Concierge Doctor

[Pilot2013]

Has anyone signed up for this? Just curious as to experiences if so.

Thanks!

 

[REWahoo]

I have friends who have and they really like it. He has some serious medical issues (had a stroke a couple of years ago) and takes comfort in having access to his doc whenever he needs it.

We had the opportunity and declined. We are (thankfully) in pretty good health so it seemed to be an unnecessary expense. (BTW, the DW's doc told all her patients she was making the switch to concierge, but apparently after a disappointing number of her patients opted to sign up, changed her mind. )

 

[marko]

I have a concierge doctor. He does not take insurance.
I pay him a fixed monthly fee. Available by phone, email, text or Skype video; not quite 24/7 but within reasonable waking hours.
If I need to, I can see him within an hour or two of my call. He can also spend as much time as necessary with me instead of the insurance mandated "15 minutes".

Plus, because there is no insurance involvement things like blood/urine tests etc are something like $20 vs $150.

He started this two years ago and has now had 2 more doctors join him.

 

[Pilot2013]

I have a concierge doctor. He does not take insurance.

I wonder if it qualifies for FSA fund use? Still working here

 

[REWahoo]

Maybe this will help: Is Concierge Medicine FSA Eligible?

The answer is… not unless the fee covers specific medical expenses actually performed.

 

[Pilot2013]

Basically, both my wife and I are fed up with waiting for 30-45 minutes in the lobby, then another 30 minutes in the room, only to have the Dr rush in and out for 5 minutes and the nurses say "Oh, come back in a month and we will check and refill prescription", or "sorry, we can't do blood work today, will have to schedule you for that", etc. With each visit, of course, being another office visit charge.

Just thinking catastrophic insurance, and then using FSA for Concierge charge might be better. I think the charge here is about $1800 annually for the Concierge Doctor. Just not sure what other "charges" are incurred. I have emailed to ask for details.

 

[marko]

I wonder if it qualifies for FSA fund use? Still working here

At this time FSA/HSA funds are not usable.

The entire "Direct Care" (as it's called) group are working to get it approved but it is a long slog.

 

[Pilot2013]

Maybe this will help: Is Concierge Medicine FSA Eligible?

Well that sucks.

 

[Richard4444]

My Doc of 18 years went Concierge - I stayed with him. I'm healthy, usually see him just once annually for an annual checkup, thought a lot about it, if I stay as healthy as this it will turn out to be a bad bet. So I hope that I lose this bet. The annual exam went from less than 12 minutes to one hour, and I have his cell, email, his promise to see me same day or next. FWIW (actually a lot), he knows me well and we have a good Doctor - Patient relationship. If ever I am hospitalized, he becomes my Doc, not the Hospitalist. Choices.

Rich

 

[growing_older]

I'm curious about concierge doctor plans and might be interested if my primary care doc ever proposed it. But how does such a plan work with other specialists? I had a serious health scare, and while my primary doc was great, I also ended up with a dozen or more other docs, surgeons, etc called in for various specialty expertise.

 

[Huston55]

DW uses one; just entering the second year. Satisfied with it thusfar. Tremendous Doc, realtime access as needed, becomes her attending physician if she's admitted to the hospital, takes our insurance and we never seem to have a copay. Costs $1800/yr.

 

[Richard4444]

But how does such a plan work with other specialists?

And there lies the catch ! Only my Primary Doc is Concierge. All of my specialists - including the ones he has referred me to throughout the years remain as is.

I don't know of any Specialists who are Concierge, but there may be.

Rich

 

[gcgang]

And there lies the catch ! Only my Primary Doc is Concierge. All of my specialists - including the ones he has referred me to throughout the years remain as is.

I don't know of any Specialists who are Concierge, but there may be.

Rich

Specialists covered same way as regular insurance. Possible benefit is that you get specialist that your concierge Doc selects.

 

[Free]

Has anyone signed up for this? Just curious as to experiences if so.

Thanks!

We were torn with the decision just like you. Had our Doctor for over 20 years and he went concierge this year. We didn't plan to sign up, but he approached me near the sign up deadline and offered to give me a 2 for 1 price for me and my wife. He said he didn't want to lose us as patients. Although we're both in our sixties, we've exercise and follow his advice - so don't usually see him more than 2-4 times a year.

He told me that the company that he signed up with gives him the right to sign up 10-15 people who don't have to pay the full fee. He's contracted to seeing only patients through the "plan" - a third party who handles the administrative sign-up, etc. and gets their take of the fee. Most of those he let in on this plan were ones that had serious health issues and didn't have the funds to pay. He had no problem reaching his "quota" that ensured the viability of his practice before the deadline. He said he went from about 2700+ patients to less than 400. He offers a "no cost" full scale physical with a large number of tests and measurements not normally covered by insurance once a year as part of this service. He's nervous about this change as well, but reaching the quota ahead of the deadline gave him a bit more confidence.

He's promising 24/7 and same day visits. There are 4 other physicians in the area that are on the same arrangement who will be available if for some reason we cannot contact him. We're glad we did it, but will have to think about it in the future.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pilot2013]

takes our insurance and we never seem to have a copay. Costs $1800/yr.

