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with a high-deductible insurance plan to cover contingencies like specialist visits and emergencies. MDVIP touts itself as the country’s largest physician network, with over 800 affiliated primary care doctors who practice personalized preventive health care. In the MDVIP practice model, the company says, physicians partner with patients to keep them healthy and help them achieve their wellness goals. Minsky describes it as a more personalized experience for the patient. “In family medicine, to me, one of the biggest enjoyments is being able to know patients,” he says. MDVIP forces a cap on the number of patients a practice can have—usually 600 or less compared to an average of 2,500 in a traditional practice. Patients also get comprehensive preventive care programs and customized wellness plans, along with annual physicals that include bloodwork and screening tests. “We don’t really have a waiting room,” says Minsky. “We’re usually ready for patients when they get there, and we’re able to spend time saying hello and catching up on what may have happened since the last office visit, and then you’re able to delve into the problem at hand and come up with solutions and remedies.” Rather than the usual 25-30 patients a day, concierge doctors spend a minimum of 30 minutes with about six to eight patients. Their practices take on a slower pace, patients are encouraged to call them on their cell phones, text or email if they have a problem, and it’s common to get an appointment on the same day. Some doctors even make house calls. This type of personalized service does come with a price tag: $1,650 for an annual “membership” with an MDVIP doctor and up to $2,000 with other doctors. (Concierge doctors also take all forms of insurance and Medicare.)
OLOL’s Dr. Curtis Chastain says he encourages patients to view the membership fee, which can seem unaffordable, as their insurance deductible.
DOING A BETTER JOB Dr. Curtis Chastain has been practicing medicine for 26 years and has been employed by Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center for 23 of those years. After starting to offer executive medical physicals in 2002 in an attempt to identify patients at risk for serious medical illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, he saw the potential for a different way of doing things. Six months ago, he sent out letters to all of his patients letting them know he was moving toward a membership-based model. For $2,000 a year, they could stay with him and start getting more personal attention or 1 2 W H AT ’ S N E W I N H E A LT H C A R E 2 0 1 6
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