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There is no single right or wrong way to arrive at a fulfilling career in concierge medicine. In this episode, Dr. Phil Lackey with Signature Healthcare in Charlotte, North Carolina shares his unique path from an acute care infectious diseases specialist into concierge medicine. An all too common scenario was unfolding in Phil's medical career when the industrial engine of acute care medicine brought him to the brink of burnout. That's when a fortuitous shadowing experience with Signature Healthcare's Dr. Jordan Lipton gave Phil the much needed glimpse into the next chapter of his career.  This episode is enlightening for current concierge practices and acute care physicians alike. If you're with a concierge practice seeking your next physician hire...Phil's pedigree is a new place from which to recruit. Additionally, if you're an inpatient physician at your breaking point with traditional factory medicine...Phil's path offers new perspective toward rediscovering your passion for long-term, rewarding career in medicine. Everyone is sure to find value in this episode of the ROAMD Podcast. 

The industry definition of physician burnout is written in a way that implies concierge physicians should not experience it. However, that's simply not the case. My wonderful guest on this episode is Dr. Stacey Robinson, physician & Founder of Robinson MD in St. Petersburg, Florida. Dr. Robinson shares her journey into concierge medicine that began as a resident in the Air Force and quickly led to a burnout environment. Her journey then evolved through private practice, group practice, urgent care, and even an HMO. Having seen so many facets of healthcare, ultimately she started Robinson MD from scratch and hung her shingle.  During our conversation, Stacey graciously shares her ~15 years of experience running a concierge practice and how several decisions over the years created a situation primed for physician burnout. Two of the biggest take-aways Dr. Robinson shares: Don't feel guilty about patients leaving the practice because, "you don't have to take care of everyone." When you try to, this leads to burnout. Eliminating isolation (i.e. finding her tribe) gave the courage and actionable steps to redesign the practice for her longevity. Every concierge, DPC, and private practice physician should learn from the lessons Stacey shares in this impactful episode of the ROAMD Podcast. 

Whether it relates to accessing reliable information in the face of an emerging pandemic or informing on new diagnostic modalities or ensuring the highest levels of patient care continuity, the value of international collaboration for membership-based medicine physicians is undeniable. To that end, I was finally able to welcome my first international guest to the ROAMD Podcast. My dazzling guest on this episode is Dr. Amarjit Raindi, physician and founder of The Concierge Clinic in London, UK. Dr. Raindi shares a wide range of real-life experiences where the peer support from a trusted global network of like-minded physicians benefitted his practice, his patients, his own mental health, and more. We're definitely stealing Dr. Raindi's term "soft knowledge of preferences" when it comes to interpersonal relationships with our patients and using that knowledge to create impeccable, bespoke patient experiences. Amarjit's soothing demeanor ensures the avid and new listener alike will thoroughly enjoy this episode.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.” For membership medicine physicians, there is no exception to this rule. To dive deeper into this topic, Dr. Jonathan Schmidt with Priority Physicians joins me to share his experiences where having a network of likeminded physicians has been priceless. Jonathan clearly articulates several scenarios involving the COVID-19 pandemic, 2nd opinions in many facets of clinical practice and big decisions in life, and patient referrals from both near and afar where his network of likeminded physicians have dramatically improved his patient care. Jonathan is also quick to point out the mental health benefits of a close physician network that help prevent physician burnout on a number of fronts from covering for family vacations and call to simply eliminating the, all too common, sense of isolation in private practice. 

Screening and onboarding new patients as well as new physicians are imperative tasks to get right for every membership medicine practice. Dr. Joe Repay with Wellspan Medical Services in Naples, Florida was a panelist at the 2021 ROAMD Annual Meeting in October where we discussed these very topics. Dr. Repay is the perfect guest for this episode as we recount a few of his top takeaways from that session at the meeting.  How do you remove the physician as the bottleneck in patient screening? How can you more formally involve the office staff in the patient screening process? What are a few tricks of the trade when screening physician candidates before extending them a formal offer to join your practice? What are ways to teach a new physician the art of concierge medicine without crossing the line on telling them how to practice medicine? These are just a few of the pivotal questions we answer in this great episode of the ROAMD Podcast that you're certain to enjoy.

