When Expertise Meets Empathy: The Faces Behind Doctor2me
Most people meet healthcare through buildings, forms, and waiting rooms. Doctor2me starts somewhere else: with people who walk into living rooms, hotel rooms, and care facilities and try to make things calmer. Behind every home-visit request there is a clinician, a coordinator, and a small team that thinks about one person at a time, not about a number on a list.
This article is about those faces – and about what research shows happens when medical expertise moves into the home and is delivered with empathy.
Why People, Not Platforms, Change the Experience
Families rarely reach out because they compared service menus. They call because something concrete happened and feels urgent or confusing.
Typical moments look like this:
A parent fell again and is more unsteady than before.
A wound is not healing, and everyone is worried about infection.
A new symptom started at night, and nobody is sure whether to wait or rush to the hospital.
A loved one came home from a hospital stay with a stack of papers and a long list of medications that nobody fully understands.
In these situations, the real questions are simple: who will come, who will listen, and who will stay in touch after the visit.
Doctor2me keeps those questions at the center. Medical knowledge matters, of course. But it only работает when it comes through a human being who can sit down at the table, listen to the full story, and adjust the plan to the routines, limits, and strengths of a specific family.
What Research Shows About Care at Home
Large studies from national research agencies and health systems have looked at what happens when care teams go to patients instead of always bringing patients to clinics and hospitals. Their findings support what families often feel intuitively.
Fewer Hospital Stays, More Time at Home
Research funded through the U.S. National Institutes of Health has followed home-based primary care programs for homebound older adults. These studies show that when interdisciplinary teams provide primary care in the home, patients often have fewer avoidable hospitalizations and emergency visits, better symptom control, and higher satisfaction with their care.
Independent evaluations of large national demonstration projects in the United States have reached similar conclusions. When high-need, medically complex adults receive structured home-based primary care with clear quality standards, spending on hospital care goes down while measured quality improves.
Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research has looked at home-based cardiac rehabilitation. In a large cohort, patients who did cardiac rehabilitation at home had fewer hospitalizations over 12 months than those who attended center-based programs, and they were more likely to complete the full course of rehabilitation.
Taken together, these findings point in one direction: when care is organized around the home and delivered by a coordinated team, medically complex adults can spend more time at home and less time in the hospital.
Safer Transitions From Hospital to Home
Another set of studies focuses on what happens after a hospital stay. Mayo Clinic has described how gaps in communication at discharge – unclear instructions, missed follow-up, confusing medication changes – often lead to complications and repeat hospitalizations. Their care-transition programs, which include structured follow-up and, in some models, home visits from clinicians, have reduced 30-day readmissions and improved patients’ quality of life.
Public health work summarized by national centers for disease control has highlighted another powerful factor: function. Studies show that lower functional status and reduced mobility during a hospital stay strongly predict worse outcomes, including higher readmission rates, less chance of returning home, and even higher mortality.
This means that models of care that pay attention to the living space, walking patterns, and daily activities at home are not just “nice extras”; they are directly linked to outcomes.
Why This Matters for Families
For families, all of this data translates into everyday benefits:
Fewer emergency trips that disrupt life and increase stress.
More visits in familiar surroundings, where it is easier to show how someone really lives.
Clearer follow-up after each serious event, instead of feeling lost with a discharge packet.
A better chance to “age in place” rather than move to an institution earlier than necessary.
Doctor2me was built around exactly these principles: care delivered in the home, careful attention to transitions, and a steady relationship between families and a small, coordinated team.
How Doctor2me Turns Evidence Into Everyday Visits
Research gives the outline; daily practice fills in the details. Doctor2me translates these findings into very concrete habits.
During home visits, clinicians do not only look at vital signs and lab results. They also look at:
How safely someone moves through the home.
Where medication bottles are stored and how they are actually used.
Who helps with basics like bathing, dressing, and meals – and how often.
Which symptoms bother the person most in day-to-day life, not just on paper.
Care coordinators connect visits into a continuous line instead of isolated events. They help families understand what happens next: another home visit, a telemedicine check-in, a lab test, imaging, or a change in routine at home.
Nurses and other clinicians support wound care, monitoring, and education. They notice small changes between visits and raise concerns early. As a result, the “evidence” from large studies becomes something much more human: fewer surprises, more predictability, and a sense that someone is walking alongside the family.
Meet the Doctors Behind Doctor2me
Ten physicians across several regions bring this model to life every day. Each one combines a clear clinical focus with a practical, calm way of working in people’s homes.
Los Angeles Area Physicians
Cameron Sikavi, M.D. – Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine
Based in the Los Angeles area, Dr. Cameron Sikavi cares for adults who often live with multiple diagnoses at once, including digestive conditions and chronic diseases. He serves neighborhoods such as Culver City, Beverly Hills, and the Westside. During home visits, he looks beyond test results and asks how a person actually lives: what they eat, how they move around the home, and which symptoms limit them most. This lets him design treatment plans that can realistically be followed in that specific household.
