Testimonials
Hear how CCP has helped our two physician clients run a more profitable and enjoyable practice, while better meeting the needs of their patients.
Manhattan cardiologist Arthur Weisenseel, M.D., says that despite working as hard as he could, he wasn't able to consistently pay both practice expenses and himself. He says of that time, "I worked awful hard to get [there]. And to go home without reimbursement was becoming demoralizing." So, like a growing contingent of like-minded physicians, Weisenseel decided to explore other practice models. He has now successfully converted his practice to a hybrid-concierge model, where patients can choose to pay an extra fee for concierge services or continue to reimburse him through traditional insurance plans like Medicare and third-party payers. Now he couldn't be happier. Relieved of worries about financial and regulatory burdens, he says, "I come to work with joy and confidence."
--Physicians Practice, August 20, 2014
Internist Thomas Hwang, M.D. said the move to a hybrid concierge service has made all the difference. "Most of my patients are Medicare, and this hybrid concierge allows me to continue seeing Medicare patients."
--American Medical News, July 2013
"I am first and foremost a physician," says Gregory Fuller, M.D. "But I also have an obligation to my practice, my employees, and my community to stay viable. The only way to break even was to increase the volume of patients in my practice." As a result, he noted that both he and his patients often felt rushed. Unless there was a problem, patient visits were scheduled in 10 to 15 minute increments. If patients did have other questions, they were told to schedule another appointment. "All these changes were necessary, but they had me missing the days when I could have a real relationship with my patients," he says. In 2011, he heard about the hybrid concierge model and decided to find out more. Dr. Fuller notes that he has contemporaries who have opted to sell their practices to rid themselves of financial and administrative pressures, but that often they are simply changing one set of headaches for another. "I am hearing about a lot of physicians who joined large health care systems but who now want to return to private practice," he says. He advises other physicians struggling to maintain their practice to consider all options available today and to move forward with making the decision they want quickly to avoid having that option taken away by outside forces.
--Texas Academy of Family Physicians, Summer 2014
"It was more for my own personal longevity," said Dr. Gregory Yu, a La Cañada Flintridge internist, explaining why he made the switch. "If I have to see patient after patient after patient, and I'm not really feeling the satisfaction of doing the best job that I possibly could for people, I was afraid I might burn out." Yu says shifting to concierge medicine allows him to provide better service to his patients and has made him happier at work. "That's the No. 1 thing. I want to practice for the long term."
--LA Times, August 31, 2014
"I used to see 20-22 patients a day. Now I see about 14 a day. I still spend the same amount of hours in the office, but the work is less compressed and more enjoyable," says Mario S. Ficarola, MD. "You can estimate what your patient demographics are, but someone actually needs to analyze your practice and do a risk assessment to see whether you'll lose patients by making a change. All of that is very labor-intensive. I'm not a do it yourselfer, so I left the marketing and the demographic studies to professionals."
--Medscape, January 9, 2014
"Most of us who go into internal medicine, we go into it because we like longitudinal care — caring for people over the long term," says Steven Krems, M.D., LA Clippers' team internist. "And honestly, as opposed to what TV would have you believe, we don't really take care of people by getting a CT scan and a PET scan and an MRI. We actually take care of them by getting a good history, and taking the time to talk to them and hear what's going on. That's the most important part." Krems was skeptical about going to a full-scale concierge model, but when he learned about the hybrid model through Concierge Choice Physicians, that seemed to be the best of both worlds. And once a survey of his patients revealed their receptivity, he decided it made sense.
--Physician's Money Digest, May 29, 2013