I have a extremely good wellness / Primary care doctor here in Las Vegas/Henderson, NV. I've been seeing him every 3 months for TRT for several years. I'm doing well. i think my TRT regimen is dialed in fine and I don't need to change anything.
He's a great doctor, but right now he's spending like an additional 30+ hours a week after office hours just doing charting for patient records and its burning him out. I know that the only way to make money with the low reimbursement rates that insurance companies pay is to see lots of patients and make it up in volume - So I don't have a problem with him having a life and not working from 5AM - 10PM 5 days a week and half a day at home on Saturday (that's what he personally told me his current work schedule looks like).
He's changing his practice over to a concierge service where he will have only about 400 patients and will be able spend much more time with them (and less time dealing with insurance red tape). In order to do this, he will be charging $1800/year (payable in quarterly installments) as a membership fee and then still charges for visits for whatever my insurance will pay. In his new practice I would get an "Executive Physical" exam once a year that takes 2-3 hours to complete. I can also get same day appointments and talk to him whenever I want because he's only seeing a few patients a day, so he has open slots.
I'm turning 50 years old next year, I am in good health otherwise, I workout 3x a week, no chronic conditions or other reasons to see him other than TRT and the occasional illness/cold/flu.
I don't know if I should find a new doctor (since $1800 is not an insignificant amount of money - almost $5/day), but I do spend around $5 at Starbucks almost everyday - so it's not a break the bank amount.
The way I see it, my choices are:
A) Stick with my current Doctor, pay $1800 more a year, probably get slightly better health since I get a better physical and he'll spend more time getting me in peak physical condition.
B) Find a new doctor, hope they know what they are doing, see them instead. This also covers me for any other issue like if I get the flu, a weird mole, ear infection, annual physical, etc. I assume my old Doctor will recommend someone with TRT experience for those that don't stay with him in the membership fee practice. The specialty pharmacy where I get my TRT supplies at can also probably recommend other local doctors too that they work with regularly so I'll get someone who regularly does TRT prescriptions.
C) Go with a local Men's health "ED" clinic where I probably have to pay a membership fee or whatever (many advertised on billboards here in town). I see that Primebody.com (recommended on this site) has a location here in Las Vegas, but its cash-based protocol (so I'm paying out of pocket even with insurance). For all I know that may cost me $1800/year and I could stick with my Doc for the same price.
D) Go with a telemedicine doctor like Defy Medical (assuming since they are based in Tampa, FL that its done over the phone, skype, or facetime) - no idea on cost. I assume that this is all they do so they do it well. Downside is that I don't have someone to see locally if I get sick. Also its a 3 hour time zone difference from the West Coast, so unsure if a Doctor is available after 2PM Eastern Time to talk to about my health.
Anyone have a recommendation on what's worked best for them or anything I should ask?
He's a great doctor, but right now he's spending like an additional 30+ hours a week after office hours just doing charting for patient records and its burning him out. I know that the only way to make money with the low reimbursement rates that insurance companies pay is to see lots of patients and make it up in volume - So I don't have a problem with him having a life and not working from 5AM - 10PM 5 days a week and half a day at home on Saturday (that's what he personally told me his current work schedule looks like).
He's changing his practice over to a concierge service where he will have only about 400 patients and will be able spend much more time with them (and less time dealing with insurance red tape). In order to do this, he will be charging $1800/year (payable in quarterly installments) as a membership fee and then still charges for visits for whatever my insurance will pay. In his new practice I would get an "Executive Physical" exam once a year that takes 2-3 hours to complete. I can also get same day appointments and talk to him whenever I want because he's only seeing a few patients a day, so he has open slots.
I'm turning 50 years old next year, I am in good health otherwise, I workout 3x a week, no chronic conditions or other reasons to see him other than TRT and the occasional illness/cold/flu.
I don't know if I should find a new doctor (since $1800 is not an insignificant amount of money - almost $5/day), but I do spend around $5 at Starbucks almost everyday - so it's not a break the bank amount.
The way I see it, my choices are:
A) Stick with my current Doctor, pay $1800 more a year, probably get slightly better health since I get a better physical and he'll spend more time getting me in peak physical condition.
B) Find a new doctor, hope they know what they are doing, see them instead. This also covers me for any other issue like if I get the flu, a weird mole, ear infection, annual physical, etc. I assume my old Doctor will recommend someone with TRT experience for those that don't stay with him in the membership fee practice. The specialty pharmacy where I get my TRT supplies at can also probably recommend other local doctors too that they work with regularly so I'll get someone who regularly does TRT prescriptions.
C) Go with a local Men's health "ED" clinic where I probably have to pay a membership fee or whatever (many advertised on billboards here in town). I see that Primebody.com (recommended on this site) has a location here in Las Vegas, but its cash-based protocol (so I'm paying out of pocket even with insurance). For all I know that may cost me $1800/year and I could stick with my Doc for the same price.
D) Go with a telemedicine doctor like Defy Medical (assuming since they are based in Tampa, FL that its done over the phone, skype, or facetime) - no idea on cost. I assume that this is all they do so they do it well. Downside is that I don't have someone to see locally if I get sick. Also its a 3 hour time zone difference from the West Coast, so unsure if a Doctor is available after 2PM Eastern Time to talk to about my health.
Anyone have a recommendation on what's worked best for them or anything I should ask?
