Is MDVIP (concierge PCP) worth it?
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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. |
Anonymous
| Years ago, my wife and I had different PCPs, in fact, I don't think I even had one. She loved her doctor, and when she joined MDVIP, my wife didn't hesitate to pay the membership fee. I thought she was crazy. After several years she talked me into trying it out, and I reluctantly joined, using her same doctor as my PCP. I've been with her for several years now. Even though my wife and I are paying $4,400/yr for membership fees, I've never regretted it. The ability to get my doctor on the phone 24/7 has been invaluable. Plus, I travel a lot, and all it takes is a text to get her to call in a much needed antibiotic to deal with an untimely sinus infection, UTI, etc. One positive review on here said that it was the piece of mind that made it worth it. I've wasted a lot of money on a lot of things over the years, most of which never gave me the piece of mind that a concierge doctor has. Well worth it! |
Anonymous
The MDVIP marketing team has finally joined the chat. |
Anonymous
omg. You're right. And it is so blatant! No, so-called "concierge" is never worth it |
Anonymous
| I just joined myself bc my dr switched and I’ve been with him for almost 30 years and he’s amazing. However I know they say they have nothing to do with your actual healthcare and it’s all Drs decision making…I have a few chronic issues and disease and while he has always been good about prescribing what I need, some are controlled and some for pain. With this whole issue w pain meds I worry there may be restrictions on these Drs? Like where I live the urgent care offices aren’t “allowed “ to prescribe any controlled meds. So, just came to mind and haven’t had a chance to ask him. |