Mila Family Health

11/05/2025

💡 A private school… built for low-income students?

If you’re intrigued, read on.
If you think that’s an oxymoron — definitely read on.

Today was the ribbon cutting for Cristo Rey Fort Worth College Prep's new STEAM Center, and I’ve got to brag on them — because what they’re doing might be one of the coolest social enterprises in the country.

Cristo Rey is a private high school designed specifically for students from low-income families.

So how does that work? Private school… without the private school price tag?

Here’s the genius:

💼 Every student is matched with a corporate partner — a local business or organization — where they work one day a week.

Their earnings from that corporate job help cover tuition, while they gain real-world experience, confidence, and professional skills.

And these aren’t simple “student jobs.”

They work at banks, hospitals, clinics, law firms — even here at Mila Family Health, where we have one freshman and one senior student worker.

Our student workers help with procedures, take vitals, brainstorm business ideas, and get to see healthcare and entrepreneurship up close.

It’s such a powerful, win-win model:
✅ Students learn by doing.
✅ Employers get to mentor and make an impact.
✅ The community benefits from more capable, confident young people entering the world.

Honestly, this apprenticeship-style education should exist everywhere.

If you’re an employer in , and you want to hear more, reach out to Cristo Rey’s Corporate Work Study Program.

10/27/2025

This article is titled "Is it cheaper to pay for medical care without health insurance?" and doesn't even mention direct primary care.

You can't write about non-insurance-based health care and leave out the thousands of doctors/clinics who have switched from insurance-based care to direct primary care, allowing them to provide higher quality care at a LOWER cost to tens/hundreds of thousands of patients.

So yes, it is often cheaper to pay for medical care without health insutance.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/cheaper-pay-medical-care-health-insurance-rcna239377

10/20/2025

🎧 Think with Krys Boyd nails it again as she interviews Dhruv Khullar, a doctor who wrote a New Yorker piece called “If AI Can Diagnose Better Than Doctors, Then What Are Doctors For?” and it’s SO good.

One thing they talk about is why there are so many misdiagnoses in medicine — and it really hit home.

In the insurance world, doctors basically get paid for having a diagnosis… not for not having one. So even if you don’t know exactly what’s going on, you have to pick something — because “no diagnosis” doesn’t get reimbursed.

Example:
Someone goes to the ER with chest pain. The team rules out all the deadly stuff — heart attack, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, pneumonia, etc. Once those are ruled out, they have to call it something — maybe “acid reflux” or “esophageal spasm.”

But sometimes, it’s really anxiety — like when a patient comes in with chest pain and is worried because his dad had a heart attack at the same age and he’s terrified it’s happening to him too. The pain is real, but the cause is emotional, not physical.

💭 There’s no easy diagnosis for that.
And in the insurance system, if you don’t slap on a label, you don’t get paid.

That’s what's great about Direct Primary Care — you can tell the truth. You can say,

“Chest pain likely related to anxiety about family history.”
and just take the time to talk it through.

Medicine isn’t black and white. A lot of it lives in the gray — and that’s okay.

❤️ So if you’ve ever had a diagnosis that didn’t really fit… find someone who takes the time to listen.
Find a DPC doctor.

Send a message to learn more

09/20/2025

Thank you to Nico for testing out our new (used) baby pulse oximeter today!

08/31/2025

Tonight, Dr. Toli will be speaking at the North Texas Overdose Awareness Day 2025, a powerful event dedicated to remembering those we’ve lost, supporting those in recovery, and raising awareness about the ongoing impact of in our community.

🗓 August 31
🕕 6:30 PM
📍 Lawn of the Denton Courthouse on the Square | 110 W. Hickory St., Denton, TX

If you're in the area, please join us - your presence matters!

Additional details can be found here:

Free family event to unite and educate the community about substance use disorder and overdose prevention. Speakers, resource tables, memorial ceremony, food, music, and give aways.

08/26/2025

We had a wonderful time at Cristo Rey Fort Worth College Prep’s 2025 Draft Day at Casa Mañana, where we met our new student intern through their Corporate Work-Study Program. We’re excited to welcome them to the Mila Family Health team and support their growth in the healthcare field!

A big thank you to Cristo Rey Fort Worth for creating these opportunities that make a real difference for students and our community.