In this very special episode of the ROAMD Podcast we invite our listeners into the 2021 ROAMD Annual Meeting. Here we feature segments from a panel presentation with three very unique membership-based medicine practices addressing questions around Annual Exams follow-through and how their practices are utilizing nutritionists and dieticians. Our panelists are Dr. Amanda Wulfstat with Private Medical, Dr. Ari Levy with Shift, and Dr. Cari Dawson with the Colorado Center for Medical Excellence. This panel was very well complimented by a presentation from the CEO of Companion Health Nathalie Jorge. Nathalie shares her related experience in employing health coaches to extend the reach of their practice and enhance the quality of their patient care.  You are certain to enjoy this special episode of the ROAMD Podcast.

If there was a straightforward way to attract your ideal patients, while warding off the less than ideal patients, and simultaneously minimizing the need to be a salesperson...would you do it? If so, this will be your favorite episode of the ROAMD Podcast. My guest on this episode is the supremely authentic Dr. Aaron Wenzel, founder and physician at Brentwood MD in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Wenzel shares his firsthand experience deploying Results in Advance as an extremely effective and efficient way to market his practice and attract his ideal patients while converting the "selling process" into an "order taking" process. There is arguably no better vertical to deploy this marketing concept than in membership-based medicine; Aaron's results are a testament to this fact. During this episode you'll hear how Brentwood MD uses Results in Advance in content marketing to help ideal prospective patients solve their unique healthcare problems even before they become actual patients. This is a must-listen episode for every concierge and direct primary care physician bar none.

Proteomics is a rapidly evolving and emerging vertical in the diagnostics domain. To help our audience get smarter on proteomics, we invited Dr. Roy Smythe, CEO of SomaLogic to share his expertise.  Dr. Smythe shares with us that, where genomics focuses on the rather static genetic make up of a patient, proteomics dials in on the proteins arising from the genetic profile. These proteins are more widely variable, can change significantly over a patient's lifetime, and can be predictive of risk in a variety of diseases.  Enjoy this episode where Dr. Smythe shares more of his real-world experience with proteomics and details a patient case where proteomics defied the highly educated medical eye to uncover a ticking time bomb of cardiovascular risk. 

In this can't miss episode, Dr. Susan Wilder, Founder and CEO of LifeScape in Scottsdale, Arizona, shares her very personal stories of surgical preparedness gone awry. Despite her extensive medical training, Susan uncovered a difficult truth in the least desirable way regarding her own lack of surgical preparedness as a patient. She shares even more stories about family members encountering issues that could have been prevented with more attention in the pre-operative stage. Empowered with the knowledge, and firsthand patient experience, Dr. Wilder created a complete online program, called Optimize Surgery, and a companion book, Secrets to Surgery Success: Take Charge and Heal Faster, that empower physicians and patients alike to get ahead in improving surgical outcomes.

In this episode, we dive into the inner workings of a membership-based medicine clinic from inside the nation's 6th largest health system, Trinity Health. My exceptional guest is Dr. Bill Baer with Mercy Health Concierge Medicine in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bill starts by sharing details of his journey into concierge medicine after starting off as a pharmacist. You might be surprised to hear who the biggest influencers were in driving him away from traditional fee-for-service care models. How dramatic are the differences in Dr. Baer's practice compared to an independent model? Should we expect more and more membership-based medicine models to pop-up across the Trinity Health network? What are Dr. Baer's perspectives on the future of membership-based medicine? Join this episode to hear those answers and much more.

You are familiar with the concept of food deserts and probably even education deserts. But what about diagnostic deserts? Join this episode with my lively guest Dr. Barry Rotman, physician and founder at Barry Rotman MD in Walnut Creek, California as we unpack the concept of diagnostic deserts. Barry's journey into membership medicine began with political science before medicine and eventually an homage to his father's rigorous dental practice pulled him out of group practice and into membership-based medicine. Ultimately, time spent delivering medical acupuncture through his group practice highlighted the significant patient-time required to uncover what was truly ailing them. From insomnia to adverse drug events, Dr. Rotman shares his decades of experience solving diagnostic desert cases and how membership-based medicine practices are uniquely positioned to solve these problems. You're going to thoroughly enjoy this episode!

If you have ever wanted insights on how a membership-based medicine practice runs inside an academic medical center, this is the episode for you. Dr. John Paat with Duke Private Diagnostic Clinic in Durham, North Carolina shares his experiences from one of the world's most renown academic medical facilities. Growing up watching his father care for patients as a PCP was very instructive and influential in bringing John into concierge medicine. Now as a concierge physician at Duke, do patients of his concierge clinic receive preferred treatment and access to care? Does his practice have a leg up on independents because of the academic affiliation? Are his opportunities to teach students and residents highly compensated time? Listen to this insightful episode for those answers and much more.