Concierge medicine and Direct primary care are emerging remedies to the deep-rooted problem of traditional insurance-based healthcare models.
Concierge medicine allows for a direct relationship between a doctor and a patient, thereby eliminating the middlemen (insurance companies and corporate healthcare giants). Overhere, you can experience the patient-centric approach to your treatment.
Although this healthcare model has been in existence since the 1980s, the real growth happened at the onset of the 21st century, with a staggering ninefold growth between 2005 and 2010. Along with the growth of concierge medicine, there are several myths hovering around this healthcare system.
Today, we aim to address a few of these misconceptions here and put forward the facts. If you are curious about giving concierge medicine a shot or are new to this model of healthcare, this blog shall help you uncover the prevalent common myths.
Myth #1 - Concierge medicine is only for the rich and affluent:
This is the most common myth doing rounds. Focused on the quality of healthcare and accessibility, Concierge medicine promotes wellness and prevention and caters to a wide spectrum of patients. It has also become more affordable as it has evolved.
Although most concierge practices are otherwise known to cater to the needs of the upper middle class and high networth population, there are hundreds of concierge practices that are very affordable ($50-$100 per month) and cater to the needs of the low income/uninsured population.
These are aimed for patients that otherwise cannot afford the expensive health insurance plans. There are several benefits that concierge medicine brings along. Concierge medicine helps you save on your medical costs and enroll in a plan suitable to your needs. Concierge medicine is overall designed for people who value investment in health.
Myth #2 - Concierge medicine is only for the elderly:
This is the next common myth surrounding concierge medicine. Doctors who provide these services have reported that their patient base comprises both the young and the old.
Although the elderly benefit immensely from this type of detail oriented patient centered practice, the younger population also get enormous benefits due to the patient centered preventive approach that concierge medicine offers. This helps the young generation prevent chronic illnesses.
Additionally, many parents have their young children join concierge medicine as they wish to avail these services for their entire family.
Myth #3 - Health insurance gets replaced by concierge medicine:
Many people believe that concierge medicine replaces health insurance. The fact is that concierge medicine emphasizes preventive services and wellness because its point of focus is individualized healthcare. This ultimately helps to achieve enhanced treatment outcomes.
Concierge medicine primarily takes care of your outpatient patient primary care. A patient will require a trimmed traditional health insurance in conjunction with concierge medicine for broader medical needs like emergency room visits, hospitalizations, surgeries, super speciality visits, etc.
Overall, a concierge medicine membership fee plus a trimmed high deductible traditional healthcare insurance can be a cheaper option than a traditional all inclusive healthcare insurance plan.
Myth #4 - Concierge medicine is only for primary care:
This myth does not stand true. Concierge medicine is not only about providing primary care. Alongside the advantages of providing affordable and accessible primary care, it also caters to multiple fields like dermatology, cardiology, pediatrics, endocrinology, family medicine, etc.
Myth #5 - Concierge medicine misuses medical care services:
This myth is absolutely inaccurate. Concierge medicine promotes the effective and efficient use of healthcare services. Patients have the liberty to get round-the-clock access to their doctor. It is a convenient model of healthcare. There are longer consultation times with your doctor. This helps your doctor to address your problems promptly and thoroughly.
The concierge medicine model also believes in preventive health. Eventually, all of these measures help in early clinical intervention and better treatment outcomes.
Myth #6 - Concierge medicine does not follow a regulated healthcare system:
This belief is misleading in totality. Concierge medicine is a regulated healthcare model. It is compliant with the federal and state laws. Strict regulatory laws related to patient records and billing practices are followed.
Concierge doctors are licensed by the State medicine boards, and their businesses are registered with the State. They maintain the highest standards of ethical and legal healthcare services for the patient.
Myth #7 - Concierge medicine lacks in providing a comprehensive care to the patients:
The myth that concierge medicine does not provide comprehensive care is incorrect. This healthcare model believes in and promotes a patient-first policy. It offers a holistic approach for the patients. A patient can avail the privilege of an individualized treatment plan with preventive measures.
