Concierge medical practices typically don't accept insurance and charge patients a membership fee. In return patients get 24-hour access to the doctor or his partner, same-day appointments, basic lab work and other service. The fee doesn't cover specialists or hospitalizations.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Drs. Aly Gadalla, Doug Nunamaker and Josh Umbehr are in the minority among their physician peers in practicing concierge medicine.
Experts say doctors and patients alike have been drawn to the idea nationwide by a shortage of physicians, especially in primary care, as well as a desire by more physicians to take care of fewer patients.
"I knew this was what I was going to do," said Nunamaker, a former hospitalist at Wesley Medical Center and Umbehr's partner in Atlas MD. "I'm seeing fewer patients a day and for more time. The family medicine that I went in to do, we do that every day."
Umbehr, a family medicine practitioner, started Atlas MD in September 2010 after graduating from family practice residency. Some physicians advised him to join a traditional family practice before easing his way into a concierge practice.
"I was too impatient," Umbehr said. "I had this vision and wanted to do this as soon as possible."
Atlas MD charges patients a membership fee of between $10 and $100 a month, depending on the patient's age. Most patients also have traditional or catastrophic health insurance to cover specialists or hospital visits.
Because the practice does not accept insurance, its overhead is low. Besides Umbehr and Nunamaker, Atlas MD's only other employee is a registered nurse. Between them, the two doctors have about 500 patients.
Both doctors work emergency room shifts to supplement their incomes.
Gadalla operates a hybrid concierge practice. Membership to his concierge practice is $100 a month, but he also accepts insurance.
He said what his concierge patents get from him is unlimited access to his cell phone number and e-mail, and no wait times for appointments. Those patients can also schedule appointments with him on Saturdays and Sundays at no extra charge.
Gadalla, an internal medicine specialist, launched his concierge practice last year. He declined to specify how many patients he has.
Tom Blue, executive director of the American Academy of Private Physicians in Glen Allen, Va., said an exact figure on the number of concierge practices in the U.S. is difficult because they don't have to register as a concierge practice. But he said his organization, which was founded in 2003 to support the growth of concierge medicine, estimates there are about 3,500 in the nation.
The first concierge practice was launched in Seattle in 1996. That practice, MD2, is still in business today.
Information from The Wichita Eagle, www.kansas.com
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