Concierge Medicine on Dr. A Show

These are not my words, but part of the title of a post by Dr. Val Jones from Revolution Health from October 2007. The actual title of the post is called Concierge Medicine For The Masses in which she talks about our guest for The Doctor Anonymous Show number 43 on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 9pm Eastern Time.

Our guest will be Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine in Virginia. It's no secret that the American health care system is broken - Duh! This fact has challenged the medicine establishment to become innovative in coming up with ideas to better deliver health care in this country. Among his credentials include being awarded the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year by his chamber of commerce.

In this model, Dr. Dappen is available to his patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via phone, e-mail and in person. You can schedule an office visit or he can make a house call and come to you. He utilizes technology like electronic medical records and internet access to deliver care. He was even interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America.

What's the catch, people ask? Well, the cost of this model of health care mostly comes out of the patient's pocket. Insurance? Dr. Dappen's practice does not submit claims to insurance companies. On the website, patients are given the details on how to submit claims to their own insurance company, thereby decreasing office overhead.

Critics of this model call it concierge medicine elitist and country club medicine. Something that everyone knows is that the current American Health Care Delivery System is on it's way to total collapse - the question is just when. This should be a thought provoking show, so you can't miss it!