Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Pediatric Healthcare ready for Disruptive Innovation

Healthcare has been known as the last industry to adapt to technology. We see that the infrastructure has been set up for pediatricians to provide better service and streamline their operations, but St. Louis Based Pediatrician Natalie Hodge has built an innovative house call service from the ground up. " I wanted to see what staff I really needed, and that is how I built Personal Pediatrics." A boutique or retainer-based health care model, Personal Pediatrics sells administrative support to pediatricians ready to jump off the treadmill of private practice and really provide a different level of care to their patients, in their home. The concierge medicine model is firmly established for adult medicine. The way that this translates to Pediatrics is by a return to the house call supported by a software/hardware package that enables it to happen. Families reap the rewards of having a personal relationship with their pediatrician and avoiding the infectious contacts in a typical busy office. MD's decrease their dependence on insurance billings by providing cutting-edge services not reimbursible by insurance. The only loser here is perhaps the insurers, who notice a pattern of families combining concierge medicine with high deductible plans, shunting more pay to physicians and less into the pockets of insurer stockholders. Personal Pediatrics The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Monday, August 28, 2006

America's Health Care system continues to worsen as doctors are faced with pressures from insurers reduction of reimbursements and malpractice crisis. The rapidly growing overhead of medical practices is a direct result of inefficient and outdated office systems that require more personnel, contribute to patient care mistakes as well as adding to patient wait times. The financial fitness of pediatrics practices is directly tied to the proliferation of nurse practicioners and physician assistants. Practices are able to bill at 100% of physicians fees if they sign off on these charts. Essentially we have the creation of a system in which one's full coverage plan covers for communicating primarily with a nurse for phone conversations, visits performed by a nurse punctuated by an hour wait for the visit. The boutique or concierge system for internists is well established. These physicians provide primary care for their clients as opposed to subcontracting this service out to midlevels. Until now there has been no alternative to typical pediatrics practice. The Personal Pediatrics practice system enables an experienced pediatrician to spend time with patients and drastically reduce overhead. Personal Pediatrics... The Pediatrician of the Past and Future...Today.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

House Calls in St. Louis Missouri

I hope that pregnant mom's know about an up and coming personalized form of private pediatrics practice which revives the house call. Personal Pediatrics is the innovative reinvention of the lost art of pediatric house call medicine. This is a patented streamlined system of hardware and software that enables a pediatrician to return to a personalized service model for a linited client base. It's win win for everyone. Families may utilize Medical Savings Account Funds for retainer fees and copays to make this expenditure tax deductible. Why would anyone want to pay Blue Cross Blue Shield 12 grand a year to wait an hour in a busy pediatric office with 10 snotty children when you could pay BCBS 4 grand for the high deductible plan and pay your physician two or three grand and end up saving money over all and having cutting edge technology and heightened communication with your pediatrician? The Concierge medicine movement is picking up speed for pediatrics as Personal Pediatrics brings its system to neighborhoods across the country. Natalie Hodge MD Founder and CEO Personal Pediatrics The pediatrician of the past and future... Today.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Note to Self--- Who Needs Doctors Anyway??

This is the Title of US News and World Report Jan 2005 issue. This article discusses the mainstreaming of mid level providers as nurse practitioners and physician assistants in delivering care to the masses. Physicians see this as necessary to maintain income levels in practice. Busy pediatrics practices are notorious for utilizing these recources. This is one of the adaptations pediatricians are making to keep practices profitable. The problem with this is that patients hate the disruption of continuity that these midlevel providers create for their families, particularly with an ongoing pediatric illness. There are some pediatric offices in St. Louis which have a policy of alternating nurse visits with physician visits. There are some in which you can only see your MD for well checks and see nurses for sick visits. So what we have in this country is a splitting faction of primary care providers. There will be doctors who utilize nurses to make practices financially fit. There is a second growing faction of practices that will utilize administrative support solutions as MDVIP for internists and Personal Pediatrics for pediatricians. These doctors will see patients without the aid of mid level providers and the patient ( read client ) will happily pay a yearly retainer for the physicians expertise. In the year 2006 mainstream insurers do not pay for doctor visits, they will pay for someone to see you, but physicians have figured out how to delegate that responsibility to others and still retain 100 percent of insurance billings if they sign off on the chart!! We'll discuss more on how this impacts malpractice risk tomorrow!

