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Boca Raton, FL, -- (July 15, 2008) -- When Dr. Edward Goldman heard
about Project Access, a program designed to provide emergency medical care for
uninsured people in Palm Beach County in late 2007, he wondered what happened
to those patients after the emergency episode.
"We discovered that uninsured patients were virtually discharged with no
follow-up care once they had been treated and stabilized," says Dr. Goldman,
CEO of the MDVIP nationwide network of doctors specializing in preventive
medicine. "Typically, patients in the Palm Beach County program suffer from
COPD, emphysema, cataracts needing surgery, chronic hypertension, congestive
heart failure and related disease, all of which require a good deal of
follow-up. Without ongoing medical treatment, many emergency treatments will
become chronic events," Dr. Goldman adds.
A few months later, MDVIP partnered with the Project Access health service
initiative in Palm Beach County to launch a pilot program to provide not only
follow-up care, but also an ongoing healthcare and wellness program for the
Project Access patients in Palm Beach County, Florida.
"We believe preventive medicine is not only good for the patients because it
reduces health risks but also because it relieves stress on the entire medical
process by reducing hospital visits and expensive emergency care," says Dr.
Goldman. "We look forward to expanding the pilot program beyond Florida and
into other markets where we have MDVIP affiliated physicians."
While most primary care doctors have 2,000-3,000 patients, MDVIP doctors limit
their practices to about 600 patients in order to offer more personalized and
preventive healthcare. MDVIP patients pay a membership fee of typically $1,500
annually for MDVIP’s personalized healthcare, including a comprehensive annual
evaluation which includes the identification of risk factors which predict the
diseases a person is most likely to develop, based upon personal and family
history, genetics, lifestyle, habits and occupation. It includes laboratory
testing, EKG and screenings related to mental status, exercise, nutrition and
sleep; vision, hearing and pulmonary function testing; and a review of all
medication, with subsequent coordinated wellness plan. The MDVIP Project Access
pilot group will receive these services at no charge.
"We are pleased to be working with MDVIP physicians who will be donating their
time and experience to give back to the community through this new program,"
stated Jose F. Arrascue, M.D., President Palm Beach County Medical Society
Services.
Seven MDVIP affiliated physicians based in Palm Beach County have already
screened and placed 25 Project Access patients in their practices. The
preventive medicine pilot program will ultimately serve about 200 Palm Beach
County low-income, uninsured patients. Additionally, MDVIP plans to develop
essential data that shows how this model can reduce costs to the system and
improve healthcare for the uninsured, as it has in MDVIP affiliated practices
nationally.
The Palm Beach County Project Access was established in 2005 by the Palm Beach
County Medical Society to provide uninsured people whose annual income is below
200% of the federal poverty level—$20,800 for one person or $42,400 for a
family of four—with access to primary care physicians, specialists, diagnostic
facilities and hospitals.
MDVIP, Inc. is a privately-held firm, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Boca
Raton, Florida. It is a national network of physicians who practice proactive,
preventive and personalized healthcare, not just the detection and treatment of
disease. With prevention as the cornerstone of its program, MDVIP has proven
that it’s carefully chosen affiliated physicians provide exceptional care and
achieve exceptional outcomes. These outcomes include lower hospitalization
rates. For more information, go to www.MDVIP.com.
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