Concierge Doctors Directory

The complete directory of Concierge Doctors in the United States is online. Concierge Doctors goes by many names, boutique medicine, retainer medicine, executive health, VIP medicine, and personalized medicine. Finding the right Concierge Doctor is the most important step for patient considering the best care. Concierge Doctor is a new style of practice with old roots, in which doctors limit their patient base in order to provide patients with personalized service, high quality care, 24-7 availability, and other amenities. In exchange for this enhanced personal attention, patients pay physicians an annual fee. This concierge fee enables physicians to increase their compensation while managing their workload. In addition to receiving an annual fee, most Concierge Doctors continue to receive reimbursements from health plans and private pay clients. Concierge Doctors is a relationship between a patient and a primary care physician in which the patient pays an annual fee or retainer. This may or may not be in addition to other charges. In exchange for the retainer, doctors provide enhanced care. Other terms in use include boutique medicine, retainer-based medicine, and innovative medical practice design. The practice is also referred to as membership medicine, concierge health care, cash only practice, direct care, direct primary care, and direct practice medicine. While all Concierge Doctors practices share similarities, they vary widely in their structure, payment requirements, and form of operation. In particular, they differ in the level of service provided and the amount of the fee charged. There are an estimated 5,000 concierge, or membership medicine doctors throughout the U.S. Concierge Doctors care for fewer patients than in a conventional practice. All generally claim to be accessible via cell phone or email at any time of day or night or offer some other special service beyond the normal care provided. The annual fees vary widely, from $600 to $5,000 per year for an individual, with the lower annual fees being in addition to the usual fees for each service and the higher annual fees including most services. Some concierge practices do not accept insurance of any kind. These are as cash-only or direct primary care practices. By refusing to deal with insurance companies, these practices can keep overhead and administrative costs low, thereby providing affordable healthcare to patients. They become concierge only if the practice assesses an annual or monthly fee instead of or in addition to a fee for each medical service. Other concierge practices do take insurance, even Medicare, but ask for an annual fee for additional services exclusive of insurance plans. This annual fee is not a substitute for medical insurance, and generally does not cover consultations outside the practice, laboratory procedures, medicines, hospitalizations, or emergency care from other providers.

Benzoyl Peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide cream is a topical bactericidal. Widely available over the counter (OTC), bactericidal products containing benzoyl peroxide treats mild to moderate acne. The patient applies the gel or cream containing benzoyl peroxide twice daily into the pores over the affected region. Bar soaps or washes may also be helpful and vary from 2 to 10 percent in strength. In addition to its therapeutic effect as a keratolytic (a chemical that dissolves the keratin plugging the pores) benzoyl peroxide also prevents new lesions by killing P. acnes. In one study, roughly 70 percent of participants using a 10 percent benzoyl peroxide solution experienced a reduction in acne lesions after six weeks. Unlike antibiotics, benzoyl peroxide has the advantage of being a strong oxidizer (essentially a mild bleach) and thus does not appear to generate bacterial resistance. However, it routinely causes dryness, local irritation and redness. A sensible regimen may include the daily use of low-concentration (2.5 percent) benzoyl peroxide preparations, combined with suitable non-comedogenic moisturizers to help avoid over drying the skin. Patients should exact care when using benzoyl peroxide, as it can very easily bleach any fabric or hair it meets.

Keloids

A keloid is a type of hypertrophic scar. Keloids are made up of type I (and some type III) collagen that results in an overgrowth of tissue at the site of a healed skin injury. Keloids are firm, rubbery lesions or shiny, fibrous nodules and can vary from pink to flesh-colored or red to dark brown in color. A keloid scar is benign, non-contagious and usually accompanied by severe itchiness, sharp pains and changes in texture. In severe cases, it can affect movement of skin. Keloids expand in claw-like growths over normal skin. They have the capability to hurt with a needle-like pain or to itch without warning, although the degree of sensation varies from patient to patient.

Medical Device

A medical device is a product used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery. Medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological, medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, physio-chemical or chemical means. Medical devices are a part of medical technology. Medical devices include a wide range of products varying in complexity and application. The Food and Drug Administration recognizes three classes of medical devices based on the level of control necessary to assure the safety and effectiveness of the devices. Class I devices are subject to the least regulatory control. "General Controls" apply to all Class I, II and III devices. General controls include provisions that relate to adulteration; misbranding; device registration and listing; pre-market notification; banned devices; notification, including repair, replacement, or refund; records and reports; restricted devices; and good manufacturing practices. Class I devices are not intended for use in supporting or sustaining life or to be of substantial importance in preventing impairment to human health, and they may not present a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury. Most Class I devices are exempt from the pre-market notification and/or good manufacturing practices regulation. Class II devices are those for which general controls alone are insufficient to assure safety and effectiveness, and existing rules provide such assurances. In addition to complying with general controls, Class II devices are also subject to special controls. A few Class II devices are exempt from pre-market notification [10]. Special controls may include particular labeling requirements, mandatory performance standards and post-market surveillance. The FDA holds Class II medical devices to a higher level of assurance than Class I devices, as Class II devices must perform as indicated without causing injury or harm to patient or user. Examples of Class II devices include powered wheelchairs, infusion pumps and surgical drapes. A Class III device is one for which insufficient information exists to assure safety and effectiveness solely through the general or special controls sufficient for Class I or Class II devices. Such a device needs pre-market approval, a scientific review to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device, and is subject to all the general controls of Class I devices. The FDA classifies Class III devices as those that support or sustain human life and are of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health, or which present a potential, unreasonable risk of illness or injury. Examples of Class III devices (which currently require a pre-market notification) include implantable pacemaker pulse generators and endosseous implants.