Dr. Oken’s transition to a solo practice allows him to continue to provide his patients traditional medical primary care.  Unlike an insurance-based medical practice, in which a physician may be responsible for a large number of patients, Dr. Oken has chosen to dramatically limit the number of patients in his practice.  This enables him to continue to maintain close personal attention to his patients in the office, after hours, in the emergency room and during hospitalizations.  This is one of only a few hundred medical practices in the United States which utilizes a retainer model, also known as direct medical care. It embraces the old-fashioned small medical practice that existed many years ago. Dr. Oken is able to provide 24/7 personal cell phone availability for his patients as well as direct email access.

Dr. Oken is an active Attending Physician at Howard County General Hospital and one of only a small handful of Howard County primary care physicians that continues to care for his patients in the hospital. Any of his patients who require admission at HCGH will be cared for by Dr. Oken directly.  In this current era of managed care, where the majority of insurance-based internal medicine practices have adopted the use of hospital-based ("hospitalist") physicians, it is Dr. Oken's philosophy that continuity of care is of utmost importance, particularly during those times when a patient's health may be in greatest jeopardy.  Further, if needed, Dr. Oken maintains a broad network of physician contacts at many of the major academic medical centers located throughout the area.