VIP Medicine: Healthcare for the wealthy.

By Mary Mullaj

One very practical luxury of being wealthy is being able to afford health care. Navigating the system, however, can be complicated no matter your wealth or health. MDVIP offers a simplified and ameliorated medical service, based on the idea of physicians knowing their patients by name.

General physicians tend to have around 2500 patients, which translates into less frequent and shorter appointments. Getting away from this is the driving idea behind MDVIP, a “concierge” medical service in which patients are paired with a physician for an annual fee. This fee allows the doctor to limit their practice size to fewer total patients, resulting in longer appointments, better preventive care, and more personal attention in state-of-the-art private facilities. Their commitment to personal service is expressed by the fact that you are given the doctor’s cell phone and beeper numbers, and by the fact that you are guaranteed an appointment for the same or next day, a rarity by today’s standards. Membership includes an executive physical, to stay on top of issues before they become serious, as well as access to a network of the best specialists with referrals coordinated by the MDVIP practice. Web services include storage of medical records, and tracking devices for personal health care plans. The optional travel advantages plan allows you to visit other MDVIP doctors wherever you go, and allows family members visiting you to see your personal physician. A sign of satisfaction with the service is that 95% of patients renew annually. MDVIP sets the new gold standard for health care, while there are several other medical services to offer peace of mind in case of possible disasters.

For the rich and paranoid, Pinnacle Health care offers to do your research for you in the event of a rare or unknown disease. However, Pinnacle Care’s focus is more on obtaining appointments with top-notch specialists or researchers who rarely see patients at all. In most cases, a general physician paired with referrals to excellent specialists will suffice, and for that reason MDVIP seems to be more popular.

Finally, Medjetassist offers a yearly membership for $175. It seems to be a small price to pay for a luxury service, which everyone hopes never to use. In the unlikely event of an illness or injury while traveling, you will be evacuated by specially equipped medical plane to the hospital of your choice.

Via Wall Street Journal