Anyway, this morning I was up and dressed at an abnormal time. My blood work was not of the fasting type, but they try and do most of their draws in the morning so they can be picked up by the lab. And that was okay for me, for just this day.
As I was sitting on the sofa, getting ready to leave, my son (who sees the same provider), as me if I had gotten a voice mail. When I asked him what voice mail he was talking about, he said he got a voice mail yesterday that said the practice was cutting back on the patients they saw, and he may be looking for another provider. I had heard nothing about this and since I was headed over to the office, would find out what the heck was going on.
When I got to the office and asked about said phone call, the receptionist smiled and told me she would have the patient advocate talk to me after my blood draw. This did not sound like a positive thing to me, mind you. So, after being poked and giving a few vials, I wandered back to the "patient advocate" office and sat down and spoke to a gal named Ashton, said patient advocate.
The short version? My doctor has decided to join an "executive health" primary care group called MD/VIP. The advertised advantages of said group? Travel Advantages, electronic health records that are personalized, supposed 24 doctor availability, same day appointments, longer office visits and visits that are on time. At least this is what's in the pretty brochure I got.They even have a personalized app for all this.
Sounds good, yes? It should, I suppose. Because the price for this advantage is an additional 1800 bucks a year. And since not all current patients will be accepted into this program, the first folks who ante up the quarterly payment will be included.
So I'm in a conundrum. Does this so called "executive health program" add enough value to join. Is the 1800 addition to my insurance co pays worth the difference? Even if it's not, do I REALLY want to look for another doctor? I'm attending a meeting with the doctors and to learn about the program in October.
Meanwhile, though, I would love your thoughts. Especially the medical types who read my blog. Admittedly I like the idea of my doctor having more time for my needs, if that were to actually happen, and I'm extremely, extremely happy with my current doctor. But $1800 annually is not exactly peanuts. And I do have to wonder if the rewards are worth all the commitments.
What do you think?
Surely there are doctors in your area that take your insurance. I wouldn't pay the extra as long as there were other doctors available. It does take time to find a new doctor but this kind of practice change is to increase income while reducin patient load not to help patients IMO.
ReplyDeleteand I understand that, but I guess I think they should either raise their fees or take less patients. I do understand that medical care is not a get rich quick scheme except for insurance providers, but this seems like a bunch of money, no?
DeleteI'm with Juhli. I have heard of this VIP doctor services but it seems there must be a doctor nearby available who can see you that accepts your existing coverage. I think $1800 annually is quite a bit of money for those of us who are retired, unless someone is very well off. I would see if there are other doctors available in your area.
ReplyDeleteTeri
Oh boy. First of all does that mean they will not be taking insurance. I would be certain to ask that if not mentioned. I say that because most doctors here no longer take insurance and I have had 9 gynecologists for this very reason in 9 years. I get why they are doing this, but it's a damn big deal to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat does that $1800 cover? Do you pay this like the country club dues and you still have to pay out of pocket for everything else? I doubt I would do this unless I had buckets of money. Looking for a new doctor sucks but who's to say the next one won't be better? I know, I say that and my doctor no longer takes insurance and I stayed. Boy this one is a doozy. I'm sorry Barbara
Yes, they take insurance with the new deal.I am on Medicare and they take medicare. I would still have copays and pay both Medicare and my supplemental. She is lovely and I like her, but I am not in love with her, if you know what I mean. I am going to put out feelers for new providers and see what happens.
DeleteBe sure to ask if they can cut you off the program if you get sick or start costing them too much time and money. I'm glad this is not my decision to make. What a pain in the butt!
ReplyDeleteTell me about it. insane!
DeleteHappened to us but our doctors charged 2500 a year! We left them and found other doctors just as good but now our doctor is retiring So we start over again!it doesn’t pay because sometimes they won’t file your insurance and that payment is every year!
ReplyDeleteGood to know, as I explore the options
DeleteWe have very good doctors without having to pay such fees. My husband and I have Medicare and Supplemental Plan F and pay no co-pays and everyone seems more than happy to see us as patients so far.....My boss has to pay his long-term physician an annual fee for him to keep seeing him and I didn't realize why but maybe an "executive" is going to be willing to do that. I looked this up on the internet and Wikipedia says they only have to see 600 patients a year instead of 2500-3000. The annual fees charged range between $1,650 and $2,200 per year to supplement insurance reimbursements. I calculate that 600 patients paying $2,200 per year brings in $1,320,000 to the doctor who pays the MDVIP franchise $500/patient/per year franchise or royalty fee. Still that leaves the doctor $1,020,000 before any insurance payments. If he has healthy patients who don't need to see him very much, that would certainly be profitable for him it sounds like. Wonder if he will drop "unhealthy" patients if he can get those who rarely come in to pay the fee...........I may not have reliable information here, but it sure sounds like it is more for the benefit of the dr. than for the patient........Sorry Barbara! I hope this is not what they will all be going to...........
