Doctors' Appointments

Beth Gallagher said:
Seems like most doctors are part of a "group" now, so they have all the rules they have to follow in order to maximize profits. A doctor who is independent and makes his own decisions is harder to come by.
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My GP was part of a practice that got bought by UVA Health Systems. I think he's a hybrid practitioner, with one foot in the "doing what's right" camp, and tho other in the "corporate robot" camp. Plus GPs seem to have a little more latitude. I find specialists to be more "standard response" kinda guys.

And I gotta say it sucks to be at the stage of life where I'm conversant on the different styles of different medical practitioners. How in the Hell did I get here???????
 
John Brunner said:
My GP was part of a practice that got bought by UVA Health Systems. I think he's a hybrid practitioner, with one foot in the "doing what's right" camp, and tho other in the "corporate robot" camp. Plus GPs seem to have a little more latitude. I find specialists to be more "standard response" kinda guys.

And I gotta say it sucks to be at the stage of life where I'm conversant on the different styles of different medical practitioners. How in the Hell did I get here???????
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My sister used to say "Retirement is when you quit going to work and start going to the doctor."
 
Beth Gallagher said:
Seems like most doctors are part of a "group" now, so they have all the rules they have to follow in order to maximize profits. A doctor who is independent and makes his own decisions is harder to come by.
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As I posted before, that was a provision of Obamacare. They wanted to eliminate small and (especially) one doctor practices so the government could monitor them more easily.
 
John Brunner said:
I just had an annual skin cancer screening done, not because I need it, but because last year I had a nasty something on the back of my neck and it took me almost 2 months to get in and have it looked at (I had Mohs surgery on my nose awhile ago and did not have a reason to go back.) The nurse said "It is spiraled and deep, like an aggressive form of cancer." Great. Thanks for making me wait. The biopsy showed it to be an infected mole. So now I go in once a year to remain an Active Patient, just in case.

I had this conversation with my nephrologist about me coming and burning an appointment just to keep my place in line. He told me that I didn't need to do that...I could send him a message if I needed to be seen and he'd fit me in without waiting.

My GP does a Wellness Check on me every 6 months. I don't fight it, for the same reason.
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I was sent a form letter from my GP that I was being dropped as a patient because of my non attendance. I only go in for symptoms and he knows that but I guess the medical industrial complex he works for doesn't. I called to make an appointment and was told I was no longer his patient. I went in with hubby for his wellness exam and complained to GP. He said I can just come in. To tell the desk he said so. Still waiting for a symptom to find out if it is so.
 
Mary Stetler said:
I was sent a form letter from my GP that I was being dropped as a patient because of my non attendance. I only go in for symptoms and he knows that but I guess the medical industrial complex he works for doesn't. I called to make an appointment and was told I was no longer his patient. I went in with hubby for his wellness exam and complained to GP. He said I can just come in. To tell the desk he said so. Still waiting for a symptom to find out if it is so.
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It's friggin' insane. You can't get appointments because doctors are so backed up, yet a chunk of the problem exists because their time is being consumed by some number of us holding a future spot "just in case." As I said, I submit to a "wellness check" twice a year because of this. It's not that big of a deal to do every 6 months.

My last GP converted to a "concierge program" while I was his patient (MD VIP.) You paid a $100/month retainer to stay on his roster. In exchange, he limited himself to no more than a 900 patient workload (he had been carrying 2,400 patients.) I think 600 existing patients signed up immediately. The $1,200/year got you a several hour "Executive Physical" complete with proprietary blood analysis at their Chicago lab, and you still paid for office visits. He shed many of the insurances he accepted to keep admin costs down, so you may have ended up filing for reimbursement on your own. He also kept slots open every afternoon for emergencies. Every appointment always started on time, and was never rushed.

I'm a cheap bastard. I only did it because I really liked the guy and I hate changing doctors, and I was making good money at the time. I also got a receipt for the physical and for a few years my insurance was reimbursing the $1,200. The difference in his stress level was obvious. I had a couple of emergencies and got same-day appointments for 4PM those afternoons. The guy retired in 2015 or so. Then I was back to the local family practice sitting in a crowded waiting room with the unwashed masses. I looked around after I moved here and there were no practices within reasonable distance who were participating in the program, but there are a handful of them in the larger region.

The fee does not seem to have gone up, and would mean over $1 million annual revenue to MD VIP for a full 900 patient roster, plus the doctor also gets the revenue from office visits. I don't know what the doctor's cut of that million dollars is.
 
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