Ramon Rodriguez CMO Neurology One
Ramon Rodriguez, CMO of Neurology One, sat down with Invest: to discuss Orlando’s need for comprehensive and accessible neurological care, plans for expansion down the line, how technology is revolutionizing the patient and physician experience, and priorities looking ahead.
What has been Neurology One’s growth trajectory since its inception, and what highlights have defined this growth in the past year?
Neurology One is a medical clinic that specializes in providing neurological care. Within the neurology field, we are very specialized in what we do. We focus on people who have neurological degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias and migraines. We began in 2018 with our first patient at a very small clinic and eventually moved to a space with sixteen rooms.
What trends do you find either promising or concerning in the neurology sector?
There is a little bit of both. The biggest advance we have seen in medicine lately is that neurology used to be a diagnostic specialty that was almost untreatable. The story is different now. We now have medicines that can help slow the progression of these conditions. We have been able to do this through our love of technology and having the proper connections in the industry. We have been incorporating AI to look into medicinal products we may be able to apply to the care of patients with neurological disorders.
One of the main challenges is making this accessible to people. When we speak about Central Florida, the biggest challenge is bringing the latest treatment to the Latino community, as well as to Asian and African American segments of our community. Those segments of our population are growing in the Orlando area. We are trying to identify the best way to bring treatments to them. There are challenges with insurance and the ability to establish a relationship with patients to understand their language and cultural connotations. We have been working very hard to make this better. Recently, we were awarded a grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation with the intent to connect with the caregivers of those suffering from progressive neurological disorders. We would be able to speak with caregivers so we can train them about what this condition is, what to expect from it and how to prepare for the future. We can then make their quality of life better. There is also the opportunity to share new treatment options that are available. In the Latino community, the caregiver has a major role. They are generally the decision makers.
How do you leverage technology within your neurological practice?
Two things come to mind. One is that AI is helping us in multiple ways. A challenge we have in our clinic is that some of the providers speak English but the patient speaks Spanish. AI systems are able to immediately translate what is happening so the provider knows what is going on. The security on these systems is over 98%. A typical medical visit lasts 15 to 20 minutes in our clinic. Sometimes they go longer because of the individual’s disorder affecting their ability to communicate, so we use ambient AI. Our computer system listens to the entire conversation once they come to the clinic, ensuring every detail of the conversation is captured and documented.
Two things are happening there. First, the physician is looking the patient and caregiver in the eyes. While we are having a genuine conversation, the ambient AI helps create the medical documentation to ensure we are complying with legal medical regulations. We then have a summary of the visit to provide to the patient. It helps me as a physician because I may not catch something the patient said, but the machine will. This allows us to provide more respectful and detailed care to our patients.
What are your plans for expansion or new services?
Next year, we will be deploying new therapies for those with very advanced Parkinson’s disease and new therapies for those with Alzheimer’s disease to modify their progressions. We have agreements with industry because we have this patient population so we can implement these in the Central Florida market. This will be a game changer and put Orlando in the spotlight. Less than 1% of the population that would benefit from these treatments actually have accessibility to them, and our community will have it.
Additionally, we are in the process of expanding and are hiring more healthcare professionals. This is so specialized, so they come through programs where we train them for one-and-a-half years before they are able to work more independently. They work during that time in our clinic fully supervised. Another clinic will be opened in the Winter Garden area, as well as Brevard County. We would like to have a location in Lake County as well. People go there to retire, and the 55-plus population is the one that has to deal with the medical conditions we specialize in.
What makes Orlando a neurological practice hub over other markets in Florida or the country?
First, Orlando has a large senior population. Also, traveling is easier. The work on different interstates and highways have created better ways to travel. Traffic can still get bad but it’s better than it was two or three years ago, and it allows people to get to us easier. We also collaborate with long-term care facilities to evaluate their patients and ensure they have continuity of care and neurologists looking at their cognitive disorders. We have new treatments, so constant contact means that we can maybe do something for them now that we couldn’t two or three years ago. This makes the Orlando area unique. There is a lot of growth in the area. The leadership of our communities understand that there is a large segment of the population suffering from cognitive disorders. They want to learn more and help. It’s a new collaboration we have between our office and our community leadership.