08/12/2025

🚨 The All-or-Nothing Trap in Medicine 🚨

🎙 The NPR THINK podcast nailed this recently in their episode on benzodiazepine use.

💊 Benzodiazepines – medicines like Xanax, Klonopin, and others – can be dangerous.

But they can also be super helpful.

⚠ Why they can be dangerous:
- Addictive potential
- Risk of respiratory suppression
- Withdrawal can be life-threatening

💡 Why they can be helpful:
- Rapid relief of panic and anxiety
- Can help with sleep when needed

🤔 So… should they be used or not?

If you thought there was an answer to that, you might be falling into the same all-or-nothing trap we see too often in healthcare.

The real answer? It depends.
It should be individualized and personalized.

🩺 Find a who can give you the time and attention you deserve to figure out the best treatment for YOU.



Check out the episode and story below:

Jennifer Senior, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss sleep anxiety, why we find it so hard to get a good night’s rest.

06/27/2025

We had a great time helping 41 students at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep make sure they were sports-ready this coming season. Thank you Nurse Ana, Athletic Director Michael, Dr. Yared, and Assistants Teresa and Cathy for helping make this possible!

02/10/2025

Here is a general framework for how to know which moles you should ask your doctor about.

01/25/2025

What a cool opportunity to get to go to this convening on Social Entrepreneurship this week. Social Entrepreneurship, or in other words, using business principles to do social good, is an awesome concept.

Thank you for hosting this event CommUnity Frontline at your Blank Space venue in east ! Looking forward to the next one.

01/01/2025

🔍 How Do Fake Diagnoses Lead to Higher Revenue for Insurance Companies?

Read on and you’ll see.

Thank you to Nick Jones, MD, other docs who were interviewed, and The Wall Street Journal for diving into this complex system and breaking it down.

📰 Full article here: https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/unitedhealth-medicare-payments-doctors-c2a343db?st=viiPFb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink&fbclid=IwY2xjawHiiMFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbKJTklJpWbWMDtjHvlYqHNvwNcD0Ed_Y1URphYEVIgnGVF8QvDOL-O57A_aem_NA6DzMzveBqsGjYwa1vXMA.

🔗 This post comes in 3 parts:

1️⃣ Basics of Medicare

2️⃣ How Insurance Companies Use Medicare Rules to Benefit Their Bottom Line (But Maybe Not Improve Patient Outcomes)

3️⃣ Why Direct Primary Care May Be a Better Option
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1️⃣ Basics of Medicare:

Here’s how the flow works:

💵 Our tax dollars go to the government ➡️

🏛️ The government provides money to private insurers like Blue Cross, United, Cigna, Aetna, and Humana ➡️

🏥 Those insurers then pay healthcare providers for services rendered to covered patients.

--That’s the system in a nutshell. Agree?
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2️⃣ How Insurance Companies Use Medicare Rules to Increase Revenue:

📊 Patients with more illnesses cost more money to care for than healthier patients.

💡 Insurance companies exploit this: The more “sick” a patient appears, the more money the government pays the insurer.

Here’s how it works:

✅ Certain diagnoses = higher payouts -

Example: “Senile purpura” (common bruising in elderly patients) has no impact on health. Insurance companies will make sure to document that a patient has senile purpura, even if it has no effect on their health, just to increase their payment from the government.

❌ Diagnosing illnesses that don’t exist -

Some patients were incorrectly documented as having HIV or amputations simply because those garnered larger payouts from the government.

The result?

📈 Insurance companies make more money, but patients don’t see improved care or outcomes.
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3️⃣ Why Direct Primary Care (DPC) Might Be Better:

🚫 No insurance middleman

Patients pay a low monthly membership fee for unlimited access to primary care.

🤝 Fair pricing for all

In DPC:

🩺 Healthy patients = $

🩺 Sicker patients = $

Doctors are incentivized to keep patients healthy, not just “looking sick.” Healthy patients visit less often, keeping the practice sustainable.

✨ Benefits of DPC:

✅ Affordable

✅ Transparently priced

✅ High-quality care
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Do you REALLY not have an opinion on this? If you do, drop some thoughts in the comments below.

Send a message to learn more

12/25/2024

Thank you David Moreno and The Fort Worth Report for featuring us and other local DPC clinics in your story on !

As more Tarrant physicians open direct primary care practices, health experts raise concerns about its impact on existing models of care.