Concierge Care for the Masses
Family physician Steven Butdorf of Eugene, Ore., was tired of rushing patients through appointments, tired of insurers denying procedures, and tired of paperwork…. [so he] opened Exceptional Health Care, which lets patients pay a set monthly fee in return for specific health care services — leaving out insurance companies altogether.
Butdorf charges patients between $39 and $79 per month, depending on their age, plus $20 for each office visit. He says he devotes an average of 30 minutes to each appointment, and 60 minutes for an annual physical.
“What I’m doing allows the patient to come to the doctor and pay the doctor without a third party there to set rules and regulations for how we conduct medicine,” Butdorf said.
More on this new approach to improve health care quality in USA Today.
Sounds like a good idea.
This is the future.
I like it. Sounds like a great idea.
Awesome innovation!
I find trends like concierge medicine to be very interesting. The range of services and amenities that would be offered in the absence of third-party payment is incredible.
All things evolve and what was old is new again.
Imagine- a doctor taking time with a patient and being personally involved in his or her healthcare. If you need an extra 10 minutes to discuss another medical issue for which you current visit was not scheduled, you’ve got it. If you want to ask about a medical problem a family member is having and obtain some additional information, no problem!
These are the things that concierge medicine brings to the prudent patient that understands the difference between cost and price! If your appointment is at 10:00 A.M. you are seen at 10:00 A.M. There is no maze of driveways to get to a parking lot, for which you have to pay, that is 1/4 mile from the doctors office, and when you finally get there, you get to see the doctor and not his or her assistant with a “drive by” hello from your physician.
As a consulting orthopedic surgeon, I have switched to the concierge model. I allow up to an hour and a half for each visit and have noticed over time that there is no sense of urgency on my part or that of my patients. There is no initial discomfiture over having to wait for more than a half hour to be seen (if I’m late there is no charge for my time) and there is more time to get an accurate history and do a thorough examination thereby increasing the chances of making a correct diagnosis or providing an accurate second opinion. More importantly, there is an open avenue to build trust and confidence, the two cornerstones to a successful doctor-patient relationship.
This model allows for innovation from the bottom up and not from the top down. As such, it is more likely to provide real solutions from real patients and real doctors who treat them and not armchair academics who have never seen a patient and know nothing about the realities of healthcare delivery. The real power, other than a strong personal relationship between patient and doctor, is in the creation of a wise consumer of health care able to make prudent and cost efficient choices because the money is now coming from that consumer and not from “the insurance company”.
Mitchell Brooks, M.D.
http://www.mitchellbrooksmd.com