Ironically, a few years later, some of the practice’s patients started migrating to a concierge model.
The partners started searching again for a way to fend off Medicare cuts and better serve patients. After reading about the hybrid approach, 4 of the 7 partners decided to give it a try a year ago.
Dr. Altbaum said he’s limited his concierge patients to 5% of his practice, or 100 patients. He comes in a half hour earlier and leaves a half hour later – concierge patients get the first and last slots of the day –which has added 5 hours to his week.
He has given up what used to be a day off, but, it has added 20% to his bottom line for about 10% of his time. And, he said it’s made him more available to his other patients because, in a sense, he’s now seeing 100 fewer patients.
His practice also has a concierge-specific staff person. But when she’s not busy, she helps the rest of the office staff, Dr. Altbaum said.
All his patients are “uniformly happy,” he said, adding that he’s more relaxed.
And, he said, he’s more secure that he can “continue medicine the way I want to practice.”
Disclosures: Dr. Altbaum and Dr. Levinson both reported no conflicts of interest.