Additionally, extended consultation time with the doctor helps to avail discussions and evaluation of your health concerns in a detailed manner. The concierge medicine model also allows quick access to your doctor. This benefit helps in creating an enhanced communication channel between the doctor and the patient.
Your doctor is also involved in providing timely referrals to super specialists as and when needed in your case.
Myth #8 - Concierge medicine is not here to stay, it’s just a passing trend or fad:
The myth that concierge medicine is just a trend is untrue. It is an evolving and sustainable healthcare model. It believes in providing a holistic patient-centric approach. Ever since its debut in the 1980s, this model of healthcare has never shown a downward tick in its popularity.
The doctors have continued to adopt the concierge medicine model. The growing numbers in the enrollment of membership plans by the patients is also a strong proof of its acceptance among the masses. Currently there are approximately >15,000 direct patient care providers in the US and is exponentially growing.
Myth #9 - Access and privileges are the only things that concierge medicine is known for:
Concierge medicine offers numerous benefits to the patients. It does not provide just the access and privileges. This healthcare model functions with a customized treatment plan tailored to the patient’s needs. It focuses on preventive health which paves the way for holistic management of the patient’s health.
Concierge medicine also provides the benefit of extended consultation times along with direct communication channels between the doctor and the patient. These advantages help in nurturing a robust and trustworthy doctor-patient relationship that is definitely enormous than the privileges and accesses offered by concierge medicine.
“Ohh, I am losing the trust in my doctor” “My doctor no longer gives me an appropriate time to address my health concerns” “I feel so uncared for during my doctor visits” Do these questions sound familiar to you? Well, you are probably not the only one sailing on this boat if the answer is a “yes” to any of the above questions.
Unfortunately, a large number of people find themselves trapped in the web of traditional insurance-based healthcare models. These healthcare models are primarily governed by the insurance companies and the corporate healthcare systems.
Subsequently, this has also resulted in a strained relationship between the doctor and the patient. With increasing inflation rates and not-so-at-par earned wages, the patients are at the receiving end. With no other way out, the patients feel that they are unwillingly at the mercy of the insurance companies and corporate chain of healthcare systems.
On the other hand, the concierge medicine healthcare model has the advantage of 24/7 access to your doctor. It also provides same-day appointments and extended consultation times by your doctor. This is possible because your doctor has a limited number of patients scheduled for the day or week.
Concierge medicine membership fees paid directly to the providers are quite reasonable and you have the advantage of paying them monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Now let us move ahead and address a few more prevailing myths of concierge medicine practice.
Myth #10 - Concierge medicine is not meant for healthy people:
We all believe in the fact that health is wealth. The concierge medicine model also works alongside this fact. Hence, the myth that it is only meant for healthy persons does not hold ground. The concierge medicine model ensures that your optimal health is maintained by working on personalized healthcare plans.
Skilled doctors understand your health needs and work with you to ensure that you stay fit and healthy. Since the prime focus is on preventive care, concierge medicine helps you to remain healthy. It also promotes high precision and high performance medicine that is tailored to individual needs.
Myth #11 - Concierge medicine is not unique, it is just like any other healthcare provider:
This myth is incorrect since the concierge medicine model of healthcare believes in the holistic well-being of the patient. They have a cap on the number of patients (300-600 patients) who can avail of their memberships.
In return, you get a dedicated consultation time for yourself where your doctor is in no hurry to wrap up your appointment and offers more flexibility to you. Hence there is a remarkable difference between the traditional medical centers (each traditional medicine doctor has a 2000-3000 member patient panel) and the concierge medicine model.
Myth #12 - Concierge medicine is too costly / expensive:
This myth against concierge medicine again does not hold ground as availing a membership plan can help save you money. Because your concierge doctor spends 45-60 mins per visit, which is much more than the 8-minute average time that other practices offer, it gives a significant opportunity to address your health risks before they turn into a problem.
