Another Benefit of Concierge Medicine
With all the concern over spreading illnesses, low volume medical practices give patients more peace of mind. The waiting areas are less crowded and sick visits are few and far between. Concierge practices also usually designate one room for those types of appointments, keeping sick patients away from those in for well visits.
“Low volume private concierge practices like ours have the advantage of schedule flexibility," Executive Medicine of Texas Dr. Elizabeth Cox says. "And since we know so much about our patients medically, many of their concerns can be handled over the phone between physical exams. But if they need to be seen, it’s almost always the same day."
While emergency rooms and crowded urgent care centers can have patients leaving with more illness than they came in with, the same is true for large medical practices who see high volume traffic due to their over-crowded waiting areas. The average insurance-driven primary care office sees upwards of 30 patients per day, per doctor. For an office of five providers, that’s approximately 150 patients that grace the waiting room per day, with no time to sanitize between patients.
“We have all seen the rise in patient load over the years," Executive Medicine of Texas founder and Dr. J. Mark Anderson says. "Quite frankly, it hasn’t been good for the doctor or the patient."
Concierge medical practices have some distinct differences from traditional medical practices. Generally, they are low volume and usually have a capped number of patients per physician. Since these offices do not accept insurance, patients are expected to pay after each visit or go on concierge programs. Most of these programs start with an extensive half-day exam and then cover primary care visits, laboratory testing and imaging for the course of a year.
These types of practices have become more popular over the years due to high demand for primary care and the rise of the yearly insurance deductible. But given the new rise in public health, their popularity has reached new levels.
"There are so many benefits to switching to concierge medicine, like spending as much time as you need during visits and building that relationship," Dr. Anderson says. "Maybe that’s why the physicians at our practice can focus on keeping our patients healthy rather than managing so much illness.”
