

 Some precautions we’re taking (we think temporarily) during the COVID-19 pandemic 

 We continue to take precautions in order to minimize potential exposure of our patients and staff to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  Please bear with us, and we greatly appreciate you patience!  These precautions are: 

  • An emphasis on virtual visits when feasible

  • Staggering of provider schedules (in terms of “in office” and “virtual” blocks) in Lancaster in order to minimize traffic through our hallways

  • Requiring that all patients wear masks when in our office

  • Doing some procedures in the parking lot (for example, vaccine administration)

  • Asking all of our patients scheduled for in-office visits to complete a brief screener on Spruce. This to minimize exposure of staff to those who may be high risk for carrying or having COVID-19.

And that’s it!  Thanks again for being our patient, and we look forward to serving you.