What is Concierge Medicine?
It is a term used to describe a type of practice of medicine in which patients pay a doctor directly for enhanced medical care.
In a day where private insurance companies and Medicare are dictating how physicians practice, we at Shore Wellness and Med Spa want to get back to how medicine should be practiced. Due to massive bureaucracy, patients have lost the ability to simply call their doctor and get immediate health care. Doctors have been forced to run from room-to-room, often seeing 30 patients a day, and more importantly spending very little time with each patient. As a result, physicians are not able to advocate for a patient’s needs. A concierge physician’s panel size typically consists of 200 to 400 patients compared to that of a conventional physician which consists of anywhere from 2500 to 3000 patients. On average doctors are only allowed a 10 to 15 minute visit in a conventional primary care office whereas concierge doctors spend 30 minutes to 1 hour with each patient.
Concierge physicians are able to spend more time focusing on wellness care, prevention, and counseling. I’m sure you have heard of the old adage, “An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure”. Study after study shows that prevention helps to save lives, money, and time. Concierge patients save money by minimizing visits to urgent care centers because they can see their doctor right away. Concierge patients have fewer hospital visits as a result of the time spent at each appointment to focus on much needed preventive care and counseling to improve their health. Concierge patients are overall healthier as a result of more TIME. What this means is more time to listen, call specialists for referrals, return phone calls, answer medical questions, and help patients negotiate through our broken health care system when they become ill.
Why concierge medicine?
- Direct access to your doctor during and after hours via cell phone
- Same or Next Day appointments
- No waiting for long periods to see the physician
- Not feeling rushed when visiting your physician
- Save money by having less frequent visits to Urgent Care Centers or ERs
- An annual Wellness Exam beyond what’s typically covered by insurance