Saturday, September 30, 2006

High End Hospitals Committed to Concierge Medical Care

Inevitably Health Care is Shifting to the Consumer Directed model as insurance rates rise. I was quoted 1350$ monthly for a family of four for coverage for 2007. That's around 15,000 dollars yearly. Why not combine Blue Cross Blue Shield's High deductible plan for four grand and pay your doctors directly to retain a high level of service and attentiveness?? The rise of the concierge model for care on the West Coast has led to a continued trend in adult medicine. Pediatricians will be looking at the model next. Consider a turkey administrative support solution by Personal Pediatrics Based in St Louis Missouri. This growing network of pediatricians makes house calls, answers email and spends unprecedented time with families. The arguments against the concierge model say that it is elitist. Notably several of our national private brand name hospitals as Mayo Clinic and John's Hopkins are aggressively marketing the concierge medicine model for their clinics, flying in oil sheiks from the middle east and recruiting patients from Europe for expensive second opinions. The bottom line is that due to our reimbursement climate both hospitals and private practitioners must actively evolve. This is survival of the fittest and only through innovation and service will a healthcare system come out on top. ( Notice I did not say by continuing to stay in their futile insurance networks that furthur devalue the healthcare services rendered) Consider Personal Pediatrics administrative support system, enabling "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today"

High End Hospitals Committed to Concierge Medical Care

Inevitably Health Care is Shifting to the Consumer Directed model as insurance rates rise. I was quoted 1350$ monthly for a family of four for coverage for 2007. That's around 15,000 dollars yearly. Why not combine Blue Cross Blue Shield's High deductible plan for four grand and pay your doctors directly to retain a high level of service and attentiveness?? The rise of the concierge model for care on the West Coast has led to a continued trend in adult medicine. Pediatricians will be looking at the model next. Consider a turkey administrative support solution by Personal Pediatrics Based in St Louis Missouri. This growing network of pediatricians makes house calls, answers email and spends unprecedented time with families. The arguments against the concierge model say that it is elitist. Notably several of our national private brand name hospitals as Mayo Clinic and John's Hopkins are aggressively marketing the concierge medicine model for their clinics, flying in oil sheiks from the middle east and recruiting patients from Europe for expensive second opinions. The bottom line is that due to our reimbursement climate both hospitals and private practitioners must actively evolve. This is survival of the fittest and only through innovation and service will a healthcare system come out on top. ( Notice I did not say by continuing to stay in their futile insurance networks that furthur devalue the healthcare services rendered) Consider Personal Pediatrics administrative support system, enabling "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today"

Friday, September 29, 2006

Electronic Medical Records in Pediatrics

Our federal government has the goal of an interoperable electronic medical record nationally by 2014. Why should it take so long?? I wonder. Most emr companies focus on the " efficiency" factor that the medical record will bring to practice. Perhaps this is helpful for patients on some level, but what it also does is further commoditize medicine and further introduce midlevel providers to provide patient care. The bottom line is healthcare in America is that as long as physicians accept insurance contracts and the associated devaluation of their skills, physicians are answering to insurance compaies rather than patients. For pediatricians consider use of an EMR and patented practice system that enables one to provide an incredible level of service and communication for patients. Our practice system is already in use by a pediatrician in St. Louis, Natalie Hodge MD author of "The Personal Pediatrics Guide for the Progresssive Parent." The Personal Pediatrics administrative support system incorperates the latest in pediatric seamless electronic medical record keeping with high tech remote communications and transportation. For more information take a peek at www.personalpediatrics.com. "Personal Pediatrics... The Pediatrician of the Past and Future...Today. "

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Pediatrician in St Louis - Convenient House Calls

The Front Page of the New York Times today is entitled, Health Care Costs Rising Twice as much as inflation. How long will the American public stand for the poor continuity and service and outdated systems that in network physician system provides?? Essentially we are paying Blue Cross Blue Shield 12 grand a year, each family of four in America to provide care by doctors who are unavailable and busy and generally have nurses see their patients for brief visits anyway to maximize revenue. Consider switching to a high deductible plan and avoid our commoditized health care system that focuses on " efficiency" ( read farm them in and out like cattle ) Combine this with the personalized service of a Personal Pediatrics house call Pediatrician in your neighborhood and utilize the new MSA account. This will make your retainer fees tax deductible and can be easily linked to a credit card for easy payment. Dr. Hodge in St. Louis is the first pediatrician in the nation to provide Personal Pediatrics care in the St. Louis Region. For more info take a look at www.personalpediatrics.com. "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. "

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Pediatrician in St Louis - Convenient House Calls

