Patients Do Get It: The Changing Face of Healthcare Today

Patient perceptions of the pros and cons of concierge medicine have begun to change “where the “rubber meets the road”…meaning, when that individual patient’s primary care physician (PCP) who is making the conversion.

Time was, patients would react negatively, asking their doctor “Why are you leaving me?” or …”You are looking to make even more money off me?”

Pretty harsh words -particularly for physicians who care deeply about their patients but find their backs pressed firmly against the wall.

Some people questioned physicians’ rights to concierge practices insisting that physicians have a moral imperative to see even more patients given the rapidly declining number of practicing PCP’s.

That said, patients who are motivated to improve their quality of care and/or ensure continued access to the PCP of their choice, will insist on their rights to contract with their physicians to that end. Patients have grasped that their PCP’s are under continuous assault by a system that makes it impossible for them to provide care the way they used to.

It has become common knowledge that the 21% decline in Medicare reimbursements, slated for 2012 (after numerous delays), will be going into effect as there is insufficient budget and/or political will to delay it further.

Patients do get it!

  1. In business, when 60 cents of every dollar goes to “fixed” overhead, you might get to keep 40 cents.
  2. If your paymaster cuts you by 21 cents, your 40 cents becomes 19 cents.
  3. When 40 cents becomes 19 cents, that’s a 50+% cut in physician’s “take home”!

Patients now realize that for physicians, it’s become a matter of survival! Patients understand survival…and thus, no longer ask “why are you leaving me”.

They are also becoming more aware of the very considerable health benefits awaiting them as patients within a well-run, concierge practice (to be continued).