Cleo Tsolakoglou-Williams, M.D. – Family Medicine, Pasadena
Based in Pasadena, Dr. Cleo Tsolakoglou-Williams cares for adults and families across the city. She speaks Greek, English, and Spanish and easily switches languages so that people can describe their concerns in the words that feel natural. Her visits often start with questions about goals, fears, and daily routines, not just symptoms. Because she sees several generations in the same household, she looks at how the health of one family member affects everyone else and helps them plan together.
Diana Katsman, M.D. – Eye and Retina Care with a House-Call Mindset
Dr. Diana Katsman combines expertise in eye inflammation, ophthalmology, and retina surgery with a strong focus on daily function. She speaks English, Spanish, and Russian and often supports multilingual families in Los Angeles. In the home, she talks not only about drops or procedures, but also about practical adjustments: lighting, contrast, reading aids, and ways to reduce fall risk when vision changes. When driving is no longer safe, she helps families plan follow-up in ways that still feel manageable.
Roseller Ditangco, M.D. – Internal Medicine
Dr. Roseller Ditangco works with adults who live with combinations of diabetes, heart disease, breathing problems, and frequent infections. Instead of treating each condition separately, he uses the home visit to see how everything fits together. He goes through each medication on the list, checks what is actually being taken, and then builds a step-by-step plan that everyone in the family understands. His calm manner often lowers the anxiety that has been quietly building around chronic illness.
Vera Kleynberg, M.D. – Hematology, Internal Medicine, Oncology
In Los Angeles, Dr. Vera Kleynberg supports people with complex blood disorders and cancer-related conditions. She speaks English and Russian and often meets families at very sensitive moments: at diagnosis, when treatment changes, or when long-term outlook is being discussed. During home visits she explains lab and imaging results in plain language, helps families prepare questions for hospital-based specialists, and turns complicated choices into clear options that fit the patient’s values.
Zhanna Feldsher, M.D. – Family Medicine and Pediatrics
Dr. Zhanna Feldsher cares for both children and adults across Greater Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks, which is especially helpful for multigenerational households. She speaks English and Russian and serves areas from West Hollywood and Brentwood to the Conejo Valley. Her visits often mix medical care with gentle coaching on sleep, daily routines, school demands, and the stress that comes with caring for both children and aging relatives. Because she follows families over time, she can spot patterns early and adjust care before a crisis.
San Diego and Coastal Southern California
Jennifer Spurlock, M.D. – Internal Medicine, Greater San Diego
Dr. Jennifer Spurlock supports adults in San Diego and nearby communities. Many of her patients are recovering after hospital stays or trying to manage several chronic conditions at once. Seeing them at home allows her to check whether discharge instructions are realistic: Can the person use the stairs safely? Is there enough help during the week? Are devices and medications actually being used as prescribed? She uses this information to refine the care plan and reduce the risk of another emergency visit.
Allen Jahroumi, M.D. – Family Medicine and Urgent Care, Coastal Southern California
Along the coast between Orange County and San Diego, Dr. Allen Jahroumi bridges family medicine and urgent care. He speaks English and Spanish and often steps in when something new and worrying appears: a sudden fever, an injury, or a pain that cannot wait for a distant clinic appointment. During these visits he stabilizes the immediate issue and also looks for deeper patterns – unresolved conditions, safety risks at home, or missing follow-up – so that today’s scare does not simply repeat in a few weeks.
Arizona Geriatric Care
Rebecca Cook, M.D. – Geriatric Care, Scottsdale and the Phoenix East Valley
In Arizona, Dr. Rebecca Cook leads Doctor2me’s geriatric care efforts. She supports older adults in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Chandler, and the wider East Valley. Her focus is long-term stability rather than quick fixes.
Key areas she looks at during home visits include:
Fall risk and the physical layout of the home.
Medication lists, including drug interactions and what is truly still needed.
Mood, memory, and how daily routines are changing over time.
Many of her visits begin at the kitchen table with one question: “How have the last few months really been for you?” From there she builds a plan that connects medical decisions, small environmental changes, and the real capacity of the family to follow through.
St. Augustine and St. Johns County, Florida
Claudine Aguilera, M.D. – Internal Medicine, St. Augustine
In St. Augustine and the surrounding communities of St. Johns County, Dr. Claudine Aguilera supports adults living with chronic conditions and complex medical histories. She speaks French and English, which often makes difficult conversations easier for families with international backgrounds. During home visits she breaks down diagnoses and treatment options into clear, simple steps and checks that each person truly understands the plan. Her focus is on realistic changes that fit the home environment, so that care does not fall apart once the visit is over.
