Company Offers Choices to Primary Care Physicians and Patients Concerned About Impact of Healthcare Industry's Cost-Cutting Measures.

"Many Physicians Believe They Have a Target Painted on Their Back"

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. -- Primary care physicians (PCPs) nationwide are worried about the impact Congress's efforts to manage healthcare costs will have on their practices and patients. Some are considering retiring early or leaving primary care. Others are turning toward companies like Concierge Choice Physicians (CCP), champion of the hybrid concierge model, to provide insights into alternative practice options that will enable them to sustain their practices.

"Our phone has been ringing off the hook," notes CCP founder Wayne Lipton. "They believe there is a target on their backs. Physicians are truly concerned that health plans tasked by the administration with lowering healthcare costs are going to do so on the backs of primary care physicians by slashing reimbursement. If this happens it will force more good doctors out of medicine and will further exacerbate the extreme shortage of PCPs seen in so many areas of the country."

If reimbursement is reduced further, healthcare advocates and industry analysts fear that thousands of physicians will no longer be able to maintain a viable practice. Their only option will be to close their practice or to quit seeing patients insured by low-reimbursing private or government plans.

To adapt to market pressures, some physicians are moving to full concierge practices. The model works well for physicians, and for patients that can afford it, but it often disenfranchises those patients who can't afford or don't want to move to such a model.

"The way the market is moving we may well create a system where millions of Americans no longer have access to primary care physicians," notes Lipton. "This creates a bit of a paradox as the Administration and healthcare leaders are publicly highlighting what an important role PCPs play in providing and coordinating care for Americans."

Lipton believes one viable and sustainable option for today - that will protect and preserve primary care - is the expansion of CCPs' hybrid concierge model. The hybrid concierge model is already helping physicians in 11 states with more than 250,000 patients. With current interest in alternative models of practice, the company projects growth for the next year of over 50 percent.

Hybrid practices offer a distinct option to full concierge. Under the full concierge model, if patients can't afford, or don't want to join, they have to leave the practice and find a new physician. This further worsens the PCP shortage and disenfranchises thousands of patients. Under a hybrid model - it's the patients' choice. If they want to join the concierge model - they can. If they don't - they can continue to see their physician in the same way they had before.

"The hybrid concierge model has been a real benefit for me and my patients," notes Dr. Bart Price, an internist in Sarasota, Florida. "I believe it helps me provide better care to all of my patients. Plus, because the economic pressure has been alleviated, I am able to continue to take care of a broad cross section of patients from Medicare to private pay and have the ability to give back more to my community."

With the concierge option, patients can obtain same-day appointments, extended office consultations, more extensive evaluations, and often 24-hour direct phone and email access to their physicians. This model also offers medical services generally not covered by traditional insurance plans or Medicare, such as in-depth annual physicals with specialized tests. Such important medical services are available to patients for a fee that averages about $150 per month, less than the cost of a standard "executive" physical. In addition, under the CCP model children up to age 25 participate under their parents' program at no additional charge. Because the hybrid model provides care for non-covered services, most patients continue to keep their traditional health insurance.

"CCP's hybrid model is a solution that has tremendous potential for physicians and patients," says Lipton. "No one wants to create a healthcare system that forces primary care physicians to drop health plans and patients. The beauty of the hybrid model is that by shifting a small portion of a practice to a consumer-driven healthcare model and providing fair reimbursement as well as a more reasonable work/life balance for physicians, it gives patients the ability to maintain their provider relationships and encourages doctors to stay in primary care. It's a win-win for patients and physicians."

For additional information or to locate a physician in a specific area visit www.choice.md.

About Concierge Choice Physicians

Concierge Choice Physicians[TM] is a private company headquartered in Rockville Centre, New York. Concierge Choice Physicians offers a hybrid medical practice option so that doctors can practice both traditional and concierge-style medicine within a single practice. The company works with medical practices in Florida, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, Virginia, Massachusetts, Texas, Maryland, and California. For more information, visit www.choice.md or call 877-888-5590.