MDVIP: The New Way For The Rich To Get The Best Medical Care

[reprise85]

del

[reprise85]

My primary care physician recently switched to a program called MDVIP. You'd better pray it doesn't come to your local doctor's office unless you have a good deal of free cash lying around at your disposal.

MDVIP is a program that focuses on preventive care. It puts your doctor at your beck and call via his pager. You can call him or one of his partners any time, day or night. If you call for an appointment you will get a same day or next day appointment. The appointments can last up to an hour or more. Your medical files all get archived on a mini-CD.

In order to provide this level of care, your doctor has to cut his practice down from 2,000-3,000 patients to 600 patients. What is the criteria for selection? The simplest criteria there is: money. MDVIP costs $1,500 to join. No, that's not a one-time fee to join. That is an annual fee to maintain your membership in the MDVIP program as well as stay a patient of your doctor. This comes out of your own pocket and goes on top of all your insurance payments to your doctor.

MDVIP is simply the next step in the HMO health care model. Get more money out of your patients and do less medical procedures. Offer the best care for those with the most money. Leave those with shallow pockets out in the cold to find their own way. Long time patients politely shown the door because they don't have $1,500 per year to pay directly to their doctor. Since when did belonging to a primary care physician's practice become the equivalent of being a member of a country club, dues and all?

read more: http://www.isaacs.newsvine.com/_news...t-medical-care

My old family doctor, who my mom still sees (for now - she's not staying with him) and took care of my grandmother when she was dying, is joining this bullshit. I always disliked him - but this isn't something I'd think he would do.


According to wikipedia:

To supplement insurance reimbursements, MDVIP physicians charge patients an annual fee between $1650 and $1800 per year.[3] In addition to this annual fee, patients are responsible for applicable co-pays and co-insurance, and maintain primary care insurance coverage including Medicare.[4][5] In contrast to the direct care model, this revenue format runs the risk of audit or penalty as Medicare and other private insurance carriers cover a comprehensive wellness exam currently listed as part of the MDVIP package.[6]

MDVIP physicians are not directly employed by the company, instead they pay a royalty or franchise fee of $500[7] per patient per year for services such as patient conversion, marketing, branding, and other support.[8]

see
doctors cost too much and that's the biggest problem
bring on real universal health care. it is wonderful and will help everyone

[duovamp]

600 of your whiniest patients paying $1500 a year, meaning $900,000 off the bat. Then you get to collect their insurance money on top of it? Not a bad racket.

[reprise85]

It really pisses me off. My mom and aunt have been seeing the Doc for like 20 years. They got a call to fill out a "survey" about six months ago, and then this month got calls trying to convince them to pay the $1600 (what he charges). My mom is going from a $460 insurance plan this year to one that is $185/mo via Obamacare, and when she told the salesperson that the lady got really pushy and said if she really cared about her health she'd do this and since her new plan is so much cheaper she can afford it!

[T&T]

Originally Posted by duovamp

600 of your whiniest patients paying $1500 a year, meaning $900,000 off the bat. Then you get to collect their insurance money on top of it? Not a bad racket.

isn't the bigger racket the "MDVIP" brand?
they're collecting 500$ per patient for "patient conversion, marketing, branding, and other support"

300,000$ a year to digitize your medical files onto mini-Cd and a pager for the doctor.
That doctor must be an idiot to sign up for this service.

[reprise85]

my medical files are already digitized and tests results are released online.
i can reach my specialists on their cell phones if i need them.

the MDVIP brand is definitely a racket, but if they called up every one of the doc's patients (which they seem to have done in this case), i can see how they could demand $500 for each one. but not per year.

[MyOneAndOnly]

Thanks Obama

[sppunk]

I switched to a concierge physician four years ago and haven't regretted it since. Beats the hell out of a standard practice.

[reprise85]

Isn't there supposedly a shortage of PCPs in the country?

Sppunk, I think it might be different if someone builds their practice as concierge. But for someone who has been in business for 35 years to just dump all of their non-rich patients is terrible.

I don't know enough about health care reform, but ideally a doctor should always be able to do their job properly. Doesn't this just create more space between the upper class and everyone else? If a doctor wants to get paid more, why don't they just stop taking insurance and jump right into taking rich people's money? It seems ridiculous that a doctor could charge an annual fee and collect from insurance. Basically drinking from both ponds. Loophole?

[reprise85]

like, my psychiatrist doesn't take insurance and it's really expensive to see him for more than 20 minutes. but you pay for his actual time and can contact him whenever you need to, and it's all upfront. the idea that you have to pay a membership fee to see a doctor is terrible, and then they get the fee AND get the same money from insurance as they always have.

[slunken]

i wish you could just torrent medicine

[T&T]

Originally Posted by slunken

i wish you could just torrent medicine

webMD & silkroad.
let us know how that works out!

[slunken]

my arm still hurts from like 2 months ago