I do not think for a minute that you encountered a doctor having a great time at Perkins during her office hours.. This is NOT a "Villages problem". The Villages hasn't a damned thing to do with doctors scheduling.

There is a big money pit here? I'll say. Those damn Morses make a lot of money selling houses and pass a lot of money to the contractors, subs, and all workers who support this huge business, including groceries and filling stations and servers in restaurants, and lawn service people and garbage collectors and office workers. Industrialization has halved poverty and hunger in the world since 1990. This big business, this "money pit" has changed Sumter county from a poor county with low employment to a vibrant place to live. A rising tide lifts all ships.

AND the OP is right. You have to wait a LONG time in most doctor's offices here. Is it the SOUTH?

I checked their website and they don't mention that they're a concierge center. I saw that under their "specialty" section (for people needing specialty doctors like orthopedists, etc) they accept most insurances, plus medicare and medicare advantage. But under primary care, there's nothing. Is there a schedule of fees anywhere? For instance - how much is just an annual checkup? What about lab work to check your thyroid prescription twice a year? How about if you have a sore foot and want to know whether or not you need a referral to a specialist? Is there a place where potential patients can find this information on the website?

Really? Your calling him/her a liar? Secondly, he/she never said it was a "Villages problem". He/she did say that the people who live here put up with it. He/she never said The Villages was responsible for scheduling. Thirdly, my Villages Health Care primary care physician is always on time, at least for me he is. I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes in nearly 5 years. I can't believe you are still talking about Drs in the south. Think of it as a balloon - let it go. Regarding your veering off into a discussion about the Morses and Sumter county, please try to stay on topic.

Your In Control
 

Actually, the patient is in control and should not tolerate disrespect on the part of the physician. We only use Mayo in Jacksonville and because of a Cancer treatment have to go for Lab and 3 Dr's Office visits about every 3 months and you can almost set your watch by the appointment times and when you see them. If a Clinic as large as Mayo and Dr's with large number of patient can keep on time appointments then why can't the ones in The Villages. Just a guess: want an assembly line of patients and that means scheduling overlap numbers so Dr. does not wait which starts the disrespect for the patient, maximize dollars rather then respect the patients time. There should be times when there are emergencies and the Dr is called out. In these cases I like the note from the person who said she worked for a Dr up north who gave patient alternatives when this happened. :popcorn:

The Villages Heath system does not accept all insurance. When we moved here we had our company insurance which was Aetna and it switched to Humana and they didn't take either. When the company insurance switched to United Health Care, then we could use The Villages Health Care system. We have only been in it for a couple of months but they are on time and offer a lot of educational services, do their own labwork and do have specialists that are available to people not in the system. We are really satisfied. We really like our Primary Care Physician, Dr. Treny Gulati.

The Villages Hospital is NOT part of The Villages Health Care system. It is available to all. The Morses built the building and lease it to a hospital corporation. I was hospitalized there for eight days over Christmas a year ago. I had very good care and dedicated nursing in Critical Care. The first responders really saved my life. I am very grateful to the medical personnel in this area.

I don't think that Villages Health is a concierge but the doc's do have a limited number of patients that they treat about 1250 or about half of what most doc's treat.

If you are on UHC medicare advantage, which Villages Health requires, they accept what medicare allows for a service.

UHC advantage for Villages Health does not require a referral for a specialist but it still a good idea to get one from your PCP.

Villages Health has the own hospitalists in Villages Hospital.

Tests for most ordinary meds like blood thinner or thyroid are done in a Villages health center. Tests are on time like appointments.

This kind of stuff and other things makes Village Health similar to a concierge service even though they are not one and don't charge extra for these services.

The Villages Health website, like most websites, has very little in terms of the detail of what Villages Health offers. The best place to find out the details of how Villages Health operates is to stop by one of their care centers and talk with a patient service rep... no, the patient service rep does not work for UHC, they work for Villages Health. The Villages Health centers also have UHC reps you can talk to also.

Villages Health doesn't work for everyone and some people do not like at all how they operate (for example requiring UHC medicare advantage) but we've found that overall Villages Health has given us better care and results than we were able to receive in eastern MA.

As most of us here, I've had the good/bad experiences of wait times in doctors offices.

Yesterday happened to the THE BEST.

Had day surgery at TV hospital by Dr Yin Luk, general surgeon.

Went to her TV office in January for initial consultation after Primary Care Dr and insur approval. Had 3 hernias - inginual...(for the 3rd time there), umbilical, and at the sternum from prev surg there. She was very thorough and communicated perfectly. Surg scheduled for 2/18. All 3 hernias. Everything went perfectly and recuperating thru the week. Yesterday was the post-op visit at her other office near Leesburg Hosp. Appt for 10:15. Arrived at 9:55; called in quickly while reviewing magazine choice. Did not even have time to sit down in waiting room. In exam room and nurse reviewed info and completed BP etc etc. Done, 1 min later Dr Luk came in reviewed all with us and examined surg areas. Questions<>answers. Done. Walking out as I checked my watch. It was 10:15. Happened to pass Dr Luk, gave her a hug and told her the 'world record'. We laughed. She will be my go-to general surgeon from this point on. Perfect experience.

Ah that rules it out for me. I'm not eligible for any medicare yet and won't be for another 7 years (I'm only 57).

You don't have to be on their Medicare Advantage plan if you are under 65. You need to talk to them to see if they accept your insurance.

That doesn't rule you out. UHC Advantage is only required if you are eligible for medicare. Best to check at one of the health centers to see if Villages Health will work for you. The stuff you find on TOV is just bits and snippets.....