<p>Concierge doctors do, or at least give a number where they can be reached 24/7. That’s part the point of the concierge service – you get to pretend you live in the Marcus Welby era. </p>
<p>I really don’t understand what all this fuss is about. I don’t choose my doctors based on their etiquette. I choose them based on how well they deal with my medical issues. I assume there’s going to be some waiting, so I always take my nook. What’s the big deal?</p>
<p>When I got my osteoporosis dx, I wanted to see a specialist. I could have self-referred within my very large medical group, but since I know none of those doctors, I asked my primary to refer me, so she sent me to an endo. The first time I saw him, I waited almost an hour in the exam room. When he finally got to my room, he did not apologize. But he did spend quite a little bit of time with me, answering every question, allaying every fear, exploring every treatment option. By the time we parted, I felt that I had a really good handle on my condition and how to manage it. I’d rather have that than an apology any day of the week. </p>
<p>That means your insurance is paying and you are paying obly your copay or coinsurance. If the Dr didnt take insurance you’d be paying in full, and likely their FULL fee, not the insurance-negotiated fee (which is often 50 cents on the dollar)</p>
<p>Many of our specialists are affiliated with busy hospital practices. They juggle teaching schedules, surgeries and administrative duties and can occasionally run into an emergency or a delay. I fully understand and expect that that is a trade off for seeing someone whose time and reputation is in demand.</p>
<p>I can’t remember a time when this has happened that we didn’t get an apology that they were running late or a thank you for waiting. </p>
<p>We reluctantly joined a concierge practice a few years ago when our internist, along with many others in our area, made the switch, so I certainly would not expect to wait there unless there was a true emergency. </p>
<p>Nobody here has **** (whatever that means) about 10 minutes, 45 minutes seems to be the usual complaint. Waiting an hour in a nice restaurant is part of the experience and pleasure, if you are in a hurry to just eat you choose McDonalds. Waiting an hour in a in a room full of sick people is no pleasure at all.</p>
<p>“Waiting an hour in a nice restaurant is part of the experience and pleasure,”
Not for me!</p>
<p>“if you are in a hurry to just eat you choose McDonalds.”
Fortunately there are a LOT more choices, and they are usually not dictated by the insurance industry. </p>
<p>“shrink, I think I pay $25 per visit. I do have excellent health insurance through my husband’s employer.”</p>
<p>I see; thanks! </p>
<p>Keep in mind it is your husbands employer, and probably not you, that have the REAL choices. My husband is part of the team that helps decide on their group’s employee insurance plan options. Even though they are deep in the business, price plays a HUGE role in who they choose. Many employees (and Covered California) do not offer THEIR group because it is somewhat expensive. Although the group is constantly plagued by the limited choices and access for their patients mental health needs, he had no clue how that piece was going to work. </p>
<p>“And it was the insurance company that decided what was a “waste of money” ( $250??? seriously?). They might make a different decision depending on the specialty. How many folks here have wangled with their mental health benefits? (You don’t have to answer that.)”</p>
<p>I’m just making that assumption Shrinkrap, as I’m not sure who else would decide that. Whether it’s the insurance company or some other administrator, one day our policy required a referral for everything, and the next day they didn’t require a referral for anything. I’m assuming the only reason would be a cost benefit.</p>
<p>And you see the picture above my name? Those are my mental health providers. There is nothing that they can’t soothe. Stress, worry, anger, you name it. </p>
<p>Ha, that’s interesting because I do have my D’s and my husband’s doctors’ cell #'s. Maybe it’s because when I take D to see her doctor, we keep our visit brief. We stick with the medical issues and we’re in and out in less than 7 minutes, unless doc ordered testings to be done.</p>
<p>Stop with the blah blah blah and let your doctor talks and just listen. That does wonder!</p>
