“A Follow-Up Visit Gives Me 15 Minutes With You. Sometimes 20.”
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
That’s how Dr. Pierce Trumbo, Internal Medicine physician and Medical Director of UCF Health CareConnect, opens a recent conversation about the crucial role of chronic care management in Orlando and the reality of modern primary care.
Fifteen minutes. That’s the window most doctors have to review your labs, adjust your medications, check your blood pressure, answer your questions, and if there’s time, actually hear how you’ve been doing.
How are your grandkids? How was your trip? Are you sleeping okay?
For patients managing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure, that window isn’t enough. And Dr. Trumbo knows it.
Table of contents
The Gap No One Talks About
Between appointments, a lot can change. A new medication might be causing side effects. Energy levels might be dropping. Sleep might be getting worse. But unless it’s bad enough to warrant an ER visit, most patients just wait, hoping their next appointment comes soon enough.
“Your body doesn’t wait for appointments,”
Dr. Trumbo says. And yet, the healthcare system is largely built as if it does.
This is the gap that quietly affects millions of Medicare patients managing two or more chronic conditions. Not a dramatic health crisis, just the slow, exhausting work of staying on top of everything between visits, often alone.
So UCF Health Built a Chronic Care Management Program in Orlando
Rather than accept that gap as inevitable, Dr. Trumbo and the UCF Health team built CareConnect: a chronic care management program designed specifically for Medicare patients in Orlando who live with two or more chronic conditions.
The idea is simple: what if someone called you?
Not a call center. Not an automated reminder. A real nurse. Someone who knows your name, your history, your medications, calling to ask how that new prescription is working, whether your energy has improved, whether you’re sleeping okay.
“I built a team who could make those calls,”
Dr. Trumbo explains. “Nurses who know you, who have the time to actually listen.”
What CareConnect Actually Looks Like
Once enrolled, UCF Health CareConnect patients receive:
- Monthly check-in calls from a dedicated nurse who knows their case
- Medication support — help understanding prescriptions, flagging interactions, and staying on track
- Care coordination between their UCF Health physician and any specialists
- Direct nurse access between calls for questions or concerns
No long forms. No long waits. Just consistent, personalized support between the appointments your doctor wishes could happen more often.
Who Qualifies
CareConnect is available to UCF Health patients who are on Medicare with two or more chronic conditions, including:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- COPD
- Asthma
- Arthritis
- Chronic pain
- And many others
Medicare Part B covers 80% of the program. Patients with supplemental (Medigap) coverage often pay $0 out of pocket. Medicare Advantage patients may have a small copay.
Read More: What Counts as a Chronic Condition Under Medicare?
If you’re not yet a UCF Health patient and would like to learn more, call us at (407) 266-3627 to schedule your first appointment.
Good Medicine Shouldn’t Only Happen Inside a Clinic
That’s ultimately what this program is about. Not replacing your doctor. Not replacing your appointments. Just filling the space in between with the kind of care that actually keeps people healthier, out of the hospital, and feeling supported.
“You shouldn’t have to wait for an appointment to feel heard,”
Dr. Trumbo says.
CareConnect is UCF Health’s answer to that. And it starts with a phone call.
Already a UCF Health patient on Medicare? Talk to your provider at your next visit about joining CareConnect.
Not yet a patient? Call (407) 266-3627 to schedule an appointment and ask about the program.
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Post Tags
- CareConnect Chronic Care Management Chronic Care Management Program Medicare UCF Health CareConnect