Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Concierge Medicine, A Real Value

The old adage is true, "You get what you pay for". Some primary care physicians, motivated by sheer exhaustion have decided to trade quality for quantity. The HMOs have had an effect on all medical practices to the point that many patients have grown used to crowded waiting rooms, lengthy waits in the office and a rushed visit with the doctor.

Concierge Physicians charge an annual fee (around $1,500 per year) to the patient, enabling the doctor to reduce their practice from about 2,000 patients to 500 patients. Now the doctor can be available for their patients who need to be seen right away, can take time to visit patients in the hospital and if needed, be on call 24 hours. Best of all, they can really spend quality time with their patients.

As a care manager, I offer this high level of service and I can do it because I do not have hundreds of clients. I appreciate the opportunity to work with concierge doctors who are available to the patients we have in common, immediately. If I visit a client and find that their new medication is making them sick, I want to have instant access to their doctor. I do not want to hear, " Go to the emergency room", like so many doctors now say to their patients.

In a perfect world, we would all have immediate access to our doctors. But in this world, if you want or need VIP treatment, you can have it, for the cost of one Starbucks coffee a day. If you do not think it is worth it now, wait until Medicare cuts physician billing AGAIN and they have to take on even more patients to make up the difference.

Many people think it should not be necessary to pay for extra service, but we do it all the time. We pay more for the box seats at the concert, we pay more for an upgraded hotel suite. We pay more for first class seats on a plane. If you feel you want upgraded medical care, it is now available and I feel, well worth it, especially if you have chronic medical conditions.

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