Many are small-practice….As reported in Delaware Online, Cristy Beckman, who suffers from chronic pain in her spine and osteoarthritis, spent six hours in a doctor’s crowded waiting room in severe pain.
That was enough, the Middletown resident decided. It was time to make a drastic change in how she was treated.
At about the same time, Dr. Christina Bovelsky opened Peachtree Family Medicine in downtown Middletown with a unique approach to medicine.
Instead of dealing with traditional insurance, co-pays and deductibles, her patients pay a one-year membership fee that includes an annual physical exam and between two and four office visits. Small procedures such as nebulizer treatments, strep tests and electrocardiograms, are included.
Beckman, 46, became one of Bovelsky’s first patients.
“There’s an absolute peace of mind that someone is looking after your healthcare,” Beckman said. “I don’t think there’s any way I could do something different.”
Bovelsky’s patients can pay monthly fees between $65 and $75. Yearly rates for adults vary between $780 and $900, depending on the number of visits a patient wants. Care for children under 18 ranges from $240 to $360. Additional office visits cost $80 each.
Nationally, more health care providers are embracing the direct-pay, or “concierge medicine,” model.
A Physicians’ Foundation 2014 survey found 7 percent of doctors run a direct-pay practice and another 13 percent plan to transition to some form of… Read more>>