It’s not your imagination. It’s become harder to schedule a visit to your doctor. It takes an average of more than three weeks to nail down an appointment, and once you finally get in, you have to wait again. And what do you get for your time and patience? About 15 minutes of your doctor’s time.
That’s why Dr. Dave Larson at SourceMD: Integrated Wellness Solutions here in Encinitas, California, does things differently. Dr. Larson rejects the old model of health care that herds you through a system designed to maximize profit by minimizing appointment times. Instead,he practices concierge medicine to serve his patients with dignity, respect, and full attention.
If the term concierge (a personal caretaker) seems at odds with the term medical practice, you’ve just identified one of the main problems with traditional health care models.
Concierge medicine brings back the concept of personal service, compassion, and partnership. Like a hotel concierge, a concierge physician like Dr. Larson focuses on you — what you need, what you want, and what’s best for you.
More and more people are opting out of the old system and signing up for concierge medicine because they get better care. Here are some of the advantages:
The average primary care physician has up to 2,000 patients in their panel. They work about 51 hours a week and see about 20 patients a day.
By contrast, Dr. Larson only keeps 150 patients total in his panel. This allows him to give you all of his attention when he’s with you. He gets to know you and all your health care concerns no matter how long it takes — your new-patient consultation runs about 3-4 hours, and your regular appointments generally last 30-60 minutes.
This gives you and Dr. Larson plenty of time to explore all of the factors affecting your physical and mental well-being and to develop and foster a solid, long-term relationship.
You may have noticed that many health care providers tend to talk down to you. They have spent many years and lots of money learning complicated concepts in order to diagnose and treat you, and clearly, they’re the experts in the room. But they often forget that you have critical insight as well.
Dr. Larson values your input and participation in your treatment — in fact, he insists on it. He discovers so much just by talking with you, hearing the tone of your voice, watching your body language, and truly listening. Unlike physicians who interrupt their patients as soon as 11 seconds into the beginning of the office visit, Dr. Larson listens and gives you his full attention.
At SourceMD, we understand that no one knows how you feel and what you’re going through better than you, so we always encourage you to engage in your own health care. This process often leads to “aha!” moments, when Dr. Larson connects dots in your life that others may overlook because they don’t have the time to explore.
These are just a few examples of concierge medicine and how Dr. Larson susses out the real causes of your symptoms, and they illustrate how important it is for physician and patient to work together.
The traditional way of approaching health care is to treat a symptom, not a person. But here at Source MD, it’s just the opposite.
Naturally, our goal is to find the right treatment for you, but we believe that starts with seeing the whole picture of your life and lifestyle. If you take medication simply to mask symptoms, you’ll never heal (you will, however, keep spending money on drugs and office visits).
Concierge medicine focuses on your overall wellness, tapping into your body’s own healing resources to prevent illnesses and help you avoid the need for frequent doctor visits.
For a set membership fee, Dr. Larson is at your service. You can reach him easily and come see him when you need help (rather than two months later, like many health care clinics). Here’s what you can expect from our concierge medical service:
While you should still carry insurance for emergencies and hospitalization, we do not work directly with insurance companies. Many of our patients carry a high-deductible, less expensive policy, pay us out of pocket for our services, and still end up saving money with our concierge medicine model.
If you’re curious about how concierge medicine can change the way you do health care, call us today at 760-230-1317 to set up your first consultation with Dr. Larson.
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