‘concierge’ doctors
we can recommend integrative treatments that include lifestyle factors that can prevent medical problems and promote longevity and well-being.” The concierge model includes a monthly or annual fee – ranging from $1,800-and-above per year (usually not covered by Accessible (and longer) appointments insurance) – and the promise that and doctors who prescribe patient wellness the practice will limit enrollment in order to deliver on their commitment. In fact, the cap on patient membership is critical to these goals – a typical primary By Co n n ie G e n tr y | P h o to g ra p hy by Joh n Micha el S imp s on care practice may have 2,000-plus patients per physician, according to The Physicians Foundation. A concierge practice rarely, if ever, exceeds 600 patients per doctor, so access is readily available in face-to-face, email and telehealth options. But access is not the only, or even main, patient benefit. “The fact that we are available to our patients is really not what the patient is paying for,” noted magine calling your doctor and getting a same-day Dr. Jessica Burgert of MDVIP/Chapel Hill Family appointment. Imagine that doctor recognizing you and Medicine. “The annual fee goes toward that testing/labs/ knowing your medical history because you are one of time spent in prevention and wellness at the annual visit. only a few hundred patients they see as opposed to one The increased access is just an added bonus as we have among thousands. And imagine the doctor spends all more time to spend with our patients. The benefits are the time needed in your appointment, as opposed to the time, attention, collaboration and coordination of care, 10- to 15-minute visits that have become the trademark of wellness care, personalized medicine, cutting-edge care, overloaded traditional medical practices. family atmosphere, the entire staff knows the patients, The more time The idea of more time with patients, coupled with [the] intimately, comfortable and welcoming environment we get to spend comprehensive medical care and referrals, are the and so on.” with patients, particularly those underpinnings of the increasingly popular “concierge The annual fee at CHFM covers a wellness and with chronic, doctor” model. Those goals undergird the spread in prevention program that entails an extensive evaluation complex or Chapel Hill and surrounding communities of concierge including comprehensive lab work, cardiovascular and multiple medical challenges, medical practices customized for the individual that offer peripheral vascular evaluation, agility testing and an the better the accessible appointments, plenty of doctor-patient time assessment of body mass composition. The results of outcomes.” and doctors who advocate for patient wellness. the tests are reviewed during an in-depth, 90-minute – Dr. Deborah “Time is such a precious commodity,” said Dr. appointment with the doctor, which initiates the Ann Ballard Deborah Ann Ballard, a primary care physician at Duke proactive physician-patient relationship that the doctors Integrative Medicine, “and the more time we get to spend hope to establish. with patients, particularly those with chronic, complex “We review in detail the patient’s health history, or multiple medical challenges, the better the outcomes. the testing results, and health and wellness goals,” Dr. And the better we get to know our patients, the better Jill Lambert of MDVIP/CHFM explained. “We also
take their time
I
28
chapelhillmagazine.com
November 2021