The Value of MDVIP
What Is Prevention Worth?
Being sick is expensive. Time away from work, deductibles and copays, lab fees, diagnostic tests, prescriptions, emergency room visits and hospital stays—an illness can cost thousands of dollars and put you in debt. Could the right primary care relationship help you save money?
You’ve probably heard the old adage—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While preventative medicine isn’t without cost, illness can break your budget. Take heart disease, for example. It’s the number one killer in America, accounting for one in every four deaths.
How much is your health worth to you? At MDVIP, we believe there's value in prevention. Spending a little money now can help you save money later in specialist visits, hospital stays, medication and opportunities lost.
Being unhealthy is very expensive. Medical bills can quickly escalate — they're the number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. Find out today how an MDVIP-affiliated physician can work with you to help prevent disease — and the expenses that come with them.
Treating it is expensive. If you have suffered a heart attack, Medicare estimates you will spend 60 percent more out of pocket annually versus someone who hasn’t. That works out to $12,000 a year, every year, for the rest of your life.
Even nonsurgical procedures like angioplasty have hefty price tags. Depending on where you live, angioplasty can cost from $44,000 to $145,000. If you have common type of commercial health insurance with a co-insurance rate of 20 percent, you could end up paying thousands of dollars, depending on your out-of-pocket maximum.
The same is true of other chronic illnesses, like type 2 diabetes. People with diabetes spend 200 percent more on healthcare than people without, and have 2.5 times more out-of-pocket costs.
What if your primary care physician had time to focus on disease prevention and work with you to help keep you out of the emergency room or urgent care clinic and away from the hospital? What if your doctor could help you reduce your risk of expensive chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes or help you manage those conditions so you spend less on healthcare?
MDVIP-affiliated physicians have the time to implement prevention strategies. They work with patients every day helping to identify risk factors, prevent disease and optimize treatment, from early detection to coaching patients on lifestyle changes that can really pay off.
In a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care, patients who joined MDVIP-affiliated practices experienced fewer emergency department visits and inpatient admissions than patients who did not join.
Another study published in the same journal showed that patients in MDVIP-affiliated practices were admitted to the hospital more than 70 percent less than patients in traditional primary care practices. Of course, keeping patients out of hospitals and emergency rooms saves the healthcare system money (many millions in these studies), but patients also save when they avoid these services.
Patients on average pay more than $1,000 out-of-pocket for hospital stays, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Emergency room visits for patients on private insurance cost around $622, according to another study by Yale University.
It’s easy to see how medical bills can quickly escalate, which is why it makes sense to be proactive about preventive care — being sick may lead to bankruptcy and other financial hardships. This is why the VIP in MDVIP stands for Value in Prevention. For more than a quarter of a million patients across the country, the true value of membership in an MDVIP-affiliated practice is priceless.
Prioritize your most valuable asset — your health — and meet with a doctor in your area. It’s a free conversation that can pay off.
MEMBER STORIES
I recently joined MDVIP and have found it to be well worth the expense.
Neal, patient of Dr. Edward B. Portnoy
I recently joined MDVIP and have found it to be well worth the expense. Dr. Portnoy and his staff are incredibly helpful and the personal service I receive is far beyond that which my previous doctor was providing. Dr. Portnoy is not only an excellent physician, he is also a caring individual who has not forgotten what it means to be a doctor. I always feel like he really listens to me and that he devotes whatever time is needed to deal with my medical issues