Personal Pediatrics the Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Why take healthy two month old into a viral cesspool of the modern pediatric office??

My daughter turns two months today. I'm considering my options for her care. Realizing that most pediatric offices are full of sick kids with summer enteroviruses, I think do I want to bring her back there?? As it is I'm the only pediatrician in St. Louis making house calls, could I get a doctor to come to the house to see her?? The answer so far is NO until we have another Personal Pediatrics affiliate MD in St. Louis. So I decide to give her house calls as well. She received her first set of shots today, so should be protected against Hepatitis B, Polio, Hemophilus B, Tetanus, Diptheria, Pneumococcus, and Pertussis. Now most of these illnesses aren't just something you can pick up in typical pediatric medical offices. But Pertussis IS... And pertussis KILLS babies. There is a pool of pertussis that exists in older teenagers as immunity from earlier vaccination wanes. Another benefit of the Personal Pediatrics house call affiliate program for physician and for patients.

Personal Pediatrics the Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Advantages of Retainer Based House call Pediatrics

Families that choose Personal Pediatrics Affiliate Physicians for their pediatrician will find 24/7 access to their physician, personalized service, convenient house call hours during the day, unlimited e-mail communication with pediatrician, more intensive nutrition focus of practice, as well as cell phone access to MD at night for emergencies. Generally, pediatric practices maintain profitability by hiring midlevel providers , nurse practicioners, and this has universally resulted in worsened doctor-patient relationship. Until now there has been no alternative to the traditional pediatric system. For families with multiples, pregnant with a first child, or a child with a disability this service is life changing. This practice system fits into the general niche of concierge or boutique practices, but it's essentially a pristine doctor-patient relationship with no insurer middleman dictating care by its "efficiency".

Personal Pediatrics... The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Advantages of Retainer Based House call Pediatrics

Families that choose Personal Pediatrics Affiliate Physicians for their pediatrician will find 24/7 access to their physician, personalized service, convenient house call hours during the day, unlimited e-mail communication with pediatrician, more intensive nutrition focus of practice, as well as cell phone access to MD at night for emergencies. Generally, pediatric practices maintain profitability by hiring midlevel providers , nurse practicioners, and this has universally resulted in worsened doctor-patient relationship. Until now there has been no alternative to the traditional pediatric system. For families with multiples, pregnant with a first child, or a child with a disability this service is life changing. This practice system fits into the general niche of concierge or boutique practices, but it's essentially a pristine doctor-patient relationship with no insurer middleman dictating care by its "efficiency".

Personal Pediatrics... The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Medical Savings Accounts enable Retainer- Based Medicine

It's interesting to see that families in Personal Pediatrics Affiliate Physicians groups are utilizing Medical Savings Accounts to pay physician retainer fees. To enable this process to be easier, a no-brainer, Medical Savings accounts are linked to a Visa card, such that these funds can be utilized for any non-reimbursible medical expense. So we are finding that the retainer fees are coming out of pre-tax money. This combined with a 4,000/yr high deductible plan is quite cost effective. So a family of four with two kids over two may have an attentive physician providing house calls for illness and comprehensive in home care for well visit yearly for less that the typical 10 to 12,000 dollar a year plan. What is also interesting is that the full coverage plan rises at a much higher rate than the high deductible plan. As financial pressures move families into high deductible plans, the retainer based model looks more and more appealing for those that are sensitive to cost. Families that prefer consist care by the same MD without a high percentage of care being delivered by nurse practicioner midlevels and varying physicians, will choose the Personal Pediatric house call retainer based or concierge medicine model for their children. Personal Pediatrics is an administrative support system based in Saint Louis, Missouri for pediatricians ready to convert their practices to a simpler patient centered approach with minimal dependence on insurers. Natalie Hodge MD

