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Another interesting development is primary care for cash, or "direct primary care". Somewhere between retail health clinics at the low end and concierge medici

by TheWama 18y ago

Another interesting development is primary care for cash, or "direct primary care". Somewhere between retail health clinics at the low end and concierge medicine at the high end, these are doctors you subscribe with for something on the order of $50 a month for a personal relationship with a primary care doctor. Because of the compensation model, they've embraced conveniences like e-mail, phone calls and text messaging for communication, as well as once-common house calls. They're also able to better-compensate their doctors and provide longer, more immediate appointments because they don't have nearly the overhead of an insurance-financed medical practice. This could help stem the tide of doctors leaving primary care practice (http://www.entrepreneurialmd.com/index/2008/11/18/angry-primary-care-physicians-are-just-saying-no.html http://www.entrepreneurialmd.com/index/2008/11/18/angry-prim...), a trend which does not bode well for the future state of preventative medical care. It's a very early trend, but I'm looking forward to seeing it develop. I currently know of Qliance (http://qliance.com/ http://qliance.com/) in Seattle and Hello Health (http://hellohealth.com/ http://hellohealth.com/) in Brooklyn. For more, you can check out videos from each organizations' founder: Dr. Garrison Bliss (http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2008030136C&TYPE=V&CFID=797374&CFTOKEN=98512569&bhcp=1 http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2008030136C&#3...) and Dr. Jay Parkinson (http://vimeo.com/2082073 http://vimeo.com/2082073)

pchivers 18y ago
I would love to have primary care for cash here in Canada. Given the current system, you can't receive a given medical treatment unless you can convince a doctor to authorize it. Even if you are willing to pay out of pocket, you are out of luck unless you can find a doctor who is on the same page as you. Right now, I'm trying to get a blood test for Vitamin D, but all the doctors I've gone to see are ignorant of the latest Vitamin D research, and don't see the value of doing the test. If I can't find a doctor who will authorize it in the next year or so, then I'm probably going to drive down to the US and pay cash using Direct Labs (http://www.directlabs.com/ http://www.directlabs.com/) or the Life Extension Foundation (http://www.lef.org/ http://www.lef.org/). It's terribly inefficient but I don't see any way around it.
- pasbesoin 18y ago
  I'm curious as to what research you're referencing. I started taking a vitamin D supplement a few weeks ago at the encouragement of my father, and it seems to be making a difference in my sense of well-being, but I'd welcome a few pointers if you have any handy. (Don't mean to impose, though.)
  - pchivers 18y ago
    The big study on vitamin D that got everyone's attention was this one from the summer of 2007: Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation Reduces Cancer Risk: Results of a Randomized Trial (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/1586 http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/1586) There is also a lot of information about vitamin D research at the Vitamin D Council website (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/). That being said, I don't know if taking a vitamin D supplement would have any noticeable effect on your sense of well-being. I think it's probably a good idea to take one even if you don't notice a difference.
    - pasbesoin 18y ago
      > I don't know if taking a vitamin D supplement would have any noticeable effect on your sense of well-being Yeah, that was totally unexpected and is purely anecdotal.

by TheWama 18y ago

pchivers 18y ago

I would love to have primary care for cash here in Canada. Given the current system, you can't receive a given medical treatment unless you can convince a doctor to authorize it. Even if you are willing to pay out of pocket, you are out of luck unless you can find a doctor who is on the same page as you. Right now, I'm trying to get a blood test for Vitamin D, but all the doctors I've gone to see are ignorant of the latest Vitamin D research, and don't see the value of doing the test. If I can't find a doctor who will authorize it in the next year or so, then I'm probably going to drive down to the US and pay cash using Direct Labs (http://www.directlabs.com/ http://www.directlabs.com/) or the Life Extension Foundation (http://www.lef.org/ http://www.lef.org/). It's terribly inefficient but I don't see any way around it.

pasbesoin 18y ago
I'm curious as to what research you're referencing. I started taking a vitamin D supplement a few weeks ago at the encouragement of my father, and it seems to be making a difference in my sense of well-being, but I'd welcome a few pointers if you have any handy. (Don't mean to impose, though.)
- pchivers 18y ago
  The big study on vitamin D that got everyone's attention was this one from the summer of 2007: Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation Reduces Cancer Risk: Results of a Randomized Trial (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/1586 http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/1586) There is also a lot of information about vitamin D research at the Vitamin D Council website (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/). That being said, I don't know if taking a vitamin D supplement would have any noticeable effect on your sense of well-being. I think it's probably a good idea to take one even if you don't notice a difference.
  - pasbesoin 18y ago
    > I don't know if taking a vitamin D supplement would have any noticeable effect on your sense of well-being Yeah, that was totally unexpected and is purely anecdotal.