A Concierge Medical Practice For Everyone? How is that possible?
When I describe our medical practice, most people really like the concept: Our medical team at DocTalker (board certified doctors and a nurse practitioner) answers all the incoming patient phone calls and emails directly, solving over 50% of our patients needs remotely and conducts office visits and house calls when needed even at night and on weekends. People ooh and aah, offering praise: “What a good idea!” … “You’re really ‘retro’ — just like the quaint, old-fashioned doctor my grandparents used to describe so fondly” … “I wish my doctor did that!”
Yet there is a point at which our concept “loses” people, and it is when we describe that we have opted out of Medicare and sign no contracts with insurance companies. We are not preferred providers for anyone except our patients, and therefore no one is interfering with our relationship or telling us how to do our job. We have dismissed all of the parties that create conflicts of interest between ourselves and the patients, including those that add higher costs (e.g. drug reps or pay-for-performance administrators); or create conflicts of interest that interfere with the doctor- patient relationship (e.g. insurance) and the ability to deliver accessible, high-quality care (e.g. billing, coding, and administration organizations).
Instead we have moved to a transparent, time-based fee structure so that our clients can police our charges. Time is time. We make our living offering advice and time, no gimmicks, no sales. It’s that simple. If you don’t want to pay us for the time it takes to do the right thing for the right reason, or to be in control of when and how and who controls your health decisions, then we’re not the practice for you.
After this explanation, we typically get one of two responses:
1) “Thank you very much, but I just lost interest.”
or
2), “Oh, you’re a concierge doctor.”
We have come to expect the first response. The idea of paying directly for a service in healthcare remains foreign to most. The vast majority of Americans have been “socialized” over the years that paying monthly insurance premiums and adopting a co-pay model protect them from worrying about price from the often predatory and non-transparent pricing habits of the healthcare industry at large.
To the second response, we say that we are like a concierge practice … just priced for almost everyone. To begin with, we deliver a concierge level of care: comprehensive primary care, answering phones and emails directly, trying to deliver care whenever wherever and however its needed, seeing patients on the same day, being available to talk 24/7 no matter where a patient may be in the U.S., and even coming to a patient’s home at 3 AM if needed. We are doctors and want to do what’s best for our patients.
But after this point, the DocTalker model and others like it add a whole new dimension to the concierge model, thus requiring a category unto itself. We offer this high level of care for almost everyone because we make accessing quality care so affordable. About 75% of the members of our practice get all the day-to-day health care they need every year for less than $300/year. This is much less than the amount of money than the $1500/year membership fee required of many concierge practices which basically puts a premium price on access before they even begin to bill your insurance company.
Practices like ours expect to be busy, have to take care of many people of all ages and socioeconomic status, maintain active panels of patients approaching 2000, don’t expect to make tons of money while trying our hardest to give you the best service at the best price we can. We love primary care, want the best for our patients, and this is why we do it.
Our “Back to the Future” medical practice restores an integrity, balance, affordability and quality to healthcare that people need. It also delivers concierge level of service at a price that’s much less than most out there. Even President Obama says he’s looking for examples of better access, higher quality, at a lower price. There are others like us out there, including HelloHealth and Greenfield Health.
It’s not complicated to get accessible, affordable care and high quality primary care again once all the layers are eliminated of well intended administrators and obfuscators getting in the way of a doctor and any one seeking help.
It may not be complicated, but it’s not easy to find. There just aren’t enough of us yet. In the meantime, please excuse my sensitivity to the word “concierge.” I prefer phrases for this emerging movement like “patient-controlled primary care,” or “no nonsense care,” or ”patients first.”
Until next week I remain yours in primary care,
Alan Dappen, MD
