Replies to post #117482 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

I’m curious to know how many readers of this board have concierge medical care and whether they are satisfied with the service.

[DewDiligence]

Direct primary care is gaining popularity as a way to pay for routine healthcare; will it work for Medicare patients?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/health/direct-primary-care-providers-extend-concierge-services.html

On the road 50 hours a week, the drivers who work for Becker Trucking, headquartered in Seattle, have little trouble finding cheap eats at the all-night diners lining the interstates of the Pacific Northwest. But many drivers were struggling with chronic poor health, and the company’s health costs were rising fast. What his employees really needed, the company president realized, was better access to doctors.

So he turned to a novel solution. Becker pays $54 per employee per month to a primary care provider called Qliance. Employees get unlimited doctor visits, 24-hour e-mail access to the medical staff, and same-day or next-day appointments. There is no insurance involved in their primary care: no expensive premiums, no complicated claims, no mysterious denials.

… This type of health care model is called direct primary care, and it is getting a closer look not just from businessmen like Mr. Riordan, but also from researchers and government officials who see it as an effective way to lower costs.

…“Health insurance is supposed to protect you against risk, like car insurance does,” said Dr. Bliss. “We don’t insure our cars for tire changes and tune-ups.”

…Doctors who work for Qliance are salaried, Dr. Bliss said, reducing the financial incentive to order unnecessary tests. Direct primary care practices keep costs low by sidestepping the bureaucracy associated with insurance and reducing unnecessary and expensive trips to the hospital or emergency room, she said.

…Such practices already operate in 24 states, treating more than 100,000 patients, according to the Direct Primary Care Coalition. Physicians at Qliance, one of the larger practices, will care for more than 10,000 patients this year, double last year’s number.

…At the moment, however, laws in many states make it difficult for physicians to contract directly with patients; such an arrangement is sometimes viewed as a form of insurance, subject to regulation because states view it less as a doctor practice than as a prepaid health plan.

But direct primary care may well have its biggest impact in Medicare. Officials are desperately seeking ways to rein in the rising costs for the more than 48 million beneficiaries in the program.

…Without a change in federal law, doctors who contract directly with patients cannot treat Medicare patients. Direct primary care doctors tend to be those who have opted out of Medicare and can charge whatever they want, but they cannot bill Medicare for reimbursement, nor may their patients.