Cincinnati area doctors joining national "boutique practice" service

"Frustrated with seeing as many as 40 patients a day for just a few minutes at a time, seven local doctors will be the first in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to join a national network of specialized medical practices this spring." (Source: "Group lets docs have patience," Cincinnati Enquirer, Jan. 4, 2007.) The doctors will "focus on preventing illnesses, not just treating them, with only about a dozen patients a day, in exchange for a $1,500 annual fee (per patient). Douglas Brengle, Jeffrey Craig and John Schroder will join the Florida-based network, called MDVIP, in April." Four other unidentified Cincinnati-based doctors will join in May. Already 20 patients in the area have signed up for this "boutique practice" service.

According to Brengle, "It's an investment in your own health care. It really emphasizes proactive and preventive care, something I've always tried to do before. But I've always gotten bogged down and I just don't have time." Brengle's currently has a practice of more than 1,000 patients; with MDVIP, he plans to cut that to about 300 patients. MDVIP president Darin Engelhardt says patients who sign up get regular physicals, a Web-based listing of all their medical records, and a doctor who has time to pay attention to keeping them healthy. Other medical services are covered as before, with the same co-payments and deductibles. According to the article, "Skeptics say boutique medical practices could create an ethical problem for doctors who in effect are giving the highest-quality medical care only to those who can pay for it."