Dr. Diana Girnita

Why I Founded Rheumatologist OnCall®

Practicing rheumatology in hospitals and traditional medical practices made me quickly realize that patients often had to wait months and travel long distances for their appointments.

When I met with patients, I wanted to educate them about their conditions and how they could blend medical treatment with nutrition, mindfulness, and physical activity to minimize the effects of their diagnosis.

But there was no time.

Billing received more attention than patient care. The quantity of patients seen counted more than the quality of care.

Worried patients would ask about outrageous charges and surprise bills for their care. Yet as a physician, I had no visibility to what they paid. When I asked, it was described as “confidential hospital information.”

Often, patients and I would establish successful care plans only to have them fall apart when their insurance company denied coverage or renegotiated contracts.

Worst of all, I saw crisis after crisis that could have been avoided, had doctors simply been able to treat patients properly.

This was not the kind of medicine that I wanted to practice.

I wanted to see patients when they needed me most. 

I didn’t want to force people in pain to drive hundreds of miles just to reach a city with a rheumatologist. And I didn’t want my patients awake at night worried about medical bills.

So in 2019, after months of research, I launched Rheumatologist OnCall®, a direct-pay medical practice.

I provide in-person and telehealth rheumatology here in Irvine, CA and throughout our 8-state service area. No travel costs, no wasted time.

We charge fair prices and offer low-cost imaging and labs. Patients pay the practice directly—no insurance companies, no prior authorizations, no deductibles, no copayments, no exorbitant fees.

Our patients have the best of both worlds: the expert rheumatological care they need, when they need it, while keeping their regular medical insurance for other healthcare needs.

This is the kind of medicine I dreamed of practicing when I was a little girl in Romania, and I’m proud to be recognized as a leader in the direct-pay model for healthcare.

Today, I still have one foot in research and the other in medical practice. I constantly review the latest medical, diagnostic and drug breakthroughs that can relieve pain and slow or halt disease progression. I’ve completed Stanford’s Nutrition Science program for health professionals and studied meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and internationally-known founder of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care & Society at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.

At the same time, I teach patients every day how to make the most of their capabilities and reduce their need for prescription medication with evidence-based nutrition, mindfulness and physical activity.

I’ve always been fascinated by the connections among our minds, our bodies, our immune systems, and how we fuel ourselves. Approaching medical care the same way seems like the most natural choice of all.