There are several reasons physicians are drawn to alternative practice models, such as direct pay and concierge medicine. For Doug Pitman, M.D., the most meaningful benefit of switching to concierge care was the ability to restore balance to his life, according to a commentary in MD Magazine.
"It is about pursuing a successful primary care medical practice that promotes wellness for your patients and financial security for yourself," Pitman wrote. "It is about balancing the time allotted to you by the concierge medical model so that hours spent at the office are enjoyable as you provide your patients with the best preventative medical care available while invigorating yourself with family activities and enjoyable avocations."
For many years, the alternative--sticking with traditional practice--put Pitman on the proverbial treadmill of patient visits paused only to fret about the bottom line. The unexpected death of his longtime clinical partner seven years prior to opening his concierge practice helped put his dissatisfaction with the running the old practice in perspective, he noted, adding that his partner would have loved the new practice.
While many doctors who have followed paths similar to Pitman's have shared similar sentiments about finding their joy in medicine restored, some detractors have gone so far as to call the concierge model "immoral and unethical" because patients must pay for membership, plus catastrophic insurance, out of pocket.
In a recent exclusive interview with FiercePracticeManagement, Jeffrey S. Gold, M.D., founder of one of the first direct primary practices in Massachusetts, addressed several common criticisms of direct contracting practices.
As for the argument that doctors drastically reducing their patient panels, often from thousands to hundreds, exacerbated access problems, Gold said, "I ask critics how well we're resolving the access problem now. … Long term, the way you fix the access problem is by having a model of primary care that students want to do."
To learn more:
- read the commentary