The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘There is a huge demand’
Doctor opens concierge medical practice and patients cheer
HAMDEN » When Bob Donahue’s physician, Dr. Fausto Petruzziello, told him he was opening a concierge medical practice next door to his CareMEDICA office, Donahue was eager to join up.
For a $1,400 annual fee, Donahue, 69, of Hamden knows that he will have access to Petruzziello any time, day or night, and that when he sets up an appointment, he’ll be the only patient on his doctor’s mind. (As a current patient, Donahue received a discount from the regular $1,600 fee.)
Concierge medicine, also known as retainer medicine, is a growing field, offering patients more personalized care and relieving the doctor of having to see hundreds, even thousands, of patients.
“It’s the reassurance of coming here, the extra time that you’re given, the coordination [with] the specialists that you need,” Donahue said. “It’s the personal attention that he gives you that makes you feel special. … It’s not just coming here and giving you a prescription.”
Donahue had been Petruzziello’s patient for more than 20 years before his doctor opened his concierge practice, CareMEDICA Elite at 2200 Whitney Ave. Suite 101. He has always been pleased with Petruzziello’s care, so Donahue decided it was worth the additional fee to keep seeing his primary physician.
Donahue, who is retired from the U.S. Postal Service and served with the Marines in Vietnam, said he could go to the Veterans Affairs medical center, but he stays loyal to Petruzziello. In the traditional CareMEDICA practice, “there’s just so many patients that he was running between three different offices” and Donahue would have to wait days for an appointment. Now, “you can come in right away, same day, and they have a 24-hour number,” Donahue said. The staff at CareMEDICA Elite also act as a liaison with specialists or the hospital if needed.
For Petruzziello, who is still medical director of CAREMedica, becoming a concierge doctor has meant caring for far fewer patients — 200 vs. more than 2,500 before — and for patients who really care about their overall health. “People who come through here, they want to take care of themselves,” he said. “There’s so much noncompliance on the other side.”
It also means less time spent on paperwork for health insurers and the government, Petruzziello said. “We’ve had a great response and I think there’s a huge demand in today’s society for more personalized medicine that puts the patient first,” he said.
Patients are given longer “one on one” appointments, Petruzziello said. “We dedicate more time, we make sure that all the protocols that must be followed are followed in a much more timely way.”
Once a member of CareMEDICA Elite, patients pay the same copay and deductibles that their health plan dictates, said George Kulp, membership director. The patients who chose not to join the Elite practice were paired with other CareMEDICA doctors, he said.
Petruzziello acknowledges that “there are a lot of doctors out there who have great bedside manners but they’re really ingrained in the system. … We are going back to the old time, but we’re going to 2030, 2050 with the technology.”
Petruzziello will even take care of his patients long distance. At 8:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, a patient in Florida called because he was in pain from what Petruzziello diagnosed as a kidney stone. He and his executive clinical coordinator, Janine Koukos, made the calls necessary to get him a prescription for a painkiller at local pharmacy. “In just half an hour he was taken care of instead of going to the emergency room and spending $3,000,” Petruzziello said. The team then followed up with the patient for 36 hours he said.
Kulp described another incident in which a couple a cruise
and was in port in Venice “and the gentleman has trouble breathing and he needed a wheelchair to take the tour.” Speaking in Italian, Petruzziello called the port authority to authorize the chair. “It was kind of a small thing, but a big thing for them,” Kulp said.
And when he’s traveling, Petruzziello is still on call through videoconferencing. “We do rely on the technology,” Kulp said, but other CareMEDICA doctors are also available as backup.
One place Petruzziello travels to is Dubai, where he’d like to expand eventually. The city in the United Arab Emirates is “the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East and there’s a high demand for pristine American medicine,” he said. “We want to be the Ritz-Carlton” of medical practices, Petruzziello said.
“When they come in, a whole new world opens up, because we treat them beyond what a doctor-patient relationship is all about,” he said. While many of CareMEDICA Elite’s patients are well off financially, “we have just regular people” too, he said.
Added benefits include free multivitamins, discounts on gym memberships and at restaurants, nutritional assessments, a session with a personal health coach, cooking classes and discounted tickets at Long Wharf Theatre.
“We have health coaches, nutritionists, dietitians, we have a transformational coach and a fitness coach as well,” Petruzziello said. Clients are given a digital device each year, such as a scale, bloodpressure monitor or Fitbit, he said. There’s patient education too, such as a seminar with long-term-care specialists.
“We have a completely different approach,” Petruzziello said. “It’s not just the medical part but it’s lifestyle and activity management for the patients.”
Kulp is involved in setting up many of the activities offered. “It’s really fulfilling,” he said. “I’ve been a friend of Dr. Petruzziello’s and his patient for 18 years. I love the idea of being able to give back and help people.”
“We can really make such a big difference, maybe for a smaller amount of patients but … the patients are so happy and so grateful that we are here with them and for them.
In the short term, Petruzziello is hoping to expand the Elite practice to North Haven or Wallingford, where CareMEDICA also has offices. New patients will be seen by Dr. Steven Angelo.
“I feel that the area needs something more upscale,” Petruzziello said. “We wanted to bring the luxury that people can afford in the Middle East, New York or Los Angeles to this area.”