<p>I always call them on that; I can’t help myself. I would say, “I thought perhaps you didn’t realize I was here?” Then the doctor will always say, "Oh, I’m sorry…I ran longer than expected (or had an emergency) or something. I should just shut up but I can’t always help myself. Why is my time any less valuable than his? But it is true that I rarely go, so if I am there, I need to be, so I’m not going to jeopardize anything and go any further. </p>
<p>What is bothering people is the concept of an appointed time. I imagine if the OP had a dinner reservation for 7:00 she would want an apology if she was seated at 7:45.</p>
<p>“And it was the insurance company that decided what was a “waste of money” ( $250??? seriously?). They might make a different decision depending on the specialty. How many folks here have wangled with their mental health benefits? (You don’t have to answer that.)”</p>
<p>Busdriver, I was just doing my usual mental health rant; sorry. Lot’s of folks DO need authorizations to access a mental health benefits, and I believe it’s because the insurance company decided that THAT wasn’t a waste of money. </p>
<p>(I also bet your pcp wasn’t getting $250/ appointment for making a specialty referral! ) </p>
<p>Unless I’m one of the first a.m. appointments or one of the first after lunch break, I just assume they are going to run more and more behind as time goes on.</p>
Um not for anyone I know. And to compare to the topic of this thread, if you had a reservation, would you want to wait an hour to be seated? Standing around or sitting at the bar is “part of the experience and pleasure”. Thats funny.</p>
<p>I too don’t like to wait one hour for restaurant either. I purposely avoid the ones without parking. Life is too short for me and my husband to have to waste one hour of our time in any restaurant. </p>
<p>“Stop with the blah blah blah and let your doctor talks and just listen. That does wonder!”</p>
<p>Seriously, or are you joking? My last GP (who just retired) was a very nice lady. However, she’d listen (or not listen) to me for about a minute, talking about my issue, examine me briefly, and usually prescribe an antibiotic and a month of nasal steroids. Never did use that nasal spray. And then she’d spend 15 minutes talking about her brilliant and gifted daughter. So smart, top of the class, athletic, musician. The most amazing child in the universe.</p>
<p>So if I’d encourage her to talk for another fifteen minutes, she would have given me her cell phone number?</p>
<p>It is very unpleasant to have to wait a long time in the waiting room if you are sick and miserable or have a sick child, or getting docked pay for the time you are sitting there, or being made late to pick your child up, or simply getting more and more nervous about your possible diagnosis or the procedure you are about to go through. It is obviously an issue as you see more and more ER’s advertise their short wait times, or call ahead and wait at home programs.<br>
Even at a restaurant, if the order is taking longer than anticipated, the server will usually stop by and reassure you that it is coming, sometimes offer a free drink…even just that sort of courtesy…being told at check in that the doctor is running late, and maybe some vague idea of how long the wait will be would be nice.</p>
<p>"(I also bet your pcp wasn’t getting $250/ appointment for making a specialty referral! )"</p>
<p>I have no idea how much actually went to her, probably not much. But that’s what the insurance company pays to the office for a doctors visit, and since my company is self insured, I’m assuming they want whatever route will save them money. </p>
<p>Wow! $250 for every office visit is a remarkable amount of money! FWIW, most visits are paid at different rates depending on an agreed upon level of complexity and decision making. A group may bill an insurance company $250 for a “moderate” complexity visit, but around here, $250 would be at least three times the standard rate, at least for a psychiatrist in private practice. And of course, that is before overhead. </p>
<p>Really, wow, what a difference. I don’t know if it’s because the MD’s charge more (at least at this clinic) or if it’s a regional thing. I thought that was standard. They have a lot of office staff and a nice facility, plus you don’t have much waiting and they will see you same day. I guess if I was paying for it, I might look elsewhere, but for $20 copay, it works fine. And my new doctor seems much more interested in actually helping with the issues I have questions about. My old GP thought bioidentical hormones were just a bunch of hooey. Hard to coordinate care when one doc thinks it’s all BS.</p>