The Front Page of the New York Times today is entitled, Health Care Costs Rising Twice as much as inflation. How long will the American public stand for the poor continuity and service and outdated systems that in network physician system provides?? Essentially we are paying Blue Cross Blue Shield 12 grand a year, each family of four in America to provide care by doctors who are unavailable and busy and generally have nurses see their patients for brief visits anyway to maximize revenue. Consider switching to a high deductible plan and avoid our commoditized health care system that focuses on " efficiency" ( read farm them in and out like cattle ) Combine this with the personalized service of a Personal Pediatrics house call Pediatrician in your neighborhood and utilize the new MSA account. This will make your retainer fees tax deductible and can be easily linked to a credit card for easy payment. Dr. Hodge in St. Louis is the first pediatrician in the nation to provide Personal Pediatrics care in the St. Louis Region. For more info take a look at www.personalpediatrics.com. "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. "

Pediatrician in St Louis - Convenient House Calls

The Front Page of the New York Times today is entitled, Health Care Costs Rising Twice as much as inflation. How long will the American public stand for the poor continuity and service and outdated systems that in network physician system provides?? Essentially we are paying Blue Cross Blue Shield 12 grand a year, each family of four in America to provide care by doctors who are unavailable and busy and generally have nurses see their patients for brief visits anyway to maximize revenue. Consider switching to a high deductible plan and avoid our commoditized health care system that focuses on " efficiency" ( read farm them in and out like cattle ) Combine this with the personalized service of a Personal Pediatrics house call Pediatrician in your neighborhood and utilize the new MSA account. This will make your retainer fees tax deductible and can be easily linked to a credit card for easy payment. Dr. Hodge in St. Louis is the first pediatrician in the nation to provide Personal Pediatrics care in the St. Louis Region. For more info take a look at www.personalpediatrics.com. "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. "

Saturday, September 23, 2006

The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... today.

The critics of retainer based medicine do not seem to appreciate the gravity of the crisis of primary care in America. Sucessful business will evolve out of the dysfunctional medical system. This was essentially Bill Gates premise when he wrote Business at the Speed of Thought. Paperless systems will enable the medical profession to create incredible services for consumers. The problem is that our medical system's dependency on insurers cause the focus of paperless systems for physicians to be on those of " efficiency." The translation of " efficiency" for primary care physicians is to farm patients in and out of the office as quickly as possible, like CATTLE. The commoditization of healthcare is partly what is leading to the demise of Primary care as we know it. Midlevel providers will become the new caregivers for the in network system. Physicians will either oversee a nurse staffed system or will utilize retainer based systems to see patients. Personal Pediatrics is a turn-key administrative support solution for pediatricians to maintain a retainer based or concierge model of pediatrics that is low cost and provides customized solutions for today's busy family. For more about the Personal Pediatrics solution and to become "The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today" take a peek at www.personal pediatrics.com.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Rise of Consumer Directed Health Plans Enable Retainer Based Pediatricians in St. Louis

It is interesting to see that Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Care both are noting the popularity of their Consumer Directed Health Plans. These insurers are seeing their enrollment in these plans double in the year 2006. Employers often will save so much on the premium that they will then set up an HSA or MSA and put a certain amount of funding so that medical deductibles and expenses can come out of pre tax dollars. Essentially we will see that consumers will no longer stand for the old medical system in which full coverage insurance pays for an hour wait to see a mid level provider. The retainer based or concierge medicine model will continue to proliferate and expand to new markets. Families will be able to choose pediatric care from a Personal Pediatrics affiliate physician and pay these retainer fees directly out of a credit card attached to their MSA or HSA. These consumers will have the advantage of a personal relationship with their pediatrician, email access to MD, direct cell phone access to MD, as well as the comfort of home visits for their children. The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Rise of Consumer Directed Health Plans Enable Retainer Based Pediatricians in St. Louis

It is interesting to see that Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Care both are noting the popularity of their Consumer Directed Health Plans. These insurers are seeing their enrollment in these plans double in the year 2006. Employers often will save so much on the premium that they will then set up an HSA or MSA and put a certain amount of funding so that medical deductibles and expenses can come out of pre tax dollars. Essentially we will see that consumers will no longer stand for the old medical system in which full coverage insurance pays for an hour wait to see a mid level provider. The retainer based or concierge medicine model will continue to proliferate and expand to new markets. Families will be able to choose pediatric care from a Personal Pediatrics affiliate physician and pay these retainer fees directly out of a credit card attached to their MSA or HSA. These consumers will have the advantage of a personal relationship with their pediatrician, email access to MD, direct cell phone access to MD, as well as the comfort of home visits for their children. The Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Personal Pediatrics house call system and The Government Accountablity office

The GAO, Goverment Accountability office is in the process of identifying important goals for addressing privacy issues and defining criteria for electronic medical record certification criteria. Essentially there is interest of our federal government to incentivise practitioners of primary care to adopt an EMR. The Personal Pediatrics House call system personifies the ultimate in paperless systems and seamless wireless communications. Now our doc's do this not to provide " efficiency" from the standpoint of patient care ( read: farm children in and out of the office like cattle), but rather to provide the ultimate house call experience for babies and children as well as an ultimate healthcare experience for parents that adopt the sytem for their kids. Practitioners of the PP system get the benefit of drastically reduced overhead that lessens the "volume" game that those in primary care are playing. These docs set the pace for the "Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. " Natalie Hodge MD

