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'Personal Physicians' Take Care To A New Level

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By IRENE MAHER

News Channel 8

Published: May 9, 2008

Jon Hemstreet calls himself a "personal physician." He left a large, traditional family physician group after four years to practice his own brand of medicine, which focuses on building a relationship with patients.

"I spent less than 15 minutes with each patient," Hemstreet says of his former job. "There were more than 4,000 of them."

In his new practice, St. Petersburg-based HometownMD, Hemstreet has limited his patient load to 200 and spends as much time as necessary with each one of them. They have his cell phone number and can speak to him personally at night, on weekends and holidays, even if all they need is a prescription refill. He makes house calls. He makes workplace calls. At his office, same-day and next-day appointments are no problem, and there's no long wait in the lobby because appointments start on time.

Hemstreet is part of a small but growing number of doctors who charge a retainer, an annual fee, to provide personalized medical care.

The trend started more than a decade ago in California and became known as "concierge" or "boutique" medicine because of the specialized services patients could choose. Other identifiers were attached, including "retainer" medicine, "executive" medicine, even "platinum" medical practices.

Prices vary from physician to physician and city to city, but the hallmark feature is 24/7 access to your physician by cell phone. For people who are tired of the front-desk staff screening calls and deflecting patients, that alone is worth the annual fee. Additional services range from annual physicals and unhurried visits to free valet parking and physicians who even will travel with you. In Los Angeles, where concierge practices are popular, annual fees range from $1,000 to $20,000, depending on your age and the type of services chosen, such as optional weekend appointments or house calls.

Hemstreet charges an annual fee of $1,500 for an individual membership. Additional family members can be added for $500 to $1,200 each, depending on their ages. Personal physicians don't typically participate in health insurance plans but will help patients fill out insurance forms to get out-of-network reimbursement.

The arrangement is perfect for 43-year-old car salesman Ross Bauer of Tampa. He works 60 to 70 hours a week and says his time is too valuable to wait an hour or more to see a doctor. Bauer was one of Hemstreet's first patients.

"I can call him anytime. I can go to his office. He can come to my office. He can come to my home. He's always available," Bauer says.

A more recent addition to the field is South Tampa-based family medicine specialist Radley Griffin, who launched his personal family physician practice in February. He says the practice is enjoying steady growth and is signing up about four new patients a month. He plans to cap his patient load at fewer than 300. Annual fees range from $1,500 to $2,500, depending on the patient's age.

Griffin left traditional medicine for the same reason as Hemstreet.

"It's a matter of having a good connection with your patients," Griffin says. "I want to be a good family doctor where they can come and feel relaxed and comfortable."

Hemstreet is confident there's enough demand in the Tampa Bay area to make personal physician practices successful. In one year, he has signed up 60 patients and plans to add a second physician to the practice this summer.

People clearly want more from their health care providers, and they're willing to pay extra to get it. Fortunately, you don't have to live in Hollywood, either. For about the same money you would pay for a year of lawn care service, you can see your doctor whenever you want. Hemstreet says it's the way medicine was practiced in the 1950s - unrushed and personalized.

"This, I see, is an opportunity to get back to that," he says.

For a lot of people, that's priceless.

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