Program specifically designed for cardiologists, gynecologists, and other
select medical specialties; company reports boom in interest
Rockville Centre, NY – April 2, 2013 – The nation’s pioneer in hybrid concierge medicine, Concierge Choice PhysiciansTM (CCP), has introduced the first targeted and viable concierge program for specialists, including cardiologists, gynecologists, rheumatologists, gastroenterologists and geriatricians. Called Concierge Choice SpecialtyCareSM, the new program employs the CCP hybrid model to offset many of the economic and professional challenges that specialists continue to grapple with under the changing healthcare marketplace.
“We are seeing tremendous interest in our unique model from specialists, especially cardiologists, gynecologists and gastroenterologists,” said Wayne Lipton, managing partner for CCP. “We tested our membership model with various specialties and have now expanded it into a national program. These physicians are looking for options - besides simply selling their practice to a corporation - to allow them to maintain a viable practice and care for their patients.”
CCP’s specialty care program is intended for specialists who provide care related to their specialty, but who have become in many respects the core provider of care for their patients. The model works best for specialists who have a stable patient base where they provide ongoing care and who have low turnover in their practice. Specialists with episodic or uncertain care patterns (e.g., oncologists and orthopedists) typically have difficulties sustaining the model.
While some specialists have considered full-model concierge programs, Lipton sees a number of problems with such an approach. In traditional full-model concierge programs, physicians close their practice to all but a small percentage of patients who can afford and want a concierge program. One concern is that full-model concierge requires specialists to shed a majority of patients that have come to rely on them.
Lipton has other cautions as well. “Full-model concierge programs often interfere with insurance contracts,” he says. “They also interfere with primary care physicians referrals. Most specialists rely in part on a referral stream as the source of new patients. The great concern in the past has been how to maintain their referrals while in concierge program. We believe that we have solved the problem. We designed Concierge Choice SpecialtyCare to allow specialists to continue to see new patients as they perform episodic care or procedures, while respecting the relationships with other physicians. The answer is a hybrid program.”
Concierge Choice SpecialtyCare incorporates many of the elements of CCP’s successful hybrid model of concierge care. The hybrid concierge model provides medical services not covered under the patients’ traditional insurance policies. For a reasonable fee--equal to the cost of a daily latte from a local coffee shop-- concierge patients receive comprehensive preventive care, convenient scheduling, less waiting time, direct access to their physicians through private phone numbers, cell phones, email, and other services.
“If we are going to maintain a strong and viable system for specialists, we must offer options for physicians who feel their practices being squeezed by decreasing reimbursement and increasing overhead,” noted Lipton. A hybrid program with its source of private revenue is an option that keeps good doctors in the system and ensures access to all patients.”
About Concierge Choice Physicians
Concierge Choice Physicians™ is a private company headquartered in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Concierge Choice Physicians offers a hybrid medical practice option so that doctors can provide both traditional and concierge-style medicine within a single practice. The company works with medical practices in 20 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington D.C. For more information, visit www.choice.md or call 877-888-5590.
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