Some physicians offering pricier but prompter health care.

By Allison Linn
SEATTLE - If David Heerensperger isn’t feeling well, he calls Dr. Howard Maron on the phsician’s personal cell phone, whether it’s 3a.m. on a weekday or noon on the weekend.
And Maron will happily make a house call to the 65-year old executive or send a nurse to his patient’s office for test. And he’ll guarantee same-day results.
The catch? Maron and his partner, Dr. I Scott Hall, charge patients up to $20,000 a year in cash for primary care.
Maron compares his Seattle practice to private golf courses of expensive restaurants. It’s a growing trend. Five years after opening his practice MD2 (pronounced MD squared.) in Seattle, Maron is planning to open as many as 100 franchises across the country. An increasing number of doctors nationwide are beginning to charge anywhere from form $1,500 to $20,000 to let richer patients opt out of traditional health-care headaches.
Patients say they are squared the frustration of long waits for appointments, rushed, impersonal treatment and delayed lab results.
With traditional health care, Heerensperger says, “the prices are going up so much and the service is so bad, that this is just great. I’m fortunate to be able to pay for it.”
Doctors say serving those who can afford it, for a price, gives them more free time, and lets them spend more time with patients without budget-conscious insurance companies looking over their shoulders.
Dr. Tom Mchorse, president for the Travis County Medical Society, said he did not know of any local doctors who are practicing medicine that way.
One Austin family practice doctor, Sid Robin, incorporates some elements of the Seattle practice, but his plan is much less expensive. Many of his patients have insurance and use it for services outside his office, such as hospitalization and expensive procedures, such as MRI’s, he said.
Robin became frustrated with managed care and insurance companies and launched his fee-for-service program in January after visiting a different group of physicians in Seattle. He tried to come up with a plan that would be affordable to most people, he said.
Patients ages 4 to 20 pay $20 a month; those 21to 34 pay $45 a month. Those 35 or older pay $75 a month of $900 a year. Those payments cover all office visits, annual exams, x-rays, routine lab work and injections.
It is not for everyone. Robin says his practice has fallen from about 3500 patients to 400, and he’s not yet making as much as he did.
In Seattle, Maron said he got the idea while traveling as the doctor for the city’s NBA team, the Super Sonics. He noticed the athletes got VIP care while the rich team owners struggled with the frustrations of traditional health care.
“I thought, ‘Isn’t it ironic that a player can get a response like that, while the wealthy and powerful have to sit in ER waiting rooms as if they are nobody – or an everybody?’ Maron says. Other medical professionals sympathize with the frustrations of the current health-care system. Lowered insurance reimbursements mean that many doctors’ salaries are decreasing as their patient loads are increasing.
But they question whether most physicians would be comfortable practicing “concierge care.”
“I don’t think they are unethical, but I don’t think they take into account the overall needs of the community,” said Frank Riddick, a New Orleans physician and chairman of the American Medical Association council on ethical and judicial affairs.
Dobrowits says he’s convinced the MD2 model will thrive, even despite the weakened economy.
“We don’t need tons of millionaires,” he quips. “We just need enough millionaires to run our business.”