Readers of Carolina Journal Online already know the name of Dr. Brian Forrest. He’s the Apex doctor whose practice does not take insurance. He was interviewed by CJ Online six years ago. Now he’s been featured in a major article in The Weekly Standard for the second time:
Forrest’s approach is one of several that are gaining popularity as doctors—fed up with health care bureaucracies—search for new business models. Some, known as “concierge” practices, charge a monthly fee, typically of $100 or more, in exchange for enhanced access to physicians. Some accept insurance, others don’t.
Forrest’s patients pay for services off an à la carte list, or they can pay a $39 monthly fee for a discount off the price list. He says the economics work because he doesn’t have to hire employees dedicated to dealing with insurance companies. Patients pay him on the spot and in full.
Even insurance companies are getting interested in what Forrest is doing:
Perhaps most surprising in the last year, though, is that insurance companies—“typically our enemy”—are taking an interest in Forrest’s work. They were intrigued after Access Healthcare was named one of 33 “Cardiovascular Centers of Excellence” by the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control.
“They said, ‘Huh, you have better outcomes than most doctors have,’?” Forrest says. “We said, ‘Yeah, that’s because our focus is on patients, not insurance.’?”
Let’s hope the crony capitalists in the insurance industry don’t screw up the good thing Forrest has going.