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

As we move to a consumer directed model of healthcare, healthcare consumers will evolve and prioritize the important aspects of their care. Also midlevel providers as nurse practicioners are increasing in popularity in primary care practices since they enhance profitibility of practices. So you see pediatricians and internists are at a crossroads. They may either hire midlevels and maintain a traditional practice accepting assignment for insurers, or adapt in a different manner, such as providing non-reimbursible services and excellent customer service. A movement is occuring with physicians who are leaving insurance contracts and providing "retainer-based" or " concierge" or "boutique" care. Simply put, these doctors have an agreement with their clients rather than the insurer. The market will dictate the extent of success of these practices. Consumers will ultimately decide whether they want an MD in charge of their care fully, or whether the emerging midlevel system is acceptible for their children. Also consider that in the traditional system utilizing midlevels you will also see high turnover of physicians due to poor profitability. The forces at work in medicine continue to worsen doctor-patient relationships and these practices will evolve into a new niche of healthcare. New services and products are bought initially by early adopters and them move into mainstream marketplace. Personal Pediatrics is the modern reinvention of lost art of pediatric house calls. Our pediatricians provide personalized house call care to a limited panel of clients. Pediatricians will have to adopt their practices in one way or another in order to stay in business. They may either adapt by adding midlevel providers or taking advantage of new administrative support systems which drastically reduce overhead and enable a return to a practice option highly sought after in the consumer marketplace, the pediatric housecall. Personal Pediatrics is an administrative support solution based in Saint Louis Missouri.
As we move to a consumer directed model of healthcare, healthcare consumers will evolve and prioritize the important aspects of their care. Also midlevel providers as nurse practicioners are increasing in popularity in primary care practices since they enhance profitibility of practices. So you see pediatricians and internist are at a crossroads. They may either hire midlevels and maintain a traditional practice accepting assignment for insurers. A movement is occuring with physicians who are leaving insurance contracts and providing "retainer-based" or " concierge" or "boutique" care. Simply put, these doctors have an agreement with their clients rather than the insurer. The market will dictate the extent of success of these practices. Consumers will ultimately decide whether they want an MD in charge of their care fully, or whether the emerging midlevel system is acceptible for their children. Also consider that in the traditional system utilizing midlevels you will also see high turnover of physicians due to poor profitability. The forces at work in medicine continue to worsen doctor-patient relationships and these practices will evolve into a new niche of healthcare. New services and products are bought initially by early adopters and them move into mainstream marketplace. Personal Pediatrics is the modern reinvention of lost art of pediatric house calls. Our pediatricians provide personalized house call care to a limited panel of clients. Pediatricians will have to adopt their practices in one way or another in order to stay in business. They may either adapt by adding midlevel providers or taking advantage of new administrative support systems which drastically reduce overhead and enable a return to a practice option highly sought after in the consumer marketplace, the pediatric housecall. Personal Pediatrics is an administrative support solution based in Saint Louis Missouri.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Concierge Pediatrics???

Personal Pediatrics is an innovative reinvention of the lost art of pediatric house call medicine. Our physicians are a new breed of pediatrician who combine attentive customer service with the highest level of evidence-based patient care. Our patented business system utilizes cutting edge technology creating a secure paperless system in which each physician is able to travel around and function as a modern pediatric provider. This is just a logical adaptation of the "concierge" or "boutique" or "retainer based" practices that internists have been pursuing due to poor reimbursements and rising malpractice costs. Children are able to form a close bond with their pediatrician and have visits in the comfort of their own home for well and sick care. Families will transition to the personal pediatrics model as the managed care model continues to deteriorate. Also as the rates of medical insurance rise and families opt for catastrophic coverage to more than half their insurance costs, this will make it cost effective for families to pay the retainer fee.
Personal Pediatrics the Pediatrician of the past and future... today.