Zivian Spotlight: Lisa Reyes, PhD, FNP-BC
Lisa Reyes and her dog, Catalina
Zivian Health is proud to support advanced practice clinicians. In addition to providing healthcare compliance and collaboration support, we want to share the stories of the healthcare professionals we serve.
Today we spotlight Lisa Reyes, PhD, FNP-BC, a Family Nurse Practitioner from Texas.
Reyes spoke with us about her journey as a healthcare professional and her experience with Zivian Health. Read on to learn more.
Path To Becoming a Nurse Practitioner
As a lifelong resident of the Houston, TX area, Dr. Lisa Reyes describes herself as a “born-and-bred Texan.” She has approximately 35 years of experience as a clinician.
Dr. Reyes earned her degrees from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, where she was previously an assistant professor at the School of Nursing.
Dr. Reyes was inspired to become a licensed nurse practitioner at a School of Nursing faculty meeting, when the Dean encouraged all professors to gain more practice experience for the benefit of their students.
“As a professor, you teach, you do research, but you don’t really take care of people,” said Dr. Reyes. “And I like people – I like taking care of people. So I took my Dean’s advice.”
Dr. Reyes entered a post-doctoral Family Nurse Practitioner program and quickly became an FNP-BC in 2006.
The Life of a Nurse Practitioner
Previously a licensed registered nurse, Dr. Reyes says that becoming a Nurse Practitioner has made a very positive impact on her life.
“It has been a total game-changer,” she said. “There is much more opportunity. It’s the best financial move I’ve made in my life. It affords me the opportunity to work in a variety of settings – private clinics, on-site clinics, university clinics – I’ve gained so much experience.”
Opening a Private Practice
Dr. Reyes also said that becoming an NP gave her the confidence to assert her independence and do more to help her community.
After gaining experience in a wide range of practice settings, she recently made the decision to open her own clinic in Tomball, TX.
“I’d like to focus primarily on aesthetics, and I’m very passionate about weight loss,” said Dr. Reyes. “But there are other things I’d like to do as well – for example, if a patient has an urgent need and isn’t able to schedule an appointment with their PCP, I’d like to be a supplemental provider for them. Things like that, just to help the community where I can.”
Dr. Reyes plans on having her clinic’s grand opening on March 1, 2024.
Advanced Practice Providers and Expanding Healthcare Access
We asked Dr. Reyes for her perspective on the rise of advanced practice clinicians and their role in modern healthcare.
“Everyone has their place in this world,” she said. “We do have an issue – we have an aging population. People are living longer. University faculty are getting older. Doctors are becoming more specialized. And there is a big need for the local family doctor. I really like the idea of the advanced Nurse Practitioner – we can supplement that need. We all have a role to play, and we need to work together to solve these issues.”
“For example, to establish a truly successful weight loss program, you have to spend time with the patient,” she continued. “You aren’t just going to write a prescription and say, ‘see you in a week.’ You have to talk to them about nutrition and why they eat, to figure out what’s really going on. In some cases, doctors don’t have the time to have those conversations.”
It’s clear that Dr. Reyes is committed to providing compassionate and personable care for her patients.
Experience with Zivian Health
We also took the time to ask Dr. Reyes about her experience with Zivian Health.
“Zivian was one of five companies I spoke with,” she said. “Everything was very personable and very professional. It was a great connection. Your team’s personality really resonated with me, and the offer worked for me. Everything has been quite smooth, and I haven’t really had any issues at all.”
Dr. Reyes also spoke about the potential challenges in starting a clinic, and how Zivian can alleviate some of the burden.
“Starting a private practice can be hard,” she said. “You have to find a place to practice and you have to find a supervising physician – but Zivian has made that part easy.”
Zivian Health Enables Compliant Healthcare Collaborations
Zivian thanks Dr. Lisa Reyes for sharing her story with us! We’re proud to be of service during an important time in her career as a Nurse Practitioner. We look forward to our continued partnership and the future success of her clinic.
Zivian empowers Advanced Practice Providers by connecting them with physicians inside a secure and convenient platform to form long-term, compliant collaborations.
