Health Trends 2013: Paying Your Doctor An Annual Fee

In today’s healthcare environment, neither doctors nor patients are satisfied with the traditional primary care model.

As noted by iVillage.com, 2013 health trends will see big growth in the field of concierge medicine:

“The new affordability of concierge medicine is driving the middle class to it in droves,” says Matt Jacobson, CEO of SignatureMD, a concierge medicine provider. “Over the last five years, it’s increased 500 percent and the trend promises to accelerate because of a looming doctor shortage, a graying population that will need more health care, and the advent of Obamacare, in which 30 million previously uninsured Americans will enter the health care system,” Jacobson explains. Some of the advantages of concierge medicine include lower overall health care costs and more personalized and preventative care. The downside is these services are not typically covered by insurance and retainer fees may not cover the costs of testing, medications or other services provided by your doctor. You may not want to get rid of your policy entirely in the event of emergency care and hospital visits. Even so, Jacobson notes that a typical family of four can actually save money using a concierge physician by opting for a higher deductible with their existing insurance plan and using the savings to pay the retainer.

Concierge medicine, once coda for “rich people’s medicine,” is now a mainstream phenomenon as doctors will negotiate cash costs with their uninsured patients or tailor their practice to accommodate those who buy into their services via companies like SignatureMD concierge care, ensuring unfettered access to their favorite doctor, regardless of place and time.

There are many terms for this: boutique medicine, retainer medicine, executive health, VIP medicine, or personalized medicine. Concierge medicine is the solution for doctors, and SignatureMD differentiates itself from competitors by enabling physicians to maintain their integrity and independence in today’s difficult healthcare environment. It’s a win-win for patients who need focused attention on their health and the perks of top-of-the-line bio-marker testing and evaluations, for example.

Affiliated SignatureMD physicians streamline their practices to a manageable number of patients (typically 300-600) with personalized service, provide the highest quality care, offer 24-7 availability, and maintain other exclusive amenities. In exchange for this enhanced personal attention, patients pay an annual fee that enables physicians to improve care delivery and to offer preemptive screenings that will stave off life threatening illnesses.

The annual fee includes the yearly comprehensive executive exam and baseline tests that are cutting edge and part of the wellness ethos that SignatureMD employs in its strategy to keep people out of hospitals, as well as reverse chronic disease or at the very least manage the symptoms much easier.

The SignatureMD Advanced CardioMetabolic Screening enables your physician to identify risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the two most concerning medical epidemics in America.

Cardiovascular disease begins well before you are felled by a heart attack or stroke.

SignatureMD doctors want you to understand that:

  • It is not just the amount of cholesterol but also the type and size of cholesterol particles that impact risk.
  • Chronic low grade inflammation accelerates the progression of cardiovascular disease.
  • People with genetic predisposition for early onset of the disease require aggressive treatment.
  • Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.

SignatureMD’s Advanced CardioMetabolic Panel provides you and your personalized physician with key insights into your cardiac risk based on the gathered results. These results will provide the physician with key information to use in the development of your personalized health and wellness plan.

Before a person is a full-blown Type-2 Diabetic, they will experience several changes in three key areas:

  • disruption in normal insulin functioning
  • hormonal changes
  • immune system activation

In most cases, with the right medical treatment and lifestyle changes, type 2 diabetes can be avoided or delayed. The Advanced CardioMetabolic Screening will help you and your physician to understand how your body is functioning in each of these areas and where treatment needs to be focused.

Source(s)

I. http://www.ivillage.com/health-news-trends/4-b-510255#ixzz2HKoFpX8X

About SignatureMD

SignatureMD is one of the nation’s largest firms providing initial conversion and ongoing support services to concierge medicine physicians. SignatureMD currently partners with over 200 affiliated primary care physicians and specialists across 35 states, and its network is rapidly expanding.