Response to a struggling system
In response to the growing dissatisfaction with the current healthcare system, an increasing number of doctors and patients alike are turning to a new trend in medicine: “concierge” or “boutique” medicine.
“The concept is that the patient has special privileges and receives special attention, usually from their primary care physician,” says Dr. Julie Silver, assistant professor in the Harvard Medical School’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Those special privileges include longer exam times, shorter waits, better emergency services, and even same-day appointments.
The cost of “concierge” care
The only down-side to concierge care is the cost. Patients pay physicians annual retainers for this specialized care. According to an article in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, those retainer fees range anywhere between $900 and $20,000 per year.
For older adults, the costs of concierge care can be even greater. Since older adults often have multiple medical conditions, they generally pay higher fees. One Miami practice was caught charging $1,500 annually to patients under age 45, while charging up to $3,000 for people age 65 and older.
An answer for older adults
Fortunately, there’s a way for older adults to enjoy all of the benefits of concierge care without the high price tag. The type of patient-centered care for which some people are paying as much as $20,000 per year comes standard with Erickson HealthSM, the nation’s largest and most completely integrated health care and wellness system for America’s aging population.
With Erickson Health, the doctor to patient ratio is five times better than the norm: 400 patients per doctor rather than the average 2,000.
“The facilities and ‘whole-istic’ approach are really important to the lifestyle that we have here and the continuance of our ability to live independently. Certainly there’s nothing on the campus that’s any more integral to that than the medical center,” says Gary Baldwin of Seabrook. “I’m seen immediately, right on time. I don’t have to get in my car and drive and then sit in a waiting room for an hour before I’m seen. This is a tremendous advantage.”
Baldwin says he and his wife, Ruth, an RN, also have more peace of mind knowing that Dr. Cefalu is right downstairs. “Dr. Cefalu is a tremendous clinician, and in my opinion he’s a superior physician,” he says.
“It’s difficult to find a competent physician, not that they’re not out there, but how do we know how to judge them? Here, we have doctors who were carefully screened and chosen by specialists who know how to interview and find competent people,” Baldwin says. “Somebody did all the homework and all I have to do is receive the benefits.”