FEBRUARY 2022 - 1
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Feature Intro: Concierge Medicine: A New Frontier for Primary Care A year ago, a friend remembered the days when doctors made house calls and healthcare seemed more personal. While we can all agree good healthcare is important, high-quality healthcare can feel hard to find. Office wait times are on the rise. According to research in the journal Health Services Research (2021), wait times in emergency rooms have increased by 10% as of 2021, with average wait time over two hours. Wait times in primary care offices are roughly 18 minutes, but friends and colleagues report waiting longer than that for some appointments. Many doctors are limited in the time spent with patients and have heavy patient loads. If a patient has multiple concerns, they’re often told to make multiple appointments. If this sounds frustrating for patients, it’s upsetting for doctors as well. Research in the Journal of Internal Medicine (1999) reports, “In the current practice environment, physicians face mounting demands on their time. Increasing administrative requirements for health care delivery (e.g., service and authorization requests, utilization review processes) encroach on time spent with patients.” The situation has only gotten worse with COVID, administrative work and the ever-shifting landscape of insurance. Enter concierge medicine, a growing style of primary care medicine offering personalized care and direct access to physicians for better overall health and wellness outcomes. What used to be available mostly to the wealthy and elite, concierge medicine is growing nationwide among all social classes.
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CONTENTS ASK THE EXPERT: NATIONAL DONOR DAY FEATURE: CONCIERGE MEDICINE: A NEW FRONTIER FOR PRIMARY CARE