Good MD

Hello Rochester et al !

Good MD has now been open for 3 months now and I wanted to share with you how things have been going.

The practice is now up to 39 patients which is fantastic!  Thank you to all who have talked about Good MD to your family and friends.  It really helps!  I've also been spreading awareness on my end by getting on several media outlets :

Channel 13 news - Modern practice 1st of its kind

Channel 8 news - Doctor offers unlimited visits for monthly fee

article in the Rochester Business Journal

article in the Fitness Edge Magazine

This month, stay tuned to Fitness Edge Radio on 95.7fm where I'll be interviewed about Good MD.  I'm also collaborating with 13WHAM to create a couple commercials detailing the practice so you should be seeing them in January. 

Many patients have seen me in person for their needs and some have been using texts and video chat for simple concerns.  Telemedicine has been a convenient way to communicate, especially when you're busy with work or with kids.  And yes, I've received photos of rashes and thankfully curtailed expensive Urgent Care visits by fitting in patients the same or next day!  Being able to offer this level of service and attention to my patients has been truly gratifying as a clinician.

First Fridays continues to be a great way to involve the community by showcasing local art work.  If you don't know, First Friday is when select downtown Rochester galleries stay open from 6-9pm on the first friday of the month for anyone to appreciate local artists.  The guests love the revolving artwork here and often look forward to seeing what next month entails.  Currently, Emily J of Dansville has 23 framed pieces up.  Her specialty is photography of abandoned houses, rustic landscapes, and beautiful animals.  And I'm happy to share that I am booked through September now for artists!  But, I'm always looking for more artists to keep in mind so if you know any, send them my way!

The last 3 months have been awesome and I'm excited to see what's in store next.  Please continue to spread the word and keep talking about Direct Primary Care.  Together, we can help bring affordable, quality care to Rochester.  Here's to a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! 

Cheers!

Good MD has been open for a month now and things are going great.  I wanted to share with you what's been happening the last month.  

The practice has been on the news twice :

Rocwell: Doctor Offers Unlimited Visits for a Monthly Fee | Channel 8

Modern practice 1st of its kind in Rochester | 13WHAM

And written about on Reason.com, Supply Side Health Care Reform.

Eleven patients signed up in the month of September and a couple more have signed up this past week.  Roughly 75% of my patients have insurance and 25% are uninsured.  And everyone loves their cute little welcome box!  :)

We've had two successful First Fridays where Gretchen Arnold and Chris Charles have showcased their immense talent using revisualized kodachromes and letterpress monoprints.  Many people have come to show their support for these talented artists and it also got the conversations started about what direct primary care is and how it could help them.  Chris will have her prints up for the month of October so please stop by to check out her work!

What I thought was really wonderful this past month was the amount of money patients have saved to date.  In only one month, we've saved about $3500 dollars in healthcare costs.  $3500!!!  One of the ways we were able to do that was by avoiding an unnecessary emergency room visit by getting the patient in quickly, spending the time to do a thorough examination, administering in-office medications, setting up an outpatient imaging test, and closely monitoring the situation even after the patient left.  This is why Direct Primary Care is so helpful whether you have insurance or not.- it's about good access to good care whenever you need it.  

Rochester, N.Y. - Tired of practicing traditional medicine, doctor Thuc Huynh ventured out to offer

Nearly every month of the year, organizations and individuals from all around the world strive to bring awareness about important issues affecting health or well-being. October is a month for many. Over the next few weeks, I'll detail each separately.

Remember to spread awareness, remember to hug the ones you love, and remember to be mindful for those who may be affected in one way or another. My heart goes out to all.

Check out this informative article by The Daily Signal about how patients can benefit from a Direct Primary Care practice compared to traditional practices.  

Thanks to everyone who came tonight in the sweltering heat! What an awesome turnout and tons of fun. If you didn't get a chance to come out - Gretchen's artwork will be up all month so drop by anytime to check it out!

I am thrilled to announce that today Good MD, Rochester’s first direct primary practice, opened its doors to patients. Here’s a peek into the Good MD waiting room:

I treat patients like family. I started Good MD because I wanted to be able to engage my patients about their health the way I would my friends and family. I want to know my patients as people. I want to understand how their lives affect their health and healthcare choices and build relationships with my patients based on trust and transparency.

I don’t believe you can offer this kind of care when you are constrained by the traditional healthcare model and 15-minute appointment blocks. This is why I built Good MD as a direct primary care practice.

What is direct primary care? Direct primary care is a new and innovative model for offering affordable healthcare through a direct financial relationship between a doctor and her patients. This model eliminates the need for middlemen: health insurance companies. Direct primary care has become increasingly popular with patients and physicians because both parties see the benefits of this model.

According to the American Academy of the Family Physicians (AAFP), “Direct primary care rewards family physicians for caring for the whole person while reducing the overhead and negative incentives associated with fee-for-service, third-party-payer billing.”

For doctors like me, direct primary care is appealing because it:

Allows me to spend more time with patients,

Lowers my overhead costs,

Exposes me to less risk,

Makes it easier to collect payment, and

Eliminates my insurance paperwork.

I know, too, that direct primary benefits my patients. The AAFP states that direct primary care offers patients “substantial savings and a greater degree of access to, and time with, physicians.”

This gist of direct primary care is that patients pay a monthly subscription fee to be a part of the practice. This fee covers most or all primary care services. Using this model at Good MD allows me to spend more time with patients and to be compensated for regularly communicating with my patients outside of the clinic when they need medical advice.

I believe the direct primary care model allows me to build better healthcare partnerships with my patients, and I believe it is the future of primary care.

To learn more about how direct primary care works at Good MD, click here.

The price tag shouldn’t be a secret. In addition to offering high-quality, affordable healthcare at Good MD, I am also committed to price transparency.  Knowing if a service is affordable requires knowing what it costs. I believe price tags on healthcare shouldn't be secret, and transparency is one of the building blocks of trust.

My practice uses a monthly membership model, which covers most primary care visits and services. Additionally, I have published the Good MD price list, which details the cost of the additional à la carte services I offer.

Technology connects us. While I take an old-fashioned approach to cultivating relationships, I also embrace the potential for technology to connect people, including my patients and I.

At Good MD, I aim to make myself available for regular consultations in the office as well as outside of the office using phone calls, text, email, image- and video-sharing. The Good MD membership model covers unlimited office visits but also allows my patients to contact me at their convenience with questions and concerns.

This means if you have a rash, you could come in and have me look at it. Or if it’s easier, you can text me a photo of it and let you know if you need to come in immediately. If you have a question about potential side effects of a medication, you can email me, call me, or text me, and then make an appointment if you need to.

This is how most of us communicate daily in our lives with our friends and family. It’s how we should be able to communicate with our doctors.