Direct Specialty Care is a new model in which the doctor works directly with you (your family) without the constrains of third parties. It reestablishes the professional relationship between doctor-patient as it should be. With this model, the doctor can spend more time with you, provide you with easy access and offer longer visits to give you the kind of medical care you deserve. To be able to provide you with this type of care, we don’t take insurances. We work under a membership program.
After working for over 10 years within the field of Pediatric Endocrinology under the traditional health care system, I realized that I wanted to spend more time with my patients (and their families) to give better care and empower each of my patients to live a healthier life.
Patients with endocrine conditions deserve to have more time with their doctor at clinic visits. Moreover, they should be able to communicate with their doctor in between visits without hassles. With the traditional health care system, doctors need to rush during patient’s visits as they are compensated per productivity (volume of patients) or they are constantly reminded that they need to see more patients.
I opted to left behind the rushed, impersonalized and in many ways compromised traditional care. By transitioning to the Direct Specialty Care model, I chose to give high-quality care, compassionate, direct and personalized care along with convenience to busy families.
This model and practice will save you time, a lot of time. No more time waisted in the waiting room or on the phone. No more time lost arranging for referrals. No months of wait to be seen. No copays or deductibles.
It will also give you peace of mind as you know you will have a Pediatric Endocrinologist who can see your child soon, without weeks or months of waiting.
The answer is Yes! With your membership, you can see your doctor more often that you are used to which this have shown to improve disease outcome. Moreover, this helps us (you and me) to work toward a preventive and proactive care, not only reactive care due to an illness.
The answer is NO. There are some differences between Direct Specialty Care and Concierge Medicine. In the Direct Specialty Care model, the physician doesn’t bill the insurance in addition to your membership fee. Traditionally, in Concierge Medicine, the physician bills your insurance AND charges an annual membership fee. With the concierge model, the patient is responsible to pay copays and deductibles. In Direct Special Care, there is price transparency, no copays or deductibles and no surprise bills.
There are 2 types of membership programs at Elite Endocrine MD, the Endocrine Care Program (all non-diabetes conditions) and the Diabetes Care Program.
*All patients with any type of diabetes should enroll in the Diabetes Care Program while all others should enroll in the Endocrine Care Program.
The membership for the Endocrine Care Program consists of:
-the monthly fee is $150/month for the monthly pay
-if membership is paid every 6 months, the amount is $825 every 6 months ($150 discount is already included in the amount if paid twice a year)
-if membership is paid annually, the amount is $1,500/year ($300 discount is already included in the amount if paid once a year)
The membership for the Diabetes Care Program consists of:
-the monthly fee is $250/month for the monthly pay
-if membership is paid every 6 months, the amount is $1,375 ($250 discount is already included in the amount if paid twice a year)
-if membership is paid annually, the amount is $2,500/year ($500 discount is already included in the total amount)
There is a one time enrollment fee for either programs of $250.
Remember, prices are flat fee. We ensure price transparency. Moreover, no need to pay copays or deductibles. No surprise bills.
By being a member of the practice, you will benefit from:
-Unlimited office visits
-Unlimited telehealth visits
-More accessibility to the doctor, even in between visits
-Personalized and direct care
-Direct communication with your doctor via text, phone, videochat or email. You can call your doctor at her cellphone in between visits. Can you imagine that?
-Flexible and expedited scheduling (no need to schedule weeks or months in advance)
-Appointments (office or telehealth) within a week (sometimes within 24, 48 or 72 hours)
-High-quality and convenient care
-No need for referrals
-No copays
-No deductibles
-No surprise bills
-Filling forms at no extra charge
-Sending prescriptions between visits at no extra charge (please inform us one week ahead before running out of medication if you need medication refill)
-Counseling (for endocrine conditions, obesity, healthy lifestyle, prediabetes and diabetes)
-Specialists coordination as needed (specialist charge i s not included in membership)
-Diabetes Care Program: glucose sensor downloads/interpretation at no extra cost Insulin pump downloads/interpretation at no extra cost.
Your membership also gives you and your family peace of mind.
The easiest way is to log in to www.EliteEndocrineMD.com
Then choose your membership program and plan. Then enroll. That’s it. It’s that simple!
