Drs. Marc Harrigan and Juliet Asher join the rapidly expanding group of Specialdocs clients in the Atlanta area
The city of Atlanta, GA is headquarters to many of the nation’s renowned health organizations including the bioscience industry and leading health IT companies. Now, Atlanta is also becoming home to the burgeoning concierge medicine movement. Area physicians were among the first to recognize the many benefits of the personalized care model, according to Specialdocs Consultants, a pioneer in concierge medicine transitions and practice management.
With the help of Specialdocs, Marc Harrigan, MD (pictured above), a highly-respected Atlanta primary care physician with nearly 20 years of experience, is opening his new practice, Concierge Medicine of Buckhead, in November.
“My philosophy of patient care is simple,” says Dr. Harrigan. “I care for every patient as if they were a cherished family member, and in fact, I consider them exactly like that.”
Specialdocs CEO Terry Bauer says the movement has picked up steam over the past 10 years.
“In the past decade, starting with Specialdocs’ 2008 launch of Mount Vernon Premier Care to our newest physician client, Dr. Marc Harrigan, Atlanta doctors and their patients have become passionate advocates for the extraordinary care made even more possible in a concierge practice,” says Bauer.
Concierge medicine offers a viable solution for physicians facing a profession characterized by burnout, shrinking reimbursements and decreasing autonomy. Smaller and more personalized than traditional, volume-based practices, the concierge model enables doctors to sustain a thriving independent practice even in a time of continued uncertainty.
“Most importantly, making the change to a concierge model has renewed our doctors’ original vision of practicing medicine,” explains Bauer. “Shifting the emphasis from 10-minute visits to taking all the time needed to develop personalized relationships with each patient is not just a subtle change, it’s been called a lifesaver by many of our physician clients.”
Dr. Harrigan agrees.
“After 20 years of practicing medicine, this is the first time I’ll be able to guide my own ship and provide the type of experience my patients deserve,” says Dr. Harrigan.
For Drs. Juliet Asher and Nan Monahan, both Specialdocs clients based in Atlanta, changing to a concierge practice earlier this year restored the essence of patient care.
“As time went on my patients experienced more complicated issues and, before I made this change, I didn’t have enough time to form a true partnership with them. That’s the privilege of being a doctor, and I’m grateful to be able to practice this way,” says Dr. Asher.
Dr. Monahan reflects on her life before making the change to a concierge practice with Specialdocs in April 2017 as one of “burnout to the point I was ready to be done with medicine, because I was so frustrated with current state of healthcare. Now, I can’t imagine going back to a traditional model, and neither can my patients.”
For patients, becoming a member of a concierge practice offers highly personalized care, with more time, 24/7 availability to their physician, a significant focus on wellness, and a much reduced need to visit the emergency room or be admitted to the hospital.
Specialdocs Consultants has provided expert guidance and counsel to physicians across the country since 2002, helping them transform their practices and their lives with concierge medicine and remaining with them long after to support their needs in the ever changing and challenging healthcare environment.