There has been a lot of talk about healthcare lately. One topic of conversation is concierge medicine. Concierge medicine has a different meaning to different people.

There is a small number of physicians who charge roughly ten thousand dollars (or more) per year in order to provide comprehensive care to a very limited number of people. The more common version of concierge medicine is where the patient pays $1500 to $2000 per year in order to have better access to their doctor and longer visits. This is an affordable concierge option for most people. The extra $4-5 per day that you pay allows your doctor to greatly limit his (or hers) practice and spend quality time with you.

Insurances are designed to be there for when you are sick. In essence they are disease insurance. It is important to have that type of insurance in case of major illnesses, to cover medications, and to pay for radiology and laboratory services. But if your desire is to truly be healthy than adding concierge medicine is for you. A concierge doctor has the time to work with you to personalize your health care.

You might be asking why concierge medicine comes with a fee and why you should pay that fee in addition to your insurance premium. To answer that question let’s look at traditional insurance based medicine (100% insurance based). This is where you may pay a copay or not, and your office visits are billed to the insurances. Your visits may fall under a deductible that you must pay but otherwise you do not pay the doctor anything else.

100% insurance based medicine (PPO/Medicare): Doctors are paid a set amount ,of money for several different levels of visits. These levels are based on the number of illness diagnosis that you have. If you are not sick and do not come in, they are not paid. If they spend extra time with you they are not paid extra. The incentive is to have you come in often and deal with only a few issues at a time. If they do not do this then they will be out of business. The majority of doctors do care about you, they just need to keep the lights on. The system is broken and is based on disease rather than being well. It causes doctors to take on several thousand patients and to utilize mid level providers (physician assistants or nurse practitioners) to survive financially. Patients end up waiting weeks for a routine appointment and then see a doctor or mid level provider who hardly knows them.

Concierge medicine: patients pay an annual fee which enables the doctor to be able to greatly limit his/her practice to a few hundred patients. The doctor is no longer solely dependent on what the insurance companies pay them. You are one of a few hundred patients instead of a few thousand. This allows the doctor to know you personally and give you his/her personal cell phone and e mail. Your concierge doctor is available 24/7. Often he/she can address questions by phone (text or voice) or e mail, saving you time and money. Your office visits are still billed to your insurance but these visits are longer and more involved than what insurance would pay for. Many patients with an HMO insurance use concierge medicine too, paying a minimal office visit when they do come into the office. (Saving their HMO for hospitalizations and medication). With concierge medicine you get a comprehensive physical yearly included in the price. This is generally an hour and a half including testing. Unlike the 15 minute insurance covered physical, your concierge medicine physical encompasses a comprehensive wellness plan for you. In addition, treatments such as bio-identical hormones can be addressed at your physical and at other visits. This is typically a separate privately PSID service. Basically concierge medicine is health care tailored to you.

The question to ask yourself is this: is $5 per day worth it for personalized, comprehensive wellness care? Naturally people who want to live long and vibrantly answer yes. Act now because the concierge doctors fill up quick and there are not a lot if them!!

Concierge Medicine – Personalized Care

Has this ever happened to you: You call for a doctor’s appointment and you have to wait a few weeks or even a month or two to get in. Then when you are finally seen, the appointment is only a 5-15 (if you are lucky) minutes long. When you call to ask a question that you forgot to ask, you are told that you need another appointment. On top of that, your appointments are focused on how to give you medication or how to handle your medication. It is rare for your doctor to help you get off medication, or better yet work with you to prevent needing medication in the future.

With the upcoming health care changes this scenario is going to become more common. A large number of patients are going to be able to access health care with no regard to pre-existing conditions. This is going to overload the system that already has a shortage of primary care physicians. The wait to get into a physician will be longer and the visits will become shorter. You are also more likely to be pawned off to a mid-level provider and not a physician. The alternative to being just a number in a medical practice of thousands of patients is to join a concierge medicine practice.

In a concierge practice the physician limits his/her patients to several hundred patients, not several thousand. This allows the physician to personally know and work with each of the patients. There is time for true preventive care that actually results in you being on less medicine (if any) and on feeling your best. Just think how wonderful it will feel to be able to talk with your doctor, and see your doctor if needed, when you need to! This is the type of medicine that everyone needs–this is not just for the person who is on a lot of medicine. It is for the person who wishes to become healthier or wants to work on staying healthy for the long run.