Potomac Physicians Associates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just found out that Potomac Physicians Associates will be dissolving their practice this summer and all of their doctors will be moving to various concierge health practices. I now have to look for a new internist as I'm not interested in joining a pricey concierge group. Does anyone know why they are dissolving?

This is a very misleading post. For the majority of the patients (that is, those in the Chevy Chase office), the only change is a $200 annual fee ($50 the first year).

Not misleading. Half of the practice is remaining in Bethesda and not accepting any insurance for $1,800 a year (including my doctor) which is definitely concierge and the other half is charging $200 annually to be able to make appointments online which is crazy odd, with no guarantee that the new model will even be covered by most health insurance companies.

I haven't looked at this change too closely since I have no need for concierge, but I didn't realize the new Bethesda location will not accept any insurance so that you only get out of network reimbursements.

I did call and the Bethesda location will take insurance. The fee is to pay for the added benefits, no wait, contact your dr anytime, and wellness program.

Before landing at PPA few years ago, I had bounced all over the place, after my GP at the time went concierge and I didn’t follow. The good ones don’t take new patients or also concierge. I found one that didn’t take insurance and I thought it was better than paying a large fee but I was wrong. I paid out of pocket but the waits were long and you could never see the physician. I switched to another one without insurance and although I could see him fast, I didn’t like him. I then went to medstar and when sick you couldn’t even see a PA. I’d always end up at urgent care. I called Hopkins a t executive blvd and none of the physicians were taking new patients. Then I switched to PPA and although not perfect, I really liked my Dr. I will be following her to the concierge model since I know I like her very much and can only think what she can do when handling only 300 patients.

This is a complex decision, I didn’t like my other dr who went concierge enough to follow him and since then I’ve realized that the state of primary care is precautious. They have to carry over 2k patients to make it work. Good GPS are rarely taking new patients. Others are either direct pay and you file out of network or have gone concierge. If you don’t go to the dr ever then it makes no sense to pay extra but if you need someone to help you manage chronic conditions then it may make sense. Don’t take me wrong, it’s a big financial commitment but I’ll treat it as part of my health insurance expenses.

I did wonder if I could switch to the one medical plan but just figured that switching to a new doc with many unknowns might not be feasible. Besides, I figured they’d give priority to their current patients anyway.

The communication I received indicated that they can refer you to other physicians in the area if you can’t join.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just found out that Potomac Physicians Associates will be dissolving their practice this summer and all of their doctors will be moving to various concierge health practices. I now have to look for a new internist as I'm not interested in joining a pricey concierge group. Does anyone know why they are dissolving?

This is a very misleading post. For the majority of the patients (that is, those in the Chevy Chase office), the only change is a $200 annual fee ($50 the first year).

Not misleading. Half of the practice is remaining in Bethesda and not accepting any insurance for $1,800 a year (including my doctor) which is definitely concierge and the other half is charging $200 annually to be able to make appointments online which is crazy odd, with no guarantee that the new model will even be covered by most health insurance companies.

Stop making up crap. OneMedical takes almost all insurance. Look at their website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just found out that Potomac Physicians Associates will be dissolving their practice this summer and all of their doctors will be moving to various concierge health practices. I now have to look for a new internist as I'm not interested in joining a pricey concierge group. Does anyone know why they are dissolving?

This is a very misleading post. For the majority of the patients (that is, those in the Chevy Chase office), the only change is a $200 annual fee ($50 the first year).

Not misleading. Half of the practice is remaining in Bethesda and not accepting any insurance for $1,800 a year (including my doctor) which is definitely concierge and the other half is charging $200 annually to be able to make appointments online which is crazy odd, with no guarantee that the new model will even be covered by most health insurance companies.

I haven't looked at this change too closely since I have no need for concierge, but I didn't realize the new Bethesda location will not accept any insurance so that you only get out of network reimbursements.

I did call and the Bethesda location will take insurance. The fee is to pay for the added benefits, no wait, contact your dr anytime, and wellness program.

Before landing at PPA few years ago, I had bounced all over the place, after my GP at the time went concierge and I didn’t follow. The good ones don’t take new patients or also concierge. I found one that didn’t take insurance and I thought it was better than paying a large fee but I was wrong. I paid out of pocket but the waits were long and you could never see the physician. I switched to another one without insurance and although I could see him fast, I didn’t like him. I then went to medstar and when sick you couldn’t even see a PA. I’d always end up at urgent care. I called Hopkins a t executive blvd and none of the physicians were taking new patients. Then I switched to PPA and although not perfect, I really liked my Dr. I will be following her to the concierge model since I know I like her very much and can only think what she can do when handling only 300 patients.

This is a complex decision, I didn’t like my other dr who went concierge enough to follow him and since then I’ve realized that the state of primary care is precautious. They have to carry over 2k patients to make it work. Good GPS are rarely taking new patients. Others are either direct pay and you file out of network or have gone concierge. If you don’t go to the dr ever then it makes no sense to pay extra but if you need someone to help you manage chronic conditions then it may make sense. Don’t take me wrong, it’s a big financial commitment but I’ll treat it as part of my health insurance expenses.

