[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Dan9871

Dr. Garcia is a specialist. Concierge Care is mostly, maybe exclusively, used by primary care physicians. My guess is, total speculation on my part actually, if primary care physicians could get the hourly rates that specialists do they would not be setting up Concierge Care based businesses.

Yes, Dan he's a Interventional Cardiologist, with 37 yrs. experience but my point was about paying a Dr. $500. for a membership like you're joining a club is a little crazy especially when there's hundreds of other good Drs. in TV. Also I bet these membership Drs. aren't charging less for their office calls & their procedures. Also like I said in my comment, if I have to get anything done & not taking anything from my Concierge Care Dr. I still would go to Plano, TX Heart Center. If you've never seen this heart hospital, you could sit TV hospital & Leesburg hospital inside of this Heart Hospital. Thanks you for your comment DAN9871.

[NotGolfer]

I'd have to go with what Golfing Eagles and Dbussone both say as they've been in the medical business...many of us have not. That said...I once saw a doctor here in T.V. (about 6 yrs ago or so) who said that the gov't was really putting a bind on the medical providers with all their "rules and regulations" which interferred with actually treating people. The paperwork was beyond what he felt was needed!

I can concur with dbussone re: a dr's credentials. I have an autoimmune issue that warrants me seeing a specialist for it. There are physicians here in T.V. that say they will see folks with my issues. I've seen a couple of them and they certainly didn't know what they were talking about nor did they help me with my disease. They aren't board certified nor have had the training for my disease. I had to do self-advocacy to find the provider I have now for it and he's a keeper (so far). IF he stops seeing patients with Medicare I will be up a creek without a paddle for sure. Our household can't afford a concierge type of treatment nor do I think I'd want it. JMHO

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by OhioBuckeye

Yes, Dan he's a Interventional Cardiologist, with 37 yrs. experience but my point was about paying a Dr. $500. for a membership like you're joining a club is a little crazy especially when there's hundreds of other good Drs. in TV. Also I bet these membership Drs. aren't charging less for their office calls & their procedures. Also like I said in my comment, if I have to get anything done & not taking anything from my Concierge Care Dr. I still would go to Plano, TX Heart Center. If you've never seen this heart hospital, you could sit TV hospital & Leesburg hospital inside of this Heart Hospital. Thanks you for your comment DAN9871.

If I were to leave this area for Cardiac expertise, I would go to the number one Cardiac hospital in the U.S.; The Cleveland Clinic.

Cleveland Clinic Ranks No. 1 in the Nation for Heart Care for 21 Consecutive Years – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Plano is part of Baylor. EXCELLENT TOO. The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano

[Annie01]

yes...boston and maimi also do it..my doc is fantastic and does the $500....BUT i can e mail him any time and he gets back to me...will send in for a prescription for me without going in...even on vacation he will get back to me...DOES YOUR DOC do that???? NO... the dr. next dor to him charges $1000.00 and YOU do the insurance papers yourself..(not e mail guy) my doc is the best and worth every penny...most of the dr will be doing this THANKS to YOUR obamacare..where the insurance guys are NOT paying the doc..hasseling them etc... BLAME THE INSURANCE people NOT the doc....they won.t even pay for some normal visits..... the doc s have to do this...or they close up....my doc will take me ANYTIME for whatever reason....love the guy....DR CRUZ he has helped me thru a lot.....

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Right on the mark, as usual, DB. Clearly, some posters need to sit for a board exam to have even the slightest idea of what they are talking about. Yes, there are many boards that certify various specialties, but what does board certification in plastic surgery have to do with obstetrics? Would you want a plastic surgeon who passed the requirements for board certification via a teat written by and judged by obstetricians??? And besides the written test, you have to meet a whole list of qualifications before you can even take the test.

The true statement is that board certification does not guarantee a good physician. You cannot test judgement, or communication, or empathy. But every good physician needs a sound basis in the SCIENCE of medicine before they can excel at the ART of medicine. That's what board certification ensures

Okay -- let me ask you this: How does a written test ensure a plastic surgeon isn't going to botch up a face life or a nose job? Yeah -- exactly! Pardon me while I laugh, but does his test make him good??!?

