From another thread:
Now you're pointing out practices that do something similar at reasonable prices. Since I'm without a primary at this time, I'm intrigued.
Do those business models merge well with folks who have insurance? For example, I have good insurance so labs (Well, anything that Quest can do.) are free to me and specialists may be seen without referral at affordable costs. However, using insurance for my primary care is a pain. They're always rushed and they never get a chance to get to know me since they're always trying to get through as many patients per hour as the insurance companies say they should. I've spent years in massive frustration over the fact that I can assemble a team of excellent specialists but I just can't find a primary in whom I have confidence to quarterback the whole shebang.
I could see combining the two approaches but I'm wondering if there's some sort of gotcha that might prevent that from being workable.
I once had a primary that I liked and she changed her business model to something conceptually similar. The difference was that she charged a $2000 (or was it $3000?) initiation fee at the first visit. Yes, it would be a 3 to 4 hour visit where she personally took an extensive history but it was still multiple thousands of dollars to get started then it was something like $200/month after that. She would have nothing to do with insurance. The care was top-flight but I just couldn't stay with her when her prices went that high.If you're self insured a direct primary care doctor (DPC) is the best thing going.
Now you're pointing out practices that do something similar at reasonable prices. Since I'm without a primary at this time, I'm intrigued.
Do those business models merge well with folks who have insurance? For example, I have good insurance so labs (Well, anything that Quest can do.) are free to me and specialists may be seen without referral at affordable costs. However, using insurance for my primary care is a pain. They're always rushed and they never get a chance to get to know me since they're always trying to get through as many patients per hour as the insurance companies say they should. I've spent years in massive frustration over the fact that I can assemble a team of excellent specialists but I just can't find a primary in whom I have confidence to quarterback the whole shebang.
I could see combining the two approaches but I'm wondering if there's some sort of gotcha that might prevent that from being workable.