We've all encountered behavioral health cases that seem to evade everyone's best efforts. Even more likely is that we've treated patients as first degree connections of such cases. When we're truly focused on above and below the neck medicine as two halves of the same whole, there is a different sense of responsibility to help even when our patient might not be the one with the primary illness.
My guest on this exceptional episode is Diana Clark, JD, MA, Chief of Clinical Operations with O'Connor Professional Group. Diana eloquently shares her journey into concierge care that originated with a front row seat to her physician father, the late and distinguished Dr. Leon Rosenberg, suffering through a long battle with bipolar disorder. Diana witnessed the severe ripples unaddressed mental illness sends through a family and has since, through efforts with O'Connor Professional Group, advanced her life's work to help the patients, families, and support networks who all suffer from the ravages of sub-optimally managed mental health issues get the needed support they all deserve.
One sage piece of advice offered in this episode is to ask your patients what their coping strategies are for the most difficult times in their lives. This episode has a lesson for everyone to learn.

Please call 988 if you or someone you know is struggling with suicide or emotional distress. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9-8-8. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

One of the core tenants of every concierge medicine practice is prioritizing prevention over treatment. Getting in front of chronic illness before it becomes such creates a better patient experience, produces better outcomes, and ultimately reduces the overall costs for the entire healthcare system. The leading cause of death in the United States is still heart disease. Yes, even in the face of a pandemic, heart disease outpaced COVID-19 deaths by more than two-fold in 2020. My guest on this episode is the Founder and CEO of Cleerly Dr. Jim Min. Cleerly has created a predictive, personalized, and tracked approach to measure atherosclerosis, the true predictor of heart attacks.
In this episode, Dr. Min, a prolific contributor to the medical literature and board-certified cardiologist, shares his personal journey through the trenches of traditional medicine where the primary method for assessing heart attack risk isn't measuring actual disease itself but relying on surrogate markers. Jim's efforts through Cleerly aim to remedy this approach and truly give physicians and patients actual assessments of disease above and beyond just the status quo surrogate markers from the past. Whether you're a concierge physician or a patient of one, you will surely enjoy this episode.

Having difficulty deciding if a DPC or more of a concierge model is the right fit for you? My guests on this episode, Dr. Joel Bessmer and his son Ryne Bessmer, operate both a DPC and a concierge practice in Omaha, Nebraska. Ryne and Joel share their insights and experience running their practices and how they reach different audiences with a shared purpose. Dr. Bessmer's experience in membership-based medicine, or as he calls is relationship-based medicine, is deep and varied originating back to 2007 in a model under the University of Nebraska Medical Center's umbrella; he has since flourished in this space and is a leading voice in the industry.
Ryne and Dr. Bessmer also co-host a podcast titled Beyond the Script that educates healthcare consumers on complex medical topics by simplifying them in lay language. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to co-host, co-promote, and cross pollinate with both of our audiences.
This episode is equal parts enlightening, entertaining, and inspiring. The firsthand experiences shared in this episode are well worth the listen for audiences of all walks of life. Enjoy!

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.