Finding A New Doctor

When our Doctor changed his practice to concierge medicine we were left to find a new family practice/internal medicine physician.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I dislike the process of finding a new doctor.

I had had read doctors in private practice can refuse to see Medicare patients but hospitals cannot.  I was pretty burned by our experience and decided it would not be wise to choose another doctor in private practice.

The hospital in our community owns several clinics in the area.  I decided our safest bet would be to choose a doctor in one of those clinics. I don't know how these doctors are paid but I'm guessing they are paid a salary by the hospital.

Choosing a doctor in a hospital owned clinic meant we would likely be getting a different doctor from time to time as doctors entered and left hospital employment. 

It also meant chances were greater we would see a doctor of a different ethnicity than our own.  That's sometimes problematic for Bob.  He doesn't hear well and accents can be difficult.  The other thing we have to consider is humor.  Bob is a tease and humor doesn't always translate well.

Bob's hematologist is married to a doctor working in one of the hospital owned clinics.  I figured she was not likely to move as his speciality practice is well established.  She is Vietnamese.

She works great for me but was not as good a fit for Bob.  Eventually we switched him to a doctor with a geriatrics speciality.  She is from Slovenia. That situation seems to be working well.

Our community hospital also has some urgent care clinics.  One is located near us and I've used it a few times.  It's very nice to walk in and all your information already be in the computer.  All you need to do is have a seat and wait your turn.

I feel good about our decision to choose a hospital owned clinic.

Concierge Medicine

I noticed our family practice doctor had become frustrated and angry with the financial side of medicine in this country.  At the time I didn't think too much about that but I should have stopped right there and changed physicians.

We liked this young man, or at least we had at one time.  It became apparent once he went into private practice he was not capable of managing an office.  He began to blame others for his problems.  He felt he had been misled into family practice medicine when specialists were making a lot more money than he was seeing in his practice.  He was angry about Medicare, and insurance companies in general.

In time I received a phone call from his office inquiring if we would be interested in retainer fee/membership medicine.  Next came the letter informing us our doctor was changing his practice to this kind of medicine.

The thing that quickly grabbed my attention was he would no longer accept any forms of insurance.  Medicare/Medicaid claims cannot be filed by the patient so even if we'd been inclined to stay with his practice that alone would have been a deal breaker.

For a retainer fee he would be offering some services each year but anything above that the patient would pay up front and file their own insurance.

Knowing this young doctor I knew he was all about a more lucrative practice for himself but I also knew he preferred to practice preventive medicine.  He did not enjoy treating chronic conditions.

While I have no doubt the frustration level among doctors is high over insurance and Medicare I did not see the masses rushing to concierge medicine.  Doctors in our medical community were puzzled over our doctor's decision.

At this point I lost respect for our doctor.  I also felt bad for him because I felt his choices were going to disappoint him and lead to more anger and frustration.

If his choice worked he would have set up the following things:

1) Set in motion a two-tiered system that favored the wealthy.
2) He would no longer see the elderly or the poor as he would not accept Medicare/Medicaid.
3) His practice would be smaller allowing the time needed to care for his retainer patients.
4) He would not see patients with chronic illnesses as they must rely on insurance.  Why go to him and have to file your own when doctors' offices all over town file insurance for you?

We're now some two years out from all this.  His practice has gone bankrupt and my understanding is he's left the area.

My next post will be about choosing a new doctor.