So you pay the $1800 fee for the Concierge service, and then he applies charges to your insurance?

 

[Huston55]

So you pay the $1800 fee for the Concierge service, and then he applies charges to your insurance?

We don't have visibility into how they apply the $1800 but, I doubt she applies it to insurance co-pays. They are in network for us but, that should leave a small co-pay for normal office visits. Perhaps they simply forgive the co-pay. We probably should know how it works but, we don't.

I should expand on my previous post. When I said we're happy with this concierge Doc, it's primarily due to the quality of care. The immediate access is also great but, it's the quality of care that holds value for us. I should also say that we've found that quality of care in other locations (pre-FIRE) with non-concierge Docs. So, it all depends on one's own particular situation.

 

[marko]

So you pay the $1800 fee for the Concierge service, and then he applies charges to your insurance?

Not in ny case. There is no insurance involved. He keeps my annual "dues" as membership. The dues covers his sevices

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[athena53]

I'm curious about concierge doctor plans and might be interested if my primary care doc ever proposed it. But how does such a plan work with other specialists? I had a serious health scare, and while my primary doc was great, I also ended up with a dozen or more other docs, surgeons, etc called in for various specialty expertise.

I'd check with the prospective concierge doc, but my guess is that he/she would be there to co-ordinate the others and take an overview, which can be very valuable. Sometimes the specialists don't talk to each other.

 

[gauss]

We were torn with the decision just like you. Had our Doctor for over 20 years and he went concierge this year. We didn't plan to sign up, but he approached me near the sign up deadline and offered to give me a 2 for 1 price for me and my wife. He said he didn't want to lose us as patients. Although we're both in our sixties, we've exercise and follow his advice - so don't usually see him more than 2-4 times a year.

He told me that the company that he signed up with gives him the right to sign up 10-15 people who don't have to pay the full fee. He's contracted to seeing only patients through the "plan" - a third party who handles the administrative sign-up, etc. and gets their take of the fee. Most of those he let in on this plan were ones that had serious health issues and didn't have the funds to pay. He had no problem reaching his "quota" that ensured the viability of his practice before the deadline. He said he went from about 2700+ patients to less than 400. He offers a "no cost" full scale physical with a large number of tests and measurements not normally covered by insurance once a year as part of this service. He's nervous about this change as well, but reaching the quota ahead of the deadline gave him a bit more confidence.

He's promising 24/7 and same day visits. There are 4 other physicians in the area that are on the same arrangement who will be available if for some reason we cannot contact him. We're glad we did it, but will have to think about it in the future.

Hope this helps.

Wow -- I always thought one of the advantages of DPC was to get all the administrative stuff off the table and just practice medicine for a reasonable monthly cash payment.

Sounds like your Doc may have traded one bureaucracy for another. I hope it works out for you and your Doc but I certainly hope that this does not emerge as the main DPC model.

-gauss

 

[Ally]

I had one for a year and a half, but then she closed and moved to join a practice elsewhere. I'm back with a regular internist and I like her very much.

 

[athena53]

Sounds like your Doc may have traded one bureaucracy for another. I hope it works out for you and your Doc but I certainly hope that this does not emerge as the main DPC model.

It hadn't occurred to me that this model would be a business opportunity for consultants who would help docs set them up and ten rake off an administrative fee, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Wonder if they tell docs to drop patients who have too many issues and need too much attention.

 

[marko]

Wow -- I always thought one of the advantages of DPC was to get all the administrative stuff off the table and just practice medicine for a reasonable monthly cash payment.

Sounds like your Doc may have traded one bureaucracy for another. I hope it works out for you and your Doc but I certainly hope that this does not emerge as the main DPC model.

-gauss

This isn't the model my doctor uses. He's entirely free-standing without any 'agency' involved. He did use a consultant specializing in this to get everything set up but now he reports to no one.

 

[braumeister]

My doc is on sort of a hybrid concierge plan. He still bills insurance for everything, but I pay him a separate fee every year. It started out at $350 about 8 years ago and is now up to $500 a year.

For my fee, I get:

• same day appointment whenever needed, or next morning if I call late in afternoon
• as long as I need for any appointment, which usually means about 30-45 minutes
• phone consultations when I'm traveling
• email access for routine questions
• various other services as needed

Very happy with this arrangement, and so is the doc. He commented to me that it completely took the stress out of his life (which had been considerable), and he enjoys coming to work now. He actually likes 95% of his patients (not sure which group I'm in ).

So it's not exactly a concierge practice, but a good plan that works for us.

 

[athena53]

So it's not exactly a concierge practice, but a good plan that works for us.

What you described is exactly what I'd go for once I get a few things that need monitoring. Not there yet.

 

[braumeister]

What you described is exactly what I'd go for once I get a few things that need monitoring. Not there yet.

Yes, it's good for us, since DW has a couple of permanent prescriptions that should be monitored. Fortunately, I don't fall in that category yet, but we both really like our doc so it's money well spent.