Bummed about Having to get a New Dr

[MikeD]

My internist of 27 years, a truly great doctor, has decided to start a Concierge Health care practice.

MDVIP | Beyond Concierge Medical Care | Preventative VIP Medicine

As an existing patient, I have the privilege of still seeing him, except now it will cost me $1,500.00 extra per year. My insurance would still have to pay for all his services and co-pays still apply. For that I get a comprehensive physical and nutritional analysis. Plus, same or next day appts.

I already see *lots* of Drs. so I get a lot of health care already.
Now I guess I will have to find a new internist and primary care person.

Mike D.

[Rambler]

Bummer...

R

[Rich_in_Tampa]

I was approached about starting a concierge practice on several occasions over the past 15 years, and each time I decided against it (I'm an internist, too). I truly understand the motivation behind it under current day pressures, but it just didn't feel right to me (even with a half-day per week of charity care to assuage one's guilty conscience about being a carriage trade shop).

I can't say that it's wrong and I will not judge any colleague who chooses to go that route. Heck, if I were 40 I might reconsider it myself. but to me it's yet another telling sign that the system has gone horribly wrong.

[A854321]

Nutritional analysis = Sales of nutritional supplements he sells you from his office.

The only physician I know with a concierge practice is a worthless shyster who I would never go to in a million years.

He has a concierge practice because he isn't allowed to admit patients to our local hospital.

[Moemg]

Sorry Mike , I know it's so hard after several years with your doctors especially with your medical problems . Good Luck !

[twaddle]

con·cierge (kôN-syârzh')
n.

1. A staff member of a hotel or apartment complex who assists guests or residents, as by handling the storage of luggage, taking and delivering messages, and making reservations for tours.

Hmm, I'd consider paying my doc an extra $1500/year if he did all that for me.

[Buckeye]

This is taken from the MDVIP website for which you posted the link:

"Personalized care allows your MDVIP physician to detect problems at the earliest stages. If you do need treatment, you receive swift and comprehensive care. Preventing little things from becoming big things helps keep you enjoying life and staying well. MDVIP patients are admitted to the hospital at dramatically lower rates than non-MDVIP patients. Reductions in hospitalizations for MDVIP patients are up to 65% for Medicare beneficiaries and up to a staggering 80% for those with commercial insurance."

My question is "What the hell kind of care have you been paying for up until now?" The healthcare system is more broken than I thought. Unbelievable.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

This is taken from the MDVIP website for which you posted the link:

"Personalized care allows your MDVIP physician to detect problems at the earliest stages. If you do need treatment, you receive swift and comprehensive care. Preventing little things from becoming big things helps keep you enjoying life and staying well. MDVIP patients are admitted to the hospital at dramatically lower rates than non-MDVIP patients. Reductions in hospitalizations for MDVIP patients are up to 65% for Medicare beneficiaries and up to a staggering 80% for those with commercial insurance."

My question is "What the hell kind of care have you been paying for up until now?" The healthcare system is more broken than I thought. Unbelievable.

Precisely. How can you ethically charge more for "ideal care" without implying that your previous routine care was suboptimal. Doesn't sit right with me.

[M Paquette]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

"Personalized care allows your MDVIP physician to detect problems at the earliest stages. If you do need treatment, you receive swift and comprehensive care. Preventing little things from becoming big things helps keep you enjoying life and staying well. MDVIP patients are admitted to the hospital at dramatically lower rates than non-MDVIP patients.

A lot of folks, especially those who were stuck with it 30 years ago, think I'm nuts for moving from health insurance to Kaiser Permanente (Northern California), but this is exactly why. They've gotten better, and appear to have figured out that it's cheaper to prevent than cure.

I go in for an initial checkup, and the doctor says "You're overweight, your blood pressure is too high, and you're ugly." Wait, that last was channeling Grouch Marx. Before I left I was on a diet and was planning on trying alternatives to lower my blood pressure to stave off medication. He wanted me on meds, I wanted to try something else. (Heh. Early retirement. It works!)

My wife goes in, and gets a similar drill. Within a few days we were seeing specialists for issues discovered there, were under treatment within a week, and after a month are already in better health.

Under Mega-Insurance we would have been waiting for pre-approval to try and find a specialist in their exclusive network ("Hi, everybody! I'm Dr. Nick, your specialist!" Real exclusive...), assuming the lab work wasn't halted in an intercorporate p*ssing competition over how little can be paid out.

[deserat]

M Paquette - glad to hear that - I work for Kaiser in NCAL and use them for my healthcare as well - went through the same drill - Kaiser knows it is much better for them as well as the member if they catch something early - they also take it very wellness very seriously. The Pareto rule applies - 20% use 80% of the healthcare resources and most of that is due to 'lifestyle' diseases (heart disease, diabetes, smoking, obesity.....) which can be prevented or minimized.

As they say - Live well, prosper and Thrive!

[Oldbabe]

Before I moved to Colorado I had the same internist for 12 years. She went through a few situations with her practice during that time, with managed care, with partners, finally on her own. She felt that she could give better care to her patients with a private practice without overworking herself but she had to limit the number of patients to accomplish this goal; therefore, she had trouble paying the bills and making a good living. She and her husband lived in the same middle class neighborhood that I lived in.

For a doctor like her I could see the justification of starting something like a concierge practice so that she could practice the way she wanted to and still make a good living.

Also a note about Kaiser: when I applied for coverage with Kaiser here in Colorado they had a question on their application that asked if I had ever smoked in my life. They had a few other "ever in your life" questions as well. The application was more rigorous than any other insurance application and they didn't even give you an opportunity to submit medical records or doctor's statements to explain. They turned me down.