Personal Pediatrics house call system and The Government Accountablity office

The GAO, Goverment Accountability office is in the process of identifying important goals for addressing privacy issues and defining criteria for electronic medical record certification criteria. Essentially there is interest of our federal government to incentivise practitioners of primary care to adopt an EMR. The Personal Pediatrics House call system personifies the ultimate in paperless systems and seamless wireless communications. Now our doc's do this not to provide " efficiency" from the standpoint of patient care ( read: farm children in and out of the office like cattle), but rather to provide the ultimate house call experience for babies and children as well as an ultimate healthcare experience for parents that adopt the sytem for their kids. Practitioners of the PP system get the benefit of drastically reduced overhead that lessens the "volume" game that those in primary care are playing. These docs set the pace for the "Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. " Natalie Hodge MD

Personal Pediatrics house call system and The Government Accountablity office

The GAO, Goverment Accountability office is in the process of identifying important goals for addressing privacy issues and defining criteria for electronic medical record certification criteria. Essentially there is interest of our federal government to incentivise practitioners of primary care to adopt an EMR. The Personal Pediatrics House call system personifies the ultimate in paperless systems and seamless wireless communications. Now our doc's do this not to provide " efficiency" from the standpoint of patient care ( read: farm children in and out of the office like cattle), but rather to provide the ultimate house call experience for babies and children as well as an ultimate healthcare experience for parents that adopt the sytem for their kids. Practitioners of the PP system get the benefit of drastically reduced overhead that lessens the "volume" game that those in primary care are playing. These docs set the pace for the "Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today. " Natalie Hodge MD

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Employers in the Dark on Consumer Directed Care

I read an interesting article today. "Health Plans not doing enough to educate employers on " Consumer Directed Care" Insurance agents and brokers say the employers would likely choose these alternative plans if insurers would provide more tools for comparison. This makes me chuckle. Large insurers( we won't name names, but you all know who they are) have most companies and/or families in the US paying for the typical full coverage plan ( generally 10 to 12 grand a year). Remember that this is the plan that covers for in network doctors. These are the offices that struggle due to tightened reimbursement where you will find an hour wait to see a mid level provider as a nurse practicioner. Now when you have this kind of revenue across the board, why would insurance companies " provide tools for employers" to start paying them 4 grand a year for a family of four for the high deductible plan? That's right they would be out of their minds to promote high deductible plans because they will loose mounds of cash and put it into the pockets of out of network physicians and concierge medicine practices and Personal Pediatrics affiliates. These families will prefer to have personalized service outside of the conventional full coverage system and pay an out of network Personal Pediatrics affiliate house call doctor a fair yearly retainer fee and out of network office visits. The cool secret to this is that a family can have personalized medicine in one of its many forms for the same price as the full coverage plan if they adopt a high deductible plan. As the rates of the full coverage plan increase at 10 to 15 percent yearly, employers will hemmorhage out of these plans into the more economical high deductible plan, and place 4 or5 grand in an employees MSA, which they can use for a personalized internist or a Personal Pediatrics affiliate physician. The full coverage plan is dying and so is the outdated pediatric office system. Families will not stand for this poor service and long waits and poor communication with their pediatrician. Families that prefer to communicate with modern tools like email and direct cell phone access will shift their insurance plans accordingly. Personal Pediatrics the Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.

Employers in the Dark on Consumer Directed Care

I read an interesting article today. "Health Plans not doing enough to educate employers on " Consumer Directed Care" Insurance agents and brokers say the employers would likely choose these alternative plans if insurers would provide more tools for comparison. This makes me chuckle. Large insurers( we won't name names, but you all know who they are) have most companies and/or families in the US paying for the typical full coverage plan ( generally 10 to 12 grand a year). Remember that this is the plan that covers for in network doctors. These are the offices that struggle due to tightened reimbursement where you will find an hour wait to see a mid level provider as a nurse practicioner. Now when you have this kind of revenue across the board, why would insurance companies " provide tools for employers" to start paying them 4 grand a year for a family of four for the high deductible plan? That's right they would be out of their minds to promote high deductible plans because they will loose mounds of cash and put it into the pockets of out of network physicians and concierge medicine practices and Personal Pediatrics affiliates. These families will prefer to have personalized service outside of the conventional full coverage system and pay an out of network Personal Pediatrics affiliate house call doctor a fair yearly retainer fee and out of network office visits. The cool secret to this is that a family can have personalized medicine in one of its many forms for the same price as the full coverage plan if they adopt a high deductible plan. As the rates of the full coverage plan increase at 10 to 15 percent yearly, employers will hemmorhage out of these plans into the more economical high deductible plan, and place 4 or5 grand in an employees MSA, which they can use for a personalized internist or a Personal Pediatrics affiliate physician. The full coverage plan is dying and so is the outdated pediatric office system. Families will not stand for this poor service and long waits and poor communication with their pediatrician. Families that prefer to communicate with modern tools like email and direct cell phone access will shift their insurance plans accordingly. Personal Pediatrics the Pediatrician of the Past and Future... Today.