Hey, hey, this really is revolutionary! While concierge medicine, as it has been called, has been around for some time, these doctors are turning it on its head. Instead of pricing it to attract the wealthy, they price it to serve the commoner.
Fifty dollars a month for unlimited visits and free ultrasounds, etc.? As little as $6 for a prescription that might cost 100? They treated one homeless lady for $147 whereas traditional care might have costed as much as $1,500. Doctors Josh Umbehr, Doug Nunamaker and Michael Palomino and their Wichita-based primary-care practice apply a business model to health care that I wish would sweep the nation. The key to it is eliminating the middle man -- that would be insurance. Another key is holding down the overhead. The three of them have a staff of two -- a full-time nurse and a part-time nurse. They compare that to another clinic they know of with six physicians and a staff of 62.
While this business model just reduces the cost for physician care, not care that requires hospitalization, this is a step in the right direction. It would be wonderful if this business model could be applied to hospital care, as well.
Atlas MD takes its name from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," but this business is nothing to shrug at.
http://atlas.md/wichita/about-us/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PefZ7jpdr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6vDTkdsLnw
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-29/is-concierge-medicine-the-future-of-health-care
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