Concierge Medicine - A Convenient Option

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Concierge Medicine - A Convenient Option

• Peninsula Doctor

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Synopsis

1. The Structure of a Concierge Medical Practice
2. Why Physicians and Patients are choosing
   Concierge Medicine
3. Concierge Medicine is convenient for Senior
   Citizens
4. Medical Treatment all year round with Concierge
   Medicine

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The Structure of a Concierge Medical Practice

• A random one-year survey of the findings related
  to the concierge medicine marketplace in the US
  was performed. This summary of the survey of
  concierge medicine revealed that at the end of
  2017, 30 of all new patients enrolled in
  Concierge medicine, the most so far. Also, in the
  U.S., concierge physicians operating practices
  were dispensing physicians able to dispense their
  own medicine. The next most popular medical
  specialty in concierge medicine was a family
  physician practice. This study also revealed that
  the number of concierge physicians, dentists and
  pediatric practices increased markedly since
  February this year. Between 5000 and 20000
  physicians were practicing concierge medicine.
  The gap is large as there are no Federal
  Statistics recording concierge physicians and
  therefore it is difficult to estimate the exact
  number presently.
• Concierge doctors started out as normal
  practicing physicians and later changed their
  practices. The subject of missed appointments
  meant little, as a poll of concierge doctors
  revealed that they have such a good relationship
  with their patients, that there were no missed
  appointments to speak of.
• If a patient requires an urgent appointment with
  a physician there is a good chance he might have
  to wait three/four weeks or more unless there is
  an emergency, in which case a hospital visit may
  be needed. However, a concierge physician will
  respond almost immediately and have been known to
  visit patients over a weekend. Private doctors do
  not operate on weekends or on public holidays,
  however, if you have paid for your concierge
  doctor to be on call twenty-four hours out of
  twenty-four, you will get this sort of service.

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Why Physicians and Patients are choosing
Concierge Medicine

• The concierge doctor will, he has time to spend
  with his patients. He is also on call 24/7, which
  is a relief to some patients.
• The patient finds his or her concierge doctor is
  firstly, far more accessible and secondly, that
  they will not need to refresh their memory with a
  file each visit, as they know the patient's full
  history more intimately. Not only does the
  concierge physician provide a better service to
  the industry as a whole but he is happier to
  spend more time with his patients. Though the
  patient may pay and annual fee and be completely
  healthy for most of the year, they are able in
  the majority of cases to pay with pre-tax
  dollars, something which they could not do
  previously.

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Concierge Medicine is convenient for Senior
Citizens

• Senior citizens, some of whom are unable to visit
  a doctor for one or more reasons such as they may
  be incapacitated, will accept this Concierge
  Medicine option. Possibly they cannot walk or may
  be permanently disabled and in a wheelchair.
  Also, some of these patients require special
  transport etc.to visit a physician. In this case
  some patient care by telephone is much more
  convenient. Many concierge medicine practices
  offer patient visits with an annual fee of around
  150 a month. Take the case where a patient is in
  an old age or frail care home. Many of these
  facilities do not have permanent doctors on their
  staff able to issue a prescription or scheduled
  medication from a drug store. The concierge
  doctor is able to visit the patient in the case
  of a higher scheduled drug to ensure that the
  drug is required, after which they communicate by
  email or simply by telephone.
• Concierge medicine is often more attractive to
  patients as doctors can spend more time with each
  individual patient. These physicians see or
  visit, in all probability, around 10 patients a
  day, whereas in primary care that would not be
  practical as the doctor or practice would lose
  out. These physicians who bill their services
  only when seeing a patient in their rooms, need
  to see 20-25 patients a day to cover expenses,
  whereas the concierge physician is paid a
  retainer by dozens of patients on a monthly basis.

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Medical Treatment all year round with Concierge
Medicine

• There is a 'Fee for Care' FFC and covers most
  services and the patient gets most general
  services for this amount. It is either paid
  annually or quarterly and gets the usual
  treatment in the physicians' rooms. If injections
  (vaccinations) or other outside services such as
  X-Rays or blood tests for example are needed, the
  patient pays extra, usually cash.
• The next is a ' Fee for extra Care' (FFEC) which
  is almost the same however, this service is where
  the additional fees are charged to a patient's
  insurance scheme or Medicare. Normally this type
  of fee charged included immediate access to the
  doctor or physician with limited of 'no wait
  facilities', maybe access to the doctor's cell or
  mobile phone plus unlimited visits to the doctor.
  Even email services where prescriptions for
  medication etc. can be obtained via electronic
  mail and appointments made.
• The next model is a combination of both models
  where the physician charges a fee for amounts not
  covered by a Medicare or health insurance. This
  is a sort of 'Top -Up' service and covers any
  amounts not reimbursed by other services. You
  also get the same immediate access to the doctor
  or physician with limited of 'no wait
  facilities', access to the doctor's cell phone
  plus unlimited visits to the doctor. Even email
  services where prescriptions for medication etc.
  can be obtained via electronic mail and
  appointments made.

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The End

• Do you want to know more about Concierge Medical
  Practice?
• Visit peninsuladoctor.com/concierge-medicine/
• Peninsula Doctor
• 401 burgess drive, suite d, menlo park ca 94025