By Joseph Kaminski, D.O.
Personalized health care is the keystone to any concierge medicine practice. Concierge medicine was created as an alternative to the traditional model, which leaves many doctors overwhelmed and many patients unsatisfied. Concierge doctors provide you with the time you deserve, the time to create your personal plan for a long, healthy life.
Concierge medicine may also be referred to as private medicine, membership medicine, concierge healthcare, cash only practice, direct care, direct primary care, direct practice medicine, and boutique medicine. These all share the same basic theme, advanced personalized health care. The basic elements of modern concierge medicine are personalized care, direct care, quality care, and affordable care.
Concierge medicine focuses on the whole you, with personalized preventive care programs that ensure your future health without the limitations of a third party. Traditional healthcare and concierge medicine differ dramatically in their potential effects on your overall health and the type of care you receive. Traditional healthcare provides treatment when you are sick and is often controlled by what is, or is not, covered by your healthcare insurance plan.
The Traditional Treadmill
Traditional medicine practices treat you when you are sick, addressing the symptoms as they are presenting to your doctor at the moment. Traditional medical practices often rely heavily on reimbursement from healthcare insurance companies to survive. The result is often overcrowded waiting rooms, difficulty obtaining treatment, and short office visits focused only on the illness that is presenting itself at the moment. Traditional physicians are often forced to keep turning patients over quickly to maximize the amount of patients treated each day to keep their practice afloat. Many physicians today are finding themselves suffering from burnout due to the high paced environment and low reimbursement rates, while patients are questioning the availability and quality of their care.
The Concierge Medicine Alternative
An alternative exists to the traditional model of healthcare. Concierge medicine was created to deliver the highest level of personalized care and ensure healthcare access to patients, while allowing a concierge physician to maintain a viable practice. Concierge doctors provide patients with the time they need, when they need it, allowing the concierge doctor to have a greater opportunity to catch illnesses early on and decrease the chance of future hospitalization. A concierge medicine practice is optimized to ensure the highest level of patient-centered care.
More Time For You
Concierge doctors have fewer patients than traditional practices, and therefore have more time to spend with you. An average doctor at a traditional practice may see 3,000 to 4,000 patients per year, whereas a concierge doctor manages dramatically reduced patient community. The reduction in the amount of patients allows the concierge doctor to expand the services to the concierge medicine patients, and therefore spend much more valuable time with each patient.
Freedom To Heal
Time is the key benefit to concierge medicine. The concierge doctor dedicates more time to his patients, and from time, flows benefits. This time allows the concierge physician to: allow direct access to patients, consider all the relevant factors to a patient’s health, implement plans of treatment free from third party dictations, and create truly personalized care.
Concierge medicine provides concierge doctors a greater opportunity to catch illnesses, control existing conditions, and reduce the incidence of hospitalization. Let us not forget that a smaller practice also means the end of crowded waiting rooms, and the welcomed option of same day visits or phone consultations.
The Future of Healthcare
Modern concierge medicine provides affordable, personalized healthcare programs with expanded access, at affordable rates. These programs are designed to ensure the highest level of care, while making them available to more patients. Concierge doctors are now offering these affordable solutions through direct-pay or membership programs across the country.
Concierge medicine will continue to grow and gain popularity among patients that value the direct access, personal care, and patient-centered focus that a concierge doctor provides. Traditional healthcare will face many challenges as The Affordable Care Act reaches full implementation nationwide. Forecasts predict that current existing shortage of physicians will continue to grow as new patients enter the marketplace under The Affordable Care Act. Patients who find themselves dissatisfied with the access to, or quality of, their healthcare will have an alternative solution. Concierge medicine will offer them a high-quality choice for their healthcare.
Jospeh Kaminski D.O.
Personal Care Medicine
941.244.0178