Is MDVIP (concierge PCP) worth it?
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Anonymous
| I.went with MDVIP because my doctor, who has my trust without reservation, took her practice to the plan. My doc is now retiring, forcing a change for me. Since I have to change anyway, I’m trusting that my doctor found the right replacement to take over her practice. If we leave, it won’t be because of MDVIP. I will admit that I haven’t taken full advantage of the service, but knowing my doctor is there, and familiar with my conditions has been worth the fee. |
Anonymous
| Im involved with mdvip but i moved 100 miles away need a mdvip dr in ny area - anyone know how i can send an anoyomous medsage to inquire about themputtig Dr's in my area? |
Anonymous
| I think it's clear that the experiences are as individual as the practice that you decide to go with as well as the level of care that you need. Before I decided on my MDVIP PCP, I went and met him. I sat in his office and simply chatted with him for about an hour. That in itself went a long way toward telling me what I needed to know. He would take the time to sit and listen and talk and not rush anything. Since then I have had my initial intake appointment which was scheduled to be an hour-long and ended up being an hour and a half. I have a lot going on with myself. When I left, I left with referrals to so many specialists and for a multitude of labs and diagnostic testing. My inbox started filling up with appointments already scheduled with the option to re-schedule. These came straight from the specialists - neurologists, rheumatologists, cardiologists... The practice touched base via the portal and I checked in with them re: any outstanding appointments that needed to be made. I found them to be very responsive. My first return visit was scheduled for 3 weeks after my first visit. We will only have a handful of results from what we will be gathering, but I was told that we'll go over these and make another appointment and just keep up with the info as it comes in. SO...know your practice, doctor, and if you need this kind of attention. The cost is well worth it for me, but would not be if the doctor didn't live up to the hype. |
Anonymous
| No not worth it. We tried for couple of years, during the COVID19 pandemic, the MDVIP office had no attempt in any outreach or follow-up. When we complained with the MDVIP, they said they can't do anything, because they are not managing the office. Gave the worst advice. We left |
Anonymous
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I have been going to the same doctor for 20 years. He joined up with MDVIP recently. I feel this MDVIP business verges on the borderline of extortion.
So, because I refuse to pay an extra $450. per quarter, my doctor refused to fill my bp meds, telling the pharmacy that I am no longer his patient. I feel this is a big rip-off, and shows me just how much my doctor really cares about me. |
Anonymous
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It may depend where you live. Some cities may have lots of primary care MDs with small panels who can see you quickly. That wasn't my experience - it was a 1 month wait to see a nurse/mid level provider or a 3 month wait to see a physician.
I pay $4k/year now for a concierge physician - not MDVIP, but the same idea. In return for that I have his cell phone # and can call/text him any time I have a question. Since he only has a few hundred patients, we've been able to get to know each other decently well. I can get a same day or next day appointment and the appointments are 30 minutes to an hour - never rushed. While I'm relatively healthy, I view it as a form of insurance and am very happy with the $ spent. |
Anonymous
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My long time internist of 30 years retired. I found another internist that I like. After one Medicare wellness checkup, the doctor switched to MDVIP. I decided to give it a try since the Medicare wellness checkup was not giving me what I used to get prior to my retirement. I assumed the annual MDVIP exam would include the traditional physical exam I was accustomed to. This included a hands on physical by the doctor such as blood pressure, weight, ears, throat, heart, lungs, abdomen, feet, reflexes, etc, and also included a prostate, hernia, and genital exam.
The MDVIP annual exam I just took did not include any of this. In fact I never saw the doctor! The nurse checked my blood pressure and weight, took blood, then put me through a battery of tests which included screening tests for lungs (spirometer), vision, hearing, hand strength, and a cognitive test. This is all good, but the traditional physical I assumed would be included never came. I saw the doctor on a second visit for an explanation of the results and at that time no further examinations were performed. Was it worth it. No, not for me. |
Anonymous
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If you are very busy, have extra money and proximity and easy to schedule appointments are worth it to you. Or, if you have a constellation of medical issues and need someone to co-ordinate your care (effects of different treatments, etc.) otherwise , you’ll find you’re paying $475/ a visit on top of what your insurance pays them.
Problem is, doctors keep dropping off to join these programs bc they have so little patient time in regular practices. |
Anonymous
| You keep calling it concierge medicine however that term is never once mentioned by MDVIP. |
Anonymous
| that MDVIP must of killed alot of people during covid being they lost there doctors after years alot of old ladies cant afford 2000 a year they must be waiting for alot of doctors down in hell |
Anonymous
That’s nuts and must have been an oversight. I’m an internist and am horrified to hear this. |
Anonymous
| My MDVIP insists that you take the walking pace test, clock test , grip strength test lung function test and hearing test and the 3 word memory test. Never mind that there are no meds for any of these problems. What is it for ? To tell us that we are getting older every year ? Duh. Thnx Doc. I think MDVIP comes up with these tests so they can market it as a more "comprehensive " physical exam or they are collecting data on aging and plan to publish w/out our consent. "Well Mrs Jones I have the results of all your tests and the results say that you are getting older and I am afraid I can't do anything about that " |
Anonymous
Thanks for posting this. I’m in a similar situation — getting older and developing some chronic, albeit not life threatening issues. I wouldn’t have paid for it when I was young & healthy, but I am considering a concierge practice after dealing with multiple specialists that don’t want to deal with anything that isn’t directly in their lane, even if it may be a side affect of what they are treating. E.g., my blood pressure suddenly shot up & I was seeing an endocrinologist for one chronic issue for which the medication can cause high blood pressure, and another specialist for another issue that was causing me to be anemic, which can also cause HBP. Neither specialist even wanted to talk to me about the HBP. They both said see your PCP. My last PCP had left their practice, so I didn’t have anyone I could get into see immediately. Agree that dealing with medical practices and getting appointments has become increasingly difficult. It’s worth a lot to me to have someone to go to who will actually listen, and, if necessary, coordinate with a specialist, if necessary. |
Anonymous
| It’s interesting that this thread was started 7 years ago. There seems to be someone here with a bee in their bonnet about MDVIP, but the issues that made the concept appealing have only been exacerbated over the past few years. |
Anonymous
| Seems like a rip off for patients and money grab by the doctors. From the MDVIP web site, doctors have a max of 600 patients paying around $2,000/year each. That's around $1.2M/year. The company (Goldman Sachs) takes 1/3. The doctor keeps the rest. On top of that, they bill your insurance for everything they do and you pay co-pays, deductibles, etc. |