"I worked many years serving the interests of insurance companies, major corporations and special interests. Over time, I discovered issues in medicine that caused me great distress. These are issues that are kept low key and not explained to students in medical school. First and foremost, the major health care insurances and companies do not care about you as an individual. They care about their bottom line and profit margins. Do not be fooled by advertisements and smiling faces. If you have ever been caught up in the world of big medicine, then you know what I mean. Another issue that people don’t know is that procedure prices are hidden and inflated to give insurance companies bargaining room. I want to change that. I am going to post procedure prices for you to see so you will know what you are getting. I have decided to go with a business model that you may not be used to seeing. I am offering cash only or membership services. What this means is that you will not be held ransom to what the insurance company wants to pay. Insurance has become incredibly diverse and offer different services to different people. Insurance is not the same as it used to be. Insurance was never intended to cover all the things that are now expected. We now deal with preferred and non-preferred providers, limited coverage based on formularies and high deductibles that essentially make it useless to have insurance for primary care services. Insurance is really intended for catastrophic, illness, hospitalizations and expensive diagnostic tests. It is much better to be able to contract directly with your doctor for basic services and bypass the middleman. The model I am providing is that of a choice of a membership or a fee per visit that falls below the cost of an urgent care visit. When you are faced with a high copay or high deductible you often must decide whether an office visit is worth it. Urgent care visits can cost upwards of 100 dollars and essentially provide no long-term follow-up. Membership services offer you the option of paying one monthly fee that provides you with increased access if you need it. Personal phone calls, email access and rapid appointments (most the same day) will be included. If you are sick, it is pointless to wait 2 weeks to get in to see your doctor. I will also do away with the forced rapid scheduling that the insurance driven model employs. It is impossible to see a patient, listen to the problem and come up with a plan in 7-10 minutes. My hours will be such that regardless of your work hours, you will be able to get in to see me. I want to offer to spend what time is needed face to face with the patient. Another issue is what happens if you are too sick to make it in to the office. That is simple. I will come to see you! House calls used to be the mainstay of a family medical practice but corporate, insurance driven medicine has done away with that much needed service. I will bring that back."
