October 16, 2012

How to Find a Concierge Doctor

Googling concierge doctor for your locality will yield a list of potential primary care physicians, but you might feel more comfortable checking with the consulting firms that provide management services to a large number of “private medicine” doctors. These firms would be happy to refer you to a physician in your area. Here are several:

MDVIP (mdvip.com), a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, is the largest concierge consulting firm, with 550 physicians in 40 states and Washington, D.C. Doctors’ retainer fees range from $1,500 to $1,800. The MDVIP website lets you find doctors by location or name.

SignatureMD (signaturemd.com) has 40 to 50 doctors in 10 states. Fees run from $1,500 to $2,000. There is no search function, but if you click on “Contact,” then “Patients,” you’ll arrive at a form that will connect you with the company.

Concierge Choice Physicians (www.choice.md) handles doctors who have what’s known as hybrid practices, with some patients on the concierge track and others in the traditional practice. The company works with more than 200 physicians in 19 states, and retainer fees average $1,800 a year.

Specialdocs (special docs.com) works with 111 physicians in 21 states; their concierge feeswill set you back $1,500 to $3,000

Original Article

SignatureMD

September 27, 2012

7 Questions to Ask Your Doctor

During your next visit, don’t forget to ask these important Qs

Admit it: You probably don’t see your doctor as frequently as you should. When you do drop in for a check-up or a physical, you probably want to get that visit over with as soon as possible. It’s a common guy thing: More than twice as many men as women have not seen a physician in the last two to five years, notes Will Courtenay, Ph.D., a specialist in doctor/patient communication at Harvard Medical School and the author of Dying to Be Men (Routledge, 2011).

So the next time you do see your doctor (are you due for a visit?), use your visit wisely by asking the right questions.

Sure, you know the obvious things to ask, like “So, how am I doing?” (see the sidebar, “Four No-Brainer Questions”, below). But other important questions are less obvious. During your precious face-time with your MD, be sure to work in these seven queries.

1. “Have you noticed my blood pressure going up?”

If your B.P. is 300/90 mm/Hg, your doctor will (or should) say something. But if you’re still technically in the “normal” zone (below 139/89 mm/Hg), he may not think to check your history. If your B.P. has been steadily rising over the years, you may be headed for hypertension — a key risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and even dementia, says Joseph Raffaele, M.D., an age management medicine specialist at PhysioAge Medical Group in New York City. “As soon as I see any rise in blood pressure, I press the patient hard to get into a regular exercise program and drop some weight,” says Raffaele.

2. “How do my lungs sound?”

Unless you’re there for a chest cold, your doctor might not listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. But lung cancer — even among nonsmokers — is the number one cause of cancer death in men, and wheezing is one early symptom. It’s important for your doc to keep an eye (and an ear) on your lung health, and it’s especially critical if you’ve been a smoker. So make sure you’re upfront about your smoking history during your visit.
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