Question: What is concierge medicine?

Answer: Retainer based medical practice where the doctor limits his/her practice to 600 patients, receives a monthly retainer of $120 from each patient and is able to provide highly personalized service as a result.

Question: What is the process?

Answer: A doctor’s patients are surveyed to gauge interest. Those who are interested are asked more specific questions specifically relating to concierge medicine. Once, a sufficient number of patients have expressed an interest, a contract between doctor and patient is then drafted. This contract outlines doctor-patient relationship, including exact fees and services provided.

Question: What is Transfusion?

Answer: Transfusion facilitates the transition between conventional and concierge practice. We provide comprehensive “turnkey” services including, but not limited to, patient orientation, office space acquisition and remodeling, and implementation of new medical software and electronic medical records. Transfusion not only handles every detail of the conversion, but we also provide support, billing and legislative monitoring services after the concierge practice is underway. For each practice, Transfusion develops a custom tailored approach based on the needs and desires of the doctor as well as his/her patient demographics. From a logistical standpoint, Transfusion acts as a legal intermediary between doctor and patient, preventing the practice from being labeled an insurance company by the government and thus subject to all pertinent regulations.

Question: How much is the annual fee?

Answer: The average fee is $125/mo or $1,500/yr. There is also a discount for multiple family members. A concierge premium can be paid with pre-tax dollars and reduced to less than $100/mo. by utilizing an flex spending account or cafeteria plan

Question: How many patients encompass a concierge practice?

Answer: Typically, 600 patients is the optimal number in order to provide enhanced healthcare, but the patient number can range depending on the particular practice. A concierge physician can start with fewer patients if necessary because even at 300 patients, the concierge physician’s salary is above the national average for internal medicine physicians.

Question: Where do the concierge patients come from?

Answer: Approximately 80% of concierge patients come from the practice’s existing patient population. This usually amounts to a small percentage of a doctor’s current patient base. The remaining 20% usually come from word of mouth, marketing and outside patients who are intrigued by this idea.

Question: How many concierge practices are there in Northern Ohio?

Answer: There are currently two concierge medical practices in Northern Ohio.

Question: Are there any legal issues associated with converting to concierge medicine?

Answer: Yes, however, Transfusion LLC has researched every conceivable legal handle and can competently and effectively navigate any legal obstacle. We handle all issues from drafting of contracts to filing the articles of incorporation.

Question: How are vacations, hours and call handled in a concierge practice?

Answer: They are all determined by the agreement between doctor and patients where the physician’s time off and call is covered by a non-concierge doctor. These issues typically have not posed problems to physicians who have already converted to concierge.

Question: What happens to existing patients who opt not to join the concierge practice?

Answer: Transfusion is very careful to help these patients transfer to other physicians. We set up hotlines and even have dedicated personnel to facilitate the transfer of medical records. In some cases the physician even accepts some of these patients on a pro bono basis if they are very ill or unable to find another physician.

Question: What kind of salary can a concierge doctor expect to receive?

Answer: With 600 patients, they should receive take home pay of approximately $500,000 a year (after the fee for facilitating and maintaining the transition and al other costs and overhead are already paid). This is in addition to lower overhead resulting from reduced staff, need for less physical space and possible reduction in malpractice insurance.

Question: What kind of seed money is required to get the concierge practice up and running?

Answer: Typically, $75,000 is necessary to fully address all the needs of a new concierge practice. Transfusion will help the doctor negotiate this financing (if necessary), which can be paid back in as little as six months.

Question: If I’m interested, what’s the next step?

Answer: Set up appointment with Transfusion for initial information gathering. Then a custom approach will be tailored.

Question: What is Transfusion’s fee?

Answer: $400/patient for the first two years. $350/patient for years 2 and 3. $300/patient thereafter.

Question: How does concierge medicine impact on medical malpractice?

Answer: While this practice is too new for any conclusive studies, malpractice premiums should be reduced due to lower volume and the likelihood that concierge physicians will practice better medicine (ie. more time with patients, lower source of error and better rapport).

Question: Why should I convert to concierge medicine?

Answer: You can make significantly more money than a conventional physician and can practice medicine the way he/she has always wanted to do, free of interference from health insurance companies, hospitals etc.

Question: What type of experience do Mr. Wilbur and Mr. Fenton have in this area?

Answer: Mr. Wilbur has transitioned several conventional practices from one physician to another and has managed an allergy practice for several years. His legal knowledge coupled with his experience in the medical field make him uniquely qualified to transition practices to concierge. Mr. Fenton has extensive experience in sales and marketing from working for Aetna Financial Services and ING Financial Advisors. He is both a Chartered Financial Consultant as well as a Chartered Life Underwriter. Mr. Fenton serves on various boards of directors and brings substantial business acumen to Transfusion.