You may be thinking, what is this concierge model and how will it benefit me?
Concierge telehealth is high-touch personalized care geared towards patient satisfaction and ease. The two different models of care are “The Insurance Model” & “Concierge Model”, let's review the differences.
Insurance Model - Traditional, “fee-for-service”
- 3rd party payer
- Appointments required for almost all physician communication
- 40 + minute wait times for a rushed 10-15 minute visit
- Why are exams rushed? Because in the insurance model physicians are paid per appointment. More visits = more revenue. It is difficult for a physician to provide accurate high-quality care in a 10-15 minute visit?
- High patient volume for physicians (4-5,000 patients per physician)
- Loss of personal touch (patients may start to feel like a number rather than a person). Can you remember 4-5,000 patient names and stories?
- Hidden Cost
- 3rd party payers (insurance companies) many times deny claims for procedures (MRI/X-rays, labs, procedures, etc) after they have occurred. How does this happen? The exam and/or procedure may be deemed medically unnecessary by the insurance company. This can happen even if your physician decided a test was medically necessary?
- 40 + minute wait times for a rushed 10-15 minute visit
Concierge Model - “The new model of Medicine”
- Membership-based medicine (think of it like a gym membership)
- Physicians are paid monthly, every 3 months, or on an annual basis (No more insurance companies)
- All care is direct with the patient (no hidden costs)
- This allows your doctor to scale back from treating 4-5,000 patients to 3-400
- With a smaller patient panel, physicians have more time to focus on the patient, no more rushed visits or unnecessary face-to-face exams.
- In the telehealth concierge model, specialty consults are virtual, which means less exposure and wasted time waiting for your in-office appointment. (Imagine seeing your physician on your lunch break via a video chat on your phone)
- Telehealth is geared toward the patient, so we make access to your physician easy and quick via our chat option. Imagine needing a medication refill, or having quick questions about a new medication, perfect log into your cirrus account and send your doctor a quick chat.
- Telehealth provides call, text, and video options
These are just some of the many reasons a doctor may convert his or her practice to concierge telehealth, or "virtual direct care". This new model of medicine gives control back to the patient and physician. Your physician will be caring for a smaller number of patients so he can spend more time providing high touch high-quality care.
To retain an online concierge doctor, select a membership option that best fits your needs.
For all recurring membership options, patients have unlimited physician consults and communication while membership is active. The longer the membership the more you save.
Care is more than what takes place during one-time consultations. Your doctor is still responsible for your healthcare for the duration of your prescription. Decisions about your healthcare will be made by the patient and your doctor, without the impersonal management that inevitably comes from third-party payers (i.e. your health insurance company).
Membership duration should match the duration of the prescription (see our Prescription Policy), however, ultimately this is up to your doctor.
Prescription Duration:
One-Time Consult - 30 days
Monthly Membership - 30 days while active (refilled month to month)
3-Month Membership - 90 days
Annual Membership - 90 days, with 3 refills
Patients are able to communicate at any time as long as you're an active member, no more hold times, waiting rooms, long wait times, or booked out appointments. If you're still unsure about the new platform, I recommend trying the one-time specialist consultation for $89, which will include a week of access.
We understand that an online concierge doctor may not be the best fit for everyone. The alternative is to see a traditional, insurance-based, physician.
For more information about how to get started with seeing your doctor on Cirrusmed.com, go to https://cirrusmedicalnetwork.com/welcome/. Also, we have a quick video walk-through of the patient registration process here.