Statistics suggest that patients are 66% less likely to need specialist care and 65% less likely to visit emergency rooms. Many concierge medicine clinics charge a monthly fee of $80 - $300 per month. After having a look at these numbers, you would certainly feel that Concierge medicine does offer you more cost savings. Moreover, it is not always right to measure healthcare benefits by the dollars spent.
We also need to acknowledge the fact that, sometimes high quality services need to charge more to be able to offer the time and dedication that the patients need. Additionally, the total money you spend on concierge medicine fees plus the catastrophic insurance can still be less than what you pay the traditional health insurance plans.
Myth #13 - Doctors promote concierge services for their financial gains:
This myth is debunked by the fact that most doctors prefer concierge models to provide personalized and better care for their patients. This also helps the doctor build a healthy work-life balance. The concierge medicine model primarily believes in nurturing a strong trustworthy doctor and patient relationship. This helps in treatment compliance and enhanced treatment outcomes.
Moreover, the primary reason for doctors to switch to concierge medicine is not the money. They believe in direct patient care and want to avoid the interference and mandates placed by the traditional health insurance companies. They are typically fed up with the regulatory capture by the middle men, and hence left their prior traditional jobs in search of a fairer / efficient way to practice medicine.
Doctors are much professionally and personally happier and content practicing concierge medicine. These doctors take a risk by starting a small business on their own and even at their full capacity, they probably end up earning more or less the same that they might have made in a traditional insurance based healthcare system.
Myth #14 - Concierge medicine is all about out-of-the-pocket expenses, it is not covered by insurance:
This statement about concierge medicine is partly incorrect. The Concierge medicine membership fee covers the primary care visits, lab works, and in some cases, the basic prescription medications. In addition, with Concierge medicine, all lab work and prescription medicines are available at wholesale prices which are heavily discounted.Thus the monetary savings are passed on to the patients.
Moreover, there are no copayments or deductibles on concierge coverage payments. All you pay is the concierge membership fee. Additionally, some flexible savings accounts (FSA) can cover the concierge medicine fees, if the FSA administrator approves.
The patient typically needs to have an additional layer of catastrophic insurance to cover for the ER visits / hospitalization / Subspeciality cares because concierge doctor fees do not cover these services. Typically, the out of pocket cost of a concierge membership fee + high deductible catastrophic insurance plan is less than the premiums/copays/deductibles charged by the traditional insurance plans.
Myth #15 - Doctors feel that they would be bothered by the patients:
This myth is not true because the patient who avails the concierge medicine services has immense respect for the doctor and his or her time. The concierge medicine model encourages the well-being of the patient. Hence doctors always look forward to having meaningful conversations with their patients. Ensuring good health for their patients is their top priority.
Hence, they believe in nurturing a strong doctor-patient relationship. Infact, concierge doctors are almost always available on the personal cell phones to address their patient needs and their availability is one of the biggest perks of their service.
Myth #16 - Concierge doctors are underqualified and not experienced:
This myth about the concierge doctors being inexperienced and not qualified is not true. It is correct that a Concierge doctor sees fewer patients than their counterparts in the traditional model. But this does not compromise their expertise.
The concierge doctors are well-qualified, highly experienced, board-certified, licensed by the state, and have extensive educational credentials. If anything, they are proactive in getting additional certifications to showcase their skills, so they can provide premium quality of care to their select group of patients.
Like any other proven system of medicine, concierge medicine also known as boutique or membership medicine, retainer or platinum practice, VIP, or luxury medicine, too has its pros and cons, but the pros heavily outweigh the cons.
Concierge medicine promises to provide its worth despite all the misleading myths hovering around. It has a revolutionary approach to address your medical needs. Concierge medicine has a bucket of specialized, individualized, accessible, and a holistic treatment approach with the novelty of providing a patient-centric care.
This blog has attempted to clear all the common myths around concierge medicine. You can now confidently move ahead and invest in your health by selecting concierge medicine for you and your loved ones!
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