Doctor charges $500 fee per year

[scagnt83]

Concierge Dr services are getting pretty common in my area. Ive seen annual fees of $1k -$3k.

If you go to the Dr multiple times a year, it could be worth it. If you go once a year or less, its a waste of money.

You can get same day and next day appointments, no waits over 15min, 24h access to telemedicine and nurses. etc. They actually spend a significant amount of time with you during appointments and create customized healthcare plans for patients that can even involve specialists in the decision making.

But they also do enhanced physicals and medical testing. The annual physical they give has a few thousand dollars worth of scans and tests included in it. (included in the retainer pricing)

For someone like me, who hasnt been to the Dr in a few years... no way I would do it. But my 70 year old father who goes every 3 months, he loves it and gladly pays the $1500 fee. For him its not having to wait. For my mom, its all the enhanced scans and tests they do. But in today's medical world, there certainly seems to be a desire for this service.

 

[Todd King]

This is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while! Why would anyone pay extra to a doctor for the things they should be doing anyway?

Find another doctor!

 

[Yagents]

My relative is dealing with long covid, no doctors will coordinate her care or respond. So she hired a concierge doctor, even with plan G, but is worth every penny as she contacts him 3x a week via text or email with immediate response

 

[fed up]

Since the split with my doctor I have been using Sesame. My MDVIP was $400/quarter plus deductible for office visit, plus cost of lab work for quarterly blood work....just to get refills!. Sesame docs do virtual visit for under $50 and give me 1yr of refills. If I need a doctor for something serious, I will find one. But for maintenance junk? No way

 

[shooter]

My relative is dealing with long covid, no doctors will coordinate her care or respond. So she hired a concierge doctor, even with plan G, but is worth every penny as she contacts him 3x a week via text or email with immediate response

Just curious.
You said that your relative gets immediate help from her doctor.
How do you know if it is the doctor, or a nurse practitioner
if the contact is via text?
When I see my family doctor, most of the time the visit
is with a nurse practitioner.

My thought being, if I pay a concierge fee, it better the
doctor that sees me or talks to me via text or phone.

Shooter

 

[Yagents]

Just curious.
You said that your relative gets immediate help from her doctor.
How do you know if it is the doctor, or a nurse practitioner
if the contact is via text?
When I see my family doctor, most of the time the visit
is with a nurse practitioner.

My thought being, if I pay a concierge fee, it better the
doctor that sees me or talks to me via text or phone.

Shooter

The response is from the doctor, regardless of how it is communicated.

 

[scagnt83]

When I see my family doctor, most of the time the visit
is with a nurse practitioner.

This is one of the main reasons the service is getting popular. You get a solid 30-45 minutes with the actual doctor when you visit. And you dont have to wait longer than 15min total to see them.

I know based on my parents experience, with texts, the nurse practitioner assigned to each doctor screens the texts first. They handle basic stuff like a rx refill. True medical issues get forwarded to the doctor.

 

[scagnt83]

My relative is dealing with long covid, no doctors will coordinate her care or respond. So she hired a concierge doctor, even with plan G, but is worth every penny as she contacts him 3x a week via text or email with immediate response

My mom just had 3 surgeries in the span of 6 months. The concierge doctor handled all the communication and coordination of the specialists, surgeons, hospitals, therapists, etc. She was very impressed, just had to deal with a single contact person at her doctors office for most of the whole thing.

Basically, they act as a "patient representative" when you are dealing with other providers. They not only help with coordination of care, but also with scheduling, billing, insurance, etc. for the other facilities too. Without it, she would have dealt with 4 or 5 different entities and their various representatives, instead she just had a single contact person for it all.

 

[scagnt83]

This is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while! Why would anyone pay extra to a doctor for the things they should be doing anyway?

Find another doctor!

Because doctors dont do that.

You dont wait 15 minutes... you wait 30min to an hour... just to wait again in the little room. With this, your scheduled appointment with the doctor is actually your scheduled appointment with the doctor. And if they are running behind at all, they text/call to let you know how late to arrive in order to not have to wait.

Most doctors dont give you a full 30 minutes of their time when you visit. You are often lucky to get a full 10 minutes of their time. The rest is the nurse practitioner, or sometimes its even just the nurse who sees you. This guarantees you a minimum of 30 minutes with the doctor per visit. Even longer for your annual physical, you actually meet him in his office for part of that and sit and talk with him.

No doctor I know of does enhanced scans and tests for your annual physical. And some concierge services offer this 2x per year even.

I also have not seen a doctor offer a personalized health plan for people that is tailored for them not just by the doctor, but nutritionists, physical therapists, and other specialists as well.

Like I said, if you are healthy and see the doctor once per year or less. Not for you. If you have chronic health conditions, it can be very useful.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

When I see my family doctor, most of the time the visit
is with a nurse practitioner.

You may know this but FWIW, NPs and PAs aren't "regular" nurses/assistants.

Most of them have extensive educations, make decent money, and can prescribe meds and diagnose health conditions on their own.