Other than a doctor graduating from medical school and completing his residency, please give an example of a "whole list of qualifications" he must have before taking the test to be board certified.

Medicine is not an art; it is a practice.
Board certification does not ensure that a physician excels in a given medical field.
There are some pretty lousy doctors out there who are board certified, and yes -- some are good. It's a craps shoot.

Anyone who believes the only good doctors out there have to be board certified is sadly misinformed.

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by dbussone

You have no knowledge about what I know or don't know. And I do know about board certification. Your understanding, however, is deficient.

Without going into the intricacies of the certification processes, I'll just say I would generally prefer a board certified physician/surgeon over one who is not. Having passed a certification exam provides one with with a certain level of understanding of the physicians knowledge base. This is, IMO, more true of the traditional boards than of some of the newer "vanity" boards.

You are saying that you know about board certification without saying anything, and at the same time you are telling me that my understanding is "deficient."
To continue, please tell me about your knowledge and tell me why my understanding is deficient. Since you said it, you should elaborate.

If a physician has gone through medical school and completed his residency (in a specific field), he already has an "understanding of the physicians' knowledge base."
Do you really think a test is going to make him better or smarter???
Think about that. Think hard.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

You are saying that you know about board certification without saying anything, and at the same time you are telling me that my understanding is "deficient."

To continue, please tell me about your knowledge and tell me why my understanding is deficient. Since you said it, you should elaborate.



If a physician has gone through medical school and completed his residency (in a specific field), he already has an "understanding of the physicians' knowledge base."

Do you really think a test is going to make him better or smarter???

Think about that. Think hard.

Dear Mrs Robinson - it's really quite simple - your diatribe showed your complete lack of knowledge of the certification process. It's not the oversimplified written exam process you describe.

As to how I know, I ran hospitals for more than 40 years and know the process extremely well. I'd also note that I have several physician friends who are executives in a couple of the boards.

If you need more elaboration, that just underscores how little understanding you have of the boards. My elaboration won't help any.

You might also want to research physician fellowships.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

Okay -- let me ask you this: How does a written test ensure a plastic surgeon isn't going to botch up a face life or a nose job? Yeah -- exactly! Pardon me while I laugh, but does his test make him good??!?

Other than a doctor graduating from medical school and completing his residency, please give an example of a "whole list of qualifications" he must have before taking the test to be board certified.

Medicine is not an art; it is a practice.
Board certification does not ensure that a physician excels in a given medical field.
There are some pretty lousy doctors out there who are board certified, and yes -- some are good. It's a craps shoot.

Anyone who believes the only good doctors out there have to be board certified is sadly misinformed.

Oh, great---now I have to write a novel
I'll give you this: I should have added surgical skill to judgement, communication and compassion as items not tested in a board exam. Again, as I've already stated, board certification does not guarantee a good physician, but it sets a certain minimum standard of knowledge which is essential to becoming a good physician. Unfortunately, the bar keeps getting set lower and lower.

To sit for the board exam in Internal Medicine, first you have to be accepted into a medical school, then complete the requirements for graduation. You have to complete an accredited residency program, as well as pass parts 1,2, and 3 of the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners), which is also the test requirement in 49/50 states for a license. You need a recommendation from your program director as to performance and character. Subspecialty boards also require the completion of an accredited fellowship program in that specialty. I believe surgical boards also require your procedure journal---a list of all surgeries that you performed or assisted at, and there are numerical requirements. One reason that foreign physicians tend to not be board certified is that they may have not completed an ACCREDITED residency. Does that answer you question?

As far as minimum standards go, I'm afraid they are declining. The year I applied to medical school, there were 126,000 individuals who graduated from AMERICAN universities competing for 17,000 seats. You would think that only the top candidates would be granted admission. WRONG, very wrong. I think the only institutions that are looking purely at merit are professional sports teams and Wall Street law firms. In 1980, I sat as a student representative on the admission committee at my medical school. There were over 11,000 applications for 224 seats, so again, you would think they would just pick the best of the best. WRONG. Even 37 years ago, one of the top priorities was to achieve "diversity" in the student body. As a result, frankly they admitted students who were lucky to graduate college. And so it starts. Then, to keep some of these less qualified students, they had the "6 year program"---they would repeat their first year, then get passed, repeat the second year, then get passed. By the time they hit the 3rd and 4th year, which is somewhat more subjective in grading and based on the opinion of supervising residents and attendings, no one had the guts to fail them. Now they had a MD degree! Sadly , it was no different at Harvard and Yale. The NBME is an easy exam, so now they could get a license. Beware! To make it worse, last year they changed the nature of the MCATs (Medical School Admission test). Believe it or not, they have de-emphasized knowledge of science and math, and instead are emphasizing "cultural awareness" What a joke. I want MY doctor to be aware of how the human body works, what goes wrong, and how to fix it. I couldn't care less about "cultural awareness", which is really nothing more than a way to justify certain student admissions.