ReplyDeleteI have actually not done my due dillegence on the reasearch yet. I will begin tonight. I also will due the research on providers accepting medicare patients.
DeleteHealthcare in the U.S. is already the most expensive among all the industrial nations. I wish we had some form of Universal Healthcare for everyone. This shakedown for more money really rubs me the wrong way. I’d be looking for another healthcare provider. IMHO.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to boutique medicine. I think it is worth it if you can afford it and have a lot of medical issues. If you are relatively healthy, you don't need the fancy services offered.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have severe arthritis, diabetes, and a heart murmer which causes me no problems. my biggest health issue is a history of ovarian and breast cancer and that is helped by regular testing and specialists as necessary so..........
DeleteIt might be worth it if you really do have access to a doctor 24 hours a day and same day appointments. Yesterday I spent 4 hours at the doctor. I did not have an appointment but he agreed to see me because I have an UTI. I have no complaints about the care I received. He even walked me across the hall to the lab to give them instructions and than saw me again afterwards. Maybe there would be better service because the doctor is seeing less patients. Can you check this group to find out more information about them? I would want to know about the qualifications of the other doctors. Is it easy to find another doctor in your area? It is a lot of money. Lots of things to consider.
ReplyDelete$1800 a year is $18,000 over ten years, quite a large sum and something to ponder. Also, the price could go up next year.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I could make a mini medical savings account and put that money in quarterly and it might be better spent, ya know?
DeleteThis has the ring of "concierge" care. Maybe you feel special enough to pay good money not to sit with the unwashed. I go to a place where I walk in and receive excellent care for routine earaches, uti, and still have to have specialists for other things--oncologist, urologist, heart doctor, and half a dozen more. I would not want to be treated by a doctor who wanted to give "special" care to a few for a fee.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound exactly like that. I however do not want to turn to a walk in clinic as my alternative. And I live. Love my dr...who also serves as my endocrinologist and gynecologist. So the obvious choice is not quite so obvious.
DeleteI've heard of this trend but know very little about it (since it fortunately has not hit my area of the country yet). All I can say is good luck with your decision.
ReplyDeleteThere is one thing I would like to add. Clearly this plan is to increase the doctor's income. What about when he/she gets used to the new income? Will he/she then raise their "special" fee again? Will they start taking in more special patients until they are just as crowded as before?
ReplyDeleteAlso, as a retired Medical Assistant, pretty much every single practice has 24 hour access to a doctor. They will have a particular doctor on call each night. Everyone takes turns being woken up. You may have never used yours before but I'm betting it's there. SOMEONE has to advise patients in the middle of the night if it is an emergency situation. So that particular part of the new "service" is disingenuous in my opinion.
Exactly!!@ and I have never felt rushed as such, although I have waited for the previous appt. So assuming that I can find a medicare dr in my area without resorting to a mini clinic it SEEMs to be a no brainer. As I said above my only hesitation is this gal has been acting as both my gyn and endocrine and I might have to go searching for those. Not the end of the worl tho. And I note that they are just "affiliated" with the agency that's wants mu money. Because of course drs cannot take cash from medicare patients and bill medicare.
DeleteI don't have 24 hour access to my doctor. If I call when he is not there I will be advised to go to the emergency room if it is a medical emergency. I do have access to a nurse's hotline from my former employer which will advise me if I need to go to the hospital. There are also walk in acute care clinics if I have no other option. I don't know of any concierge doctors in my neighborhood.
DeleteConcierge doctors. No way. Try and find another doctor. Healthcare in this country is getting too disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI miss my German healthcare experience more every single day.
DeleteIn my part of the world, the docs who went to the “concierge” model are no longer in business.I would just look for another primary doc and get established. The health care system in America is very broken and some doctors are so desperate to escape. I don’t know the answers.. but I would not sign up with a concierge group. There are plenty of doctors out there. AND Nurse Practitioners!!
