Nathaniel Arana, NGA Healthcare Teresa Iafolla, eVisit

How to Become a Concierge Doctor

Converting to a Concierge or Direct Primary Care (DPC) Practice

June 2015

Who We Are

Teresa Iafolla

Content Marketing Manager, eVisit

tiafolla@evisit.com

Nathaniel Arana

President, NGA Healthcare

nathaniel@ngahealthcare.com

Host

Speaker

Your Presenter

Nathaniel Arana

President, NGA Healthcare

With his expertise from a top business management

program, Nathaniel was able to found and grow one of

the nation’s largest out-of-network billing companies. He

also worked as a manager and consultant for a physician

consulting company.

Nathaniel started NGA Healthcare because he wanted to

change the way physicians practice medicine by

lessening the influence of insurance companies. As a

physician advocate, he has helped his clients start

concierge and DPC practices, marketing their practices

and negotiating reimbursement rates.

nathaniel@ngahealthcare.com

www.ngahealthcare.com

Connect

The role of health insurance

• Cost to bill insurance: $471 billion

• 80% considered waste

• Cost contributed to complex rules and inefficiencies

• Problem for both physicians and health plans

• Higher premiums and lower reimbursement are the result

Concierge vs. Direct Primary Care

Concierge

• Smaller patient population (around 500)

• Still may bill insurance

• Typically higher priced ($200 - $500+ /month)

Direct Primary Care

• Larger patient population (1,000 – 2,000)

• No insurance billing, no insurance billing overhead

• Lower priced (as low as $50 /month)

Which is better?

• Depends on your goals

• Depends on your location

• Complete an analysis to understand which will work better

• Wealthy area?

• Medicaid and Medicare population?

The middle-class model

$50 - $100 per month depending on level of service and patient population/demographics

• At $50 a month with a 1,000 patient population, physician collects $50,000 monthly, $600,000 annually

• Lower overhead (let’s assume conservatively 40%)

• $400,000 annual salary

Concierge medicine for the rest of us…Direct Primary Care

What about Medicaid and Medicare Patients?

• Medicaid patients are typically financially indigent

• Charging Medicare patients cash for covered services

• Charging Medicare patients for non-covered services

• Grey area at the moment - best to look at your situation with the help of a qualified healthcare attorney

What should I charge?

• Understand your location and patient population

• What is your payer mix?

• Many variables to understand what patients will pay/conversion rate

How can I convert strategically?

• Analyze your payer mix

• Look at your underperforming contracts

• You don’t always need to terminate your contracts

• Start with the bottom 1/3

How can I convert strategically?

• Calculate break-even:

variable costs > reimbursement

• When a contract pays less, convert these patients

How can I convert strategically?

• Convert existing patients

• Patient education is key!

• Market aggressively

The importance of customer service

• The concierge/DPC patient expects higher quality of care

• Staff needs to be trained to focus on customer service

Friendly demeanor

Follow-up

Organization

Is it only for primary care?

• Can be implemented with any specialty

• Great for chronic care patients

• The answer to the ‘healthcare crisis’

The importance of technology

• Use technology to increase convenience

• Use technology to decrease unnecessary visits

• Enhance the patient-physician relationship

How do I market a DPC practice?

• Explain the benefits of this practice to patients

longer consultations

customized plans

same-day appointments

better access

technology to speak to your physician

How do I market a DPC practice?

• Use current patient base

• Educate current patients

• Reach out to new patients

• Internet marketing

• Targeting marketing

• Word of mouth

• This is the void in primary care patients are looking for

Benefits of Telemedicine

Increase patient satisfaction

Keep your patients within your practice (not an UC or ER)

Better patient engagement and more opportunity to interact with your patients

Less no-shows or cancelled appointments

Optimized patient flow

NGA Healthcare

• Strategic DPC/Concierge conversion

• Negotiate reimbursement rates

• Marketing strategies for DPC/Concierge practices

• http://www.ngahealthcare.com/direct-care/

• nathaniel@ngahealthcare.com

Questions?

Teresa Iafolla

Content Marketing Manager, eVisit

tiafolla@evisit.com

Nathaniel Arana

President at NGA Healthcare

nathaniel@ngahealthcare.com

@eVisitapp

#evisitwebinar

Nathaniel Arana, NGA Healthcare and Teresa Iafolla, eVisit

Thank You!

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April 2015