Automatically, you will become a member at Elite Endocrine MD.
In case you are still interested in the model but have more questions, you can schedule a FREE 10-minute "Meet and Greet" call to go over the membership and the packages. This "Meet and Greet" call doesn’t include diagnosis plan or management.
For us to be able to provide you and your family with the type of care that you deserve, we needed to move from the traditional health care system for which we do not take insurances. This provide us with more freedom and flexibility to be more time with you, to have more access to your doctor, to limit all the hassles of the traditional health care medical system and to provide you with high-quality convenient care. We contract directly with you not with third parties.
Yes. Although, we don’t accept insurance at Elite Endocrine MD, you do need to have or keep your insurance for other medical services like visits to other physicians/providers, ER visits, outpatient procedures, medications, laboratories, hormonal stimulation tests, imaging (example: x-rays, ultrasounds, MRI, CT scan), medical supplies and hospitalizations among others.
Most of our availability is reserved for our members but we also offer fee per service visit for your convenience. The fee per service option can be used for one-time visits, follow ups, second opinions or families who prefer that option.
The fee per service option is not for members. However, you can convert from free per service to membership at any time.
If members decide for some reason to opt-out from the membership (once they complete the minimum 3 months commitment) and would like to pay by fee per service, that is an option as well. However, If you then decide to re-enroll in the membership program, there is a $199 fee for re-enrollment.
The fee per service may benefit you if you present for a single consult, a second opinion or infrequent follow ups.
Membership plans are for patients that require (or prefer) frequent follow up visits, those who want to have the benefits of the membership, those who want to practice preventive care and those who want to elevate their care by investing in their health.
Some of the diagnosis that benefits the most from the membership model are diabetes (type 1, type 2, neonatal and insipidus diabetes), thyroid disease (neonatal hypothyroidism or neonatal hyperthyroidism), adrenal insufficiency or any other diagnosis that requires frequent visits or injections.
Also, for those families who want to have the benefits of the membership regardless of the diagnosis.
It doesn’t include everything that is not mentioned on the patient’s agreement. It doesn’t include ER visits, hospitalizations, short hospital or clinic admissions, outpatient services to other physicians or providers, medications, laboratories, hormonal stimulation tests, imaging and medical supplies among others.
Although, I do not cover inpatient hospitalizations and the patient will not be admitted under my service, I will gladly communicate with the doctor that is treating you (or your child) during the hospitalization if you desire. I will also schedule you for a post-hospitalization visit at the clinic at your earliest convenience.
I do not do home visits at this time.
Parents/families/patients who:
-seek unrushed and extended visits for their child’s condition
-want to leave the office visit with all the questions answered
-can’t afford to be hours in the waiting room to be seen
-want a flexible schedule to arrange for their doctor’s visit
-can’t wait weeks or months to see their child specialist
-want more accessibility to their doctor and feel comfortable calling the doctor’s cellphone number directly or texting with the doctor
-seek preventing medical conditions or complications in their child’s disease
-are proactive on their child’s medical care
-prefer a flat fee instead of paying copays or deductibles at each visit
-don’t like surprise medical bills
It depends on your insurance plan and coverage. You will need to seek information from your insurance in regards of the possibility of reimbursement. Definitely, if you have Medicare or Medicaid you shouldn’t submit a reimbursement form as I opted out from those.
Yes. I do offer telemedicine for all the members of my practice. For those who are not members and choose the fee per service model, the first visit needs to be an IN-PERSON office visit and follow up could be done via telehealth if you prefer.
Yes, that’s why you need to have insurance for all those things. I can still order your medications, supplies, laboratories, imaging studies, stimulation tests, those should be submitted to your insurance. The coverage of those will depend on your benefit plan as usual.
You pay the membership flat fee by debit/credit card or bank account. Each month, the monthly membership (or bi-annually/annually) will be automatically withdrawn from the information you provided.
In case we need to refer you to another specialist, we will help you find the specialist you (your child) needs for evaluation.. You may use your insurance to see the other specialist according to your insurance plan. The membership at Elite Endocrine MD doesn’t cover the other specialist visits.
The hormonal stimulation tests I order for my patients are scheduled and performed at a Children Hospital in San Juan, PR. All the instructions and information detail are given during the encounter.
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