At DocMJ, its team of physicians and employees are big believers in the virtues it lives and works by – empathy, compassion, and kindness.
“We’re here to support patients in getting the help they deserve as quickly as possible,” says Derek Hundley, chief of operations for the Florida-based practice. “We strive to accomplish that in the most effective way possible.”
DocMJ was started in August 2016 as a small group of physicians that saw the need for affordable, direct patient access to medical cannabis recommendations under the Amendment 2 guidelines.
For a flat price of $169 or $30 a month, patients can get seven months of service through DocMJ.
“We’ve heard from patients who are paying a lot more than that at practices that require the patient to come in more often than required,” says Hundley. “Essentially they are paying fees for things like switching practices or recommendation renewals, which we would never charge.”
The state requires a patient be seen in person, once every 210 days/7 months by a certified physician. This is important, according to Hundley, because some physicians conducting “telemedicine visits” or “physicians assistants” seeing patients or telling them they need to come in every 30 or so days so they can renew their recommendation.“I urge patients or potential patients to do research before choosing a practice for their recommendation,” says Hundley. “It is disheartening hearing about these individuals having their trust violated by other groups when all they want is to find some relief from the conditions they are burdened with.”
Currently, the practice has 20 locations and 20 physicians on staff. It is looking to expand to over 25 locations and employ over 27 physicians on staff by year’s end.
While there are other similar practices that offer patient evaluations for medical marijuana, Hundley says that DocMJ distinguishes itself by being the most affordable with the most support and availability throughout the state.
“We have more locations than any other Medical Marijuana Recommendation group,” he points out. “We are the only practice that has administration offices, so when someone needs information or help getting through the process, we are there for you.”
As far as what makes its model unique, that’s simple, adds Hundley. “We are unique in that every one of the physicians at DocMJ truly believes in the medical benefits of medical marijuana and offer their services because they truly care about the patient.”
The conditions that patients can qualify for medical marijuana are vast. Any patient who has a condition listed or condition that is similar in kind or class has benefited from medical marijuana.
“Sometimes there are people who try medical cannabis and don’t get relief, but I believe that is mostly because of the lack education and information out there,” notes Hundley. “There is no exact science to dosing per individual and with the medication not being covered by insurance, it can be costly in finding what works best.”
With the abundance of patients seen at DocMJ, the physicians there have extensive firsthand knowledge on what has worked with each condition. This extensive experience leads to an un-matched expertise that can give the patient a better starting point in their journey for relief with medical marijuana.
The practice also helps educate patients about medical marijuana. One of the biggest misconception for medical marijuana has been the idea that you are only getting a recommendation to smoke the flower of the cannabis plant and that’s all you can get.
“The number of different products you can get is massive and that’s wonderful for medical use,” explains Hundley. “The Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers have vaping, gel caps, tinctures, topical creams and patches. The centers are also continuously researching and creating more products to help patients find the right medicine for the individual.”
Another big misconception is the idea that the products “get you high.” This is far from the truth, says Hundley, because as with most medications, taking too much can cause an adverse reaction.
“The good thing is that the risk of over medicating with medical marijuana is low due to the minimal side effects and the relatively short duration of those side effects,” he says. “The idea is to start slow when trying medical marijuana and knowing that the amount of THC is what you have to be careful with from the beginning.”
That’s not to say don’t try THC though, as this is one of the main beneficial components of the medicine, but rather take it slow when dosing to know your tolerance and how it makes you feel. Hundley adds that they have heard of patients taking too much and it scares them from trying it again.
As they look ahead to its future, DocMJ’s short term goal is to be more available to people seeking help. They will be doing this by continuing its efforts to open more medical clinics, bringing on more physicians who truly believe in medical marijuana and creating more education for patients to help them through their journey.
“Long term goals for DocMJ are to be accessible everywhere in the state while maintaining our quality of service and integrity, as well as educating the masses to break down the barriers caused by decades of stigma,” says Hundley. “This is a truly unique medicine and we are only scratching the surface.”