The Team Behind Each Visit
The physicians are the most visible part of care, but they do not work alone. A network of coordinators, nurses, and other clinicians makes home-based care possible day after day.
Care Coordinators as the First Contact
Often the first voice someone hears is a care coordinator. Families may start with a sentence like “I don’t even know where to begin.” The coordinator’s job is to turn that feeling into a clear next step.
They:
Listen to the story and ask focused, respectful questions.
Help separate what is urgent from what can safely wait.
Match the situation with the right doctor or clinician.
Explain what will happen during a visit and what to prepare.
Many coordinators also call back a day or two after a first visit with one simple question: “Is everything clear?” That small check-in often brings out concerns that felt too overwhelming to voice during the initial appointment.
Nurses and Ongoing Support at Home
Nurses and other clinicians support wound care, injections, vital-sign monitoring, and teaching families how to manage complex routines. They see what changes between doctor visits: new swelling, changes in mood, increased confusion, or new difficulties with walking or bathing.
Because they return regularly, they can flag small changes early and bring the physician back in before a situation turns into an emergency. Over time, this steady presence builds trust; patients and caregivers start to share worries more openly, knowing that the same faces will come back.
Learning as a Team
Inside Doctor2me, expertise is treated as something living, not fixed. The team:
Reviews complex cases together and discusses what went well and what could be clearer or gentler.
Updates practice based on new research in home-based care, functional assessment, and care transitions.
Trains specifically on communication during difficult conversations about decline, prognosis, and realistic goals.
Feedback from patients and caregivers is a key part of this learning loop. A comment like “we felt lost after leaving the hospital” becomes a reason to improve how discharge papers are reviewed at home and how next steps are explained.
What This Means for Patients and Families
When expertise meets empathy in the home, care starts to look and feel different. It is not just about fewer hospitalizations or better scores on a chart, although those matter. It is about what daily life becomes.
In practice, this often looks like:
A clear plan on the fridge instead of a pile of unread discharge papers.
One small team that knows the history, rather than repeating the same story to new faces.
Fewer panicked trips and more planned visits.
Space during each visit to ask “small” questions that actually matter a lot.
For people living with complex health needs – and for those who care for them – the faces behind Doctor2me can mark the difference between feeling alone in a confusing system and feeling accompanied. They bring strong medical training. But they also bring time, attention, and a steady willingness to sit at the table, listen, and work things out together.
FAQ
What is Doctor2me and how is it different from a regular clinic?
Doctor2me is a network of doctors and clinicians who come to patients at home, in hotels, or in care facilities instead of seeing them only in offices. The focus is on calm, unhurried visits in a familiar space, with a clear plan that fits the patient’s real daily life.
Who are the doctors behind Doctor2me?
The team includes physicians with different specialties: internal medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, gastroenterology, hematology, oncology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, and urgent care. Each doctor works in a specific region (Los Angeles, San Diego, Scottsdale, St. Augustine and others) and combines strong clinical training with a very practical, down-to-earth style of home visits.
What happens during a typical home visit?
A visit usually starts with a conversation: the doctor asks how the last weeks have really been, what worries the patient most, and what is happening in the family. Then comes the physical exam, review of medications and test results, and discussion of next steps. At the end, the clinician and family agree on a clear, realistic plan.
How does home-based care help patients and families?
Research shows that home-based primary care for medically complex adults can reduce avoidable hospital stays and emergency visits, improve symptom control, and help people stay at home longer. For families this means fewer chaotic trips, more predictable support, and the feeling that one small team truly knows their situation.
What is the role of care coordinators and nurses in Doctor2me?
Care coordinators are often the first point of contact: they listen to the story, help decide how urgent the situation is, and schedule the right type of visit. Nurses and other clinicians support wound care, monitoring, and teaching at home, notice early changes, and keep the doctor informed so that problems are addressed before they turn into emergencies.
Which health issues are appropriate for Doctor2me home visits?
Doctor2me works mainly with adults and older adults who live with chronic conditions, complex medication regimens, recent hospitalizations, mobility problems, or age-related changes in vision, memory, and balance. The team also helps with acute but stable issues that need timely assessment and treatment, without immediately sending the person to an emergency department.
How does the team make sure care stays safe and up to date?
Clinicians regularly review complex cases together, follow new research on home-based care and functional status, and adjust their practice when evidence changes. They also pay close attention to feedback from patients and caregivers, using it to improve how they explain plans, handle discharges from hospital, and support families over time.
How can someone start working with Doctor2me?
Usually the first step is a call or online request describing the situation and location. A care coordinator then clarifies details, explains what to expect, and arranges a home visit with an appropriate doctor from the network, beginning a longer-term relationship rather than a one-time consultation.
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