I did wonder if I could switch to the one medical plan but just figured that switching to a new doc with many unknowns might not be feasible. Besides, I figured they’d give priority to their current patients anyway.

The communication I received indicated that they can refer you to other physicians in the area if you can’t join.

Just to confirm that PPA said that the Bethesda office will continue to be In-Network for the insurance companies that they currently accept? I've been hearing otherwise - that they can file with your insurance company but will be out of network. There was no mention of any insurance at all in the literature that I got from my doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just found out that Potomac Physicians Associates will be dissolving their practice this summer and all of their doctors will be moving to various concierge health practices. I now have to look for a new internist as I'm not interested in joining a pricey concierge group. Does anyone know why they are dissolving?

This is a very misleading post. For the majority of the patients (that is, those in the Chevy Chase office), the only change is a $200 annual fee ($50 the first year).

Not misleading. Half of the practice is remaining in Bethesda and not accepting any insurance for $1,800 a year (including my doctor) which is definitely concierge and the other half is charging $200 annually to be able to make appointments online which is crazy odd, with no guarantee that the new model will even be covered by most health insurance companies.

Stop making up crap. OneMedical takes almost all insurance. Look at their website.

And some insurances actually pay your $200 OneMedical annual fee for you. I have GEHA (federal employee insurance) and I don't have to pay the OneMedical fee.

[Anonymous]

DH and I go to a concierge practice and love it. For us, it is worth the price.

[Anonymous]

Wish I could say I was surprised. PPA has been run so poorly the past few years. Getting anyone to pick up the phone took a long time, getting an appointment took a long time. I am not sad to be leaving them, although I liked my doctor, not enough to spending any additional $$ besides what we already pay for insurance, but I am sad to have to find a new doctor!

[Anonymous]

Wondering if the ones moving to one medical will cap the number of patients?

[Anonymous]

We are thinking of switching to Kaiser after hearing this bad news. Anyone know anything about Kaiser? I've been biased against that model but it seems like primary care medicine is going to $hit so worth a rethink.

[Anonymous]

FYI – If you have any questions about One Medical, you can join one of their virtual Q&As over the next couple months and chat with both PPA and One Medical providers about this transition. The sessions are scheduled for:

May 20th, 6-7p EST
June 1st, 12-1p EST
June 16th, 6-7p EST
July 6th, 12-1p EST
July 21st, 6-7p EST

The Zoom link is https://onemedical.zoom.us/j/98742194684

[Anonymous]

The info sessions are helpful. So is https://onemedical.com/ppa/ -- looks like most insurance accepted

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a doctor who is going to One Medical? For $200 it's a no brainer. I can see a doctor in just a few days? And talk to someone same day? Why wouldn't someone do that, assuming they have $200? It's worth it just to not sit in the lobby for 30 minutes before each visit waiting for someone to get me. Also it looks like they are doing pediatrics...does anyone have any experience with the doctors doing pediatrics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend a doctor who is going to One Medical? For $200 it's a no brainer. I can see a doctor in just a few days? And talk to someone same day? Why wouldn't someone do that, assuming they have $200? It's worth it just to not sit in the lobby for 30 minutes before each visit waiting for someone to get me. Also it looks like they are doing pediatrics...does anyone have any experience with the doctors doing pediatrics?

Yes, and to make my own appointments through a patient portal rather than calling and letting them dig through their scheduling book.

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington and my husband has seen Dr Schwartz for a long time and really likes him, and will be following him to OneMedical. Dr Schwartz spends a lot of time with his patients and I hope under this model he’ll either get paid for all the work he does or not have to take on so many patients

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend a doctor who is going to One Medical? For $200 it's a no brainer. I can see a doctor in just a few days? And talk to someone same day? Why wouldn't someone do that, assuming they have $200? It's worth it just to not sit in the lobby for 30 minutes before each visit waiting for someone to get me. Also it looks like they are doing pediatrics...does anyone have any experience with the doctors doing pediatrics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are thinking of switching to Kaiser after hearing this bad news. Anyone know anything about Kaiser? I've been biased against that model but it seems like primary care medicine is going to $hit so worth a rethink.

My in-laws have Kaiser and like it. If you need to see a specialist, it has to be a doctor in the Kaiser network.

[Anonymous]

Very disappointing!!! My wife and I are moving to Medicare after retirement from my company (who provided healthcare coverage). So now with reduced income I cannot justify spending $4,000/yr just for the privilege of having a physician to call. We will be finding another PCP who is in the Medicare and AARP supplementary markets. PPA had a roster of around 30K patients and what they are doing is an injustice to most of them. This kind of community irresponsibility throws a large section of the medical medical services sector into an imbalance. I'm not impressed