Concierge Medicine Puts the “Care” Back into Primary Care

Last week’s Los Angeles Times asks, and quite rightly so: “What happened to the family doctor? They’re overwhelmed with patients and paperwork and they’re leaving the field.”

The family doctor trade, the author says, is getting trickier and more time-consuming, and that’s fast making it an endangered species. The reasons are obvious to both doctors and patients. Those patients want more from doctors, the healthcare system wants more, but doctors have less time and energy to give.

They’re submerged in paperwork: medical records, prescription refill requests and imaging and lab reports. Working until midnight at home to catch up has as much appeal as (fill in the blank here). Plus, the advent of email has spawned online patient-doctor interaction for which no compensation is paid: Doctors are reimbursed only for face time with patients.

Physician Refocus

Finally, the author suggests, it’s time for doctors to refocus on medicine. At SignatureMD, we couldn’t agree more. That’s why we developed our unique concierge medicine model. It rewards both doctor and patient, who engage in a partnership based on the advantages that personalized healthcare has to offer.

No doubt we’ll continue to read about what’s wrong with primary care these days, but at SignatureMD, we’re focused on doing what’s right. We hope you’ll join us.
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