ReplyDeleteYes. This particular practice is the wife who is an MD and her husband who is a Nurse Practicioner. They are lovely people, which also makes this difficult and as I mentioned below, they are not making millions I somehow expect. I can understand the desire to have less patients and also my understanding is the fee (which is paid to a third party affiliate so as to not hav eme giving my doctor cash and then billing medicare whould be for all those things that insurance companies mark as "not allowed" that doctors don't get paid for (recognizing of course that they already pad bills because of that issue.)
DeleteIt’s hard not to bash the doctors but really, a family doctor is making very little money.OR they have to bill in a crazy manner to get paid. The FIRST primary doc I picked on my Medicare advantage plan billed something like 6 different CPT codes and billed insurance over $800 and got paid over $600 for a 15 minute visit. My eye doctor spent full half hour and I got a great exam, they billed over $100 and received $40. The whole medical reimbursement/insurance industry is corrupt right now, and I know most doctors are in burn out. Concierge is the last stop before retiring completely..... or, going to work for a “group” and getting a salary from a large clinic that is hospital owned. Then you just get to see whoever in the LARGE GROUP is on that day. THOSE clinics bill the ins., companies up the yin yang.They are experienced at it. I pray for UNiversal Health care..someday....
ReplyDeleteI agree. Gps and such are not millionnaires.
DeleteI dumped my primary Doc and went to urgent care on my own.
ReplyDeleteI was not happy the way my doc conduct business....one size fits all. I requested vit D and B12 in my blood report, she replied “ask your Gyn.” My insurance paid her $185 for my physical and she spent less than 5 minutes on me.
There are 5 or 6 clerks in her business handling insurance and others however.
This is the reality of health care everywhere -- including those systems with universal health care where their definition of what is "optional surgery" determines how long you may have to wait for surgeries (for example knee or hip surgery as it gradually gets worse, especially for older patients.) People who can pay separately may will get the more timely health care and time spent with our physicians that we once all expected.
ReplyDeleteMany of the health care groups doctors sign up with these days and other requirements may specify they must accept more patients than they want as my older Dr., now deceased, found out when he wanted to retire to part time some years ago -- limiting his practice to older adult clientele. There's an increasing shortage of doctors, increasing population so more need doctors. Doctors wanting to provide quality patient service are frustrated with pressures from Medicare and ins. rules, declining payments, often only 15 mins allocated for each patient. The paperwork is a nightmare. So, Doctors want a quality of professional and personal life. Forming these VIP units does benefit them and probably those patients who are willing or can afford the fee. Is this health care services as we think of it -- No! What's the solution? Well, for one thing, there are so many people between a provider and the patient who are taking a cut of any fee paid, the provider gets only a small portion and they're providing the service as I can attest to from even when I was working as a health care provider. It's only getting worse and who knows what all this administration is having Medicare/Medicaid whittling away.
Might help if they'd rein in the insurance companies who keep expanding their intrusive activities to prove how helpful they can be -- which of course means they hire more employees -- and the out-of-control pharmaceutical companies charges are long overdue for re-examination. Let's stop their spending so much on medication ads like we see on TV -- one of the few countries that allow such.
So....will this VIP expense be cost effective for you? How much do you value, or are you willing to pay for the services they offer? Will those services be substantially different from what you're receiving now -- may not know 'til you try it, or see how others are being treated. Some of these VIP groups may be better than others -- just like HMOs and other insurance policies. Do you think you can get satisfactory service from a different doctor or other services in your area? It's a pain we even have to devote so much time in our lives on these health care services issue and it's not going to get any better.
I have been going to a doctor, who has a walk-in clinic, for 26 years. However, while he does take my work Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, he does not take Medicare nor Medicaid. Also, if there is a nighttime emergency, I go to the ER. My insurance does require $50 copay on walk in clinics, rather than $35 for regular doctor, but I do not care. My doctor used to run the ER, and people come from miles around to see him. I probably will just pay the noninsured fee when I get Medicare age, because I have confidence in him. There is another walk-in clinic that I am fond of also, that I feel good about going to, and I do have a separate heart doctor, and a separate obgyn doctor. However, the heart doctor relies heavily on his nurse practitioner, so usually, he is all I see when I have an appointment.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who is in charge of their company's SEO and is still fairly new to it, this article was great, very informative, and accurate. Thank you!
ReplyDelete