The American healthcare system is in the midst of a crisis. Even before the beginning of the pandemic, healthcare costs had been rising astronomically for years while the quality of care that Americans receive is lower than in many other developed nations.
In this episode of Radio Free Enterprise I speak with Dr. Adel Eldin, MD, a cardiologist as well as founder and CEO of ProntoCare, an innovative medical practice in Tampa, Florida that is implementing a relatively new approach to healthcare call Direct Contracting.
In our conversation I ask Dr. Eldin to explain what Direct Contracting is, how it works, and how it helps patients and lowers costs for everyone.
I will also be asking him how business owners are integrating the ProntoCare model into their benefits packages in order to attract and retain the best quality workers.
What follows is a computer-generated transcription of our entire conversation. Please excuse any typos!
Frank Felker
My guest today is Dr. Adel Eldin. He’s a medical doctor, a cardiologist, and he’s the founder and CEO of a medical practice in Tampa, Florida called ProntoCare. Dr. Eldin, welcome to the program.
Dr. Adel Eldin
Thank you very much.
Frank Felker
We’re here today to talk about an innovative approach to the healthcare industry that Dr. Eldin implements at ProntoCare that’s called direct contracting. And it helps eliminate a lot of expenses costs administrative costs, pretty much gets insurance companies out of the mix, surprise billings, and allows a doctor and a patient to connect with each other and do a better job of maintaining one’s health.
What Is Direct Contracting?
Frank Felker
I want to start with this Dr. Eldin just right at the very root, what is direct contracting?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Direct contracting is direct interaction between the provider physician and the patient, no third party, no insurance, no hassle, and no extra stress for both the patient and the doctor. You know, that patients have expenditures