By the way, have you ever sat on a medical school admission committee? Think hard. Also, if you don't believe that there is an art to medicine, think even harder.

Now, the Board exams are a much tougher test. Only about 65% of the candidates pass the test, so it ensures a much higher MINIMUM standard---no, not a great physician, but a high standard of minimal medical knowledge

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

You are saying that you know about board certification without saying anything, and at the same time you are telling me that my understanding is "deficient."
To continue, please tell me about your knowledge and tell me why my understanding is deficient. Since you said it, you should elaborate.

If a physician has gone through medical school and completed his residency (in a specific field), he already has an "understanding of the physicians' knowledge base."
Do you really think a test is going to make him better or smarter???
Think about that. Think hard.

Actually, DB is right and you are the one that should think hard. He was a hospital administrator and also worked with insurances, which means he had to vet physicians. I wouldn't have said your knowledge was "deficient", I think "incomplete" would have been a better term (or at least more polite)

Do you really think all physicians that complete a residency are created equal??? As chief of staff at our local hospital, I was one of the people who interviewed doctors who wanted staff privileges. BTW, have you ever had to interview physicians for a staff position? Don't bother, I already know the answer.

There was one OB-GYN that I interviewed that plopped an 80 page document on my desk at the interview. I asked what it was, and he replied "it's my business plan" OOPS, very wrong answer for me. I don't know how much time and effort he put into it, but it clearly showed me that his priority was not patient care, but dollars. He was accepted onto the staff despite my objections. One year later he was back at my desk as I fulfilled my legal obligation to revoke his surgical privileges. In the space of 8 months, he had transected 3 ureters during LAVH(Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy). The average for a GYN performing this procedure is 0.3 ureters transected in a 30 year career, and he had 10x as many in 8 months. So, I still agree, that board certification does not guarantee surgical skill.
So, no, a "test" did not make him better. But don't confuse a MINIMUM standard with achieving excellence either, but it isn't a bad starting point

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by dbussone

Dear Mrs Robinson - it's really quite simple - your diatribe showed your complete lack of knowledge of the certification process. It's not the oversimplified written exam process you describe.

As to how I know, I ran hospitals for more than 40 years and know the process extremely well. I'd also note that I have several physician friends who are executives in a couple of the boards.

If you need more elaboration, that just underscores how little understanding you have of the boards. My elaboration won't help any.

You might also want to research physician fellowships.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

DB---I don't really think she is a lost cause. She seems reasonably intelligent just mis- or under- informed. Hopefully the above post helps

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

DB---I don't really think she is a lost cause. She seems reasonably intelligent just mis- or under- informed. Hopefully the above post helps

Oh alright. No reason to start off the week on the wrong foot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by dbussone

Oh alright. No reason to start off the week on the wrong foot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Isn't today Wednesday????

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Isn't today Wednesday????

Glad you and DB are here to keep things straight. I appreciate and enjoy your information, both of you.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Isn't today Wednesday????

It's even Thursday in Sydney...

[DigitalGranny]

We had one of those doctors in Ohio. They are screened to be among the best by the firm called MDVIP out of Boca Raton. The closest one to The Villages is 50 miles away. I miss the personalized care and excellent coordination with our specialists. The fee you pay is for your executive type physical exam and health screenings each year. You get your doctor's cell phone number. He takes your calls and knows you!. Worth every cent!. They take Medicare and private insurance.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Glad you and DB are here to keep things straight. I appreciate and enjoy your information, both of you.

TY, GG. I think DB and I agree that it sometimes feels like an uphill battle to disseminate factual information to those with preconceived notions.