Our grandparents probably will remember the old-fashioned family doctor as a respected member of the community. Doctors used to treat patients based solely upon the medical condition and symptoms which were presented by patients, free of any external influences. Patients knew they were assured of the very best care that was available and had all of the treatment options outlined for them by their physicians.
This is something we have lost with modern medicine.
A modern medical practice will derive its income from one primary source: insurance companies.
Medical insurers are responsible for paying the bulk of the cost of treatment recommended by physicians, however their influence within the sacrosanct doctor/patient relationship extends much deeper. Despite the patient being the decision maker as to what treatment recommended by their physician should be, the physician is frequently constrained from recommending treatment options which are not approved by the insurer. Automatically, there are limitations placed upon medical practitioners on what they can and cannot recommend.
Even when a treatment course is mandated, there will be serious issues in persuading an insurer to follow the recommended treatment regime. Time may be lost which may not be available to the patient given the prognosis. The consequence for patients is that they may not receive the most appropriate form of treatment available with severe ramifications for their health. There is also an indirect impact on the sanctity of the patient/doctor relationship and a lack of confidence in the medical practitioner.
Insurers also complicate practice administration. Modern practices must carry a large administrative overhead to manage the requirements of medical insurers. Staff are frequently devoting all of their time to seeking insurance company approval for treatment payment and handling the burgeoning bureaucracy which has sprung up around them. At a time of soaring health care costs for the nation, a large chunk of medical costs is eaten up by insurance company profits and the imposition of administrative costs, rather than on direct application to making people better. There is also the loss of doctors’ time in dealing with administrative chores rather than looking after patients – should a doctor be tied up dealing with insurance company paperwork or is their time better spent looking after their patients?
Concierge medicine provides a working model which breaks the hold of insurance companies on a medical practice, and restores the doctor/patient relationship. Patients only pay for the services they use plus a retainer for the doctor to be on call. There is no cumbersome insurance company paperwork to intrude on the treatments which can be recommended or followed. Patients are able to have full confidence in their physicians and trust that the advice they receive is unaffected by financial considerations and is totally focused on the medical and care issues affecting them.
With healthcare costs spiraling, every dollar spent by patients (who ultimately foot all of the bill through insurance company premiums, federal and state taxes and co-pays) needs to be accounted for. In some instances, administration costs are accounting for more than 15% of healthcare dollars spent, and this is before the profit element is added to the equation. It is not inconceivable that a quarter of the healthcare budget within a traditional medical practice model is being eaten up by insurance companies and bureaucracy to cater for them. By allowing the patient to exercise full control over what money is spent and who it is paid to, healthcare and medical bills become much more affordable for patients and they gain access to the full range of treatment recommendations without an insurer calling the shots on what can be prescribed by their doctor.
Find out more about private healthcare and Concierge medicine news
Related posts:
- Improving Patient Care by Focusing the Doctor’s Attention on Them
- Delivering Effective and Affordable Patient Care
- Concierge Medicine is How Medicine Should be Practiced
- Concierge Medicine Enjoys Growing Popularity
- Helping Out Healthcare With IT Consulting
- Healthcare Improvement By IT Consulting
- Choosing the Right Family Doctor Can Be Challenging
- The Job of a Physician Assistant
- What a Family Doctor is
- Healthcare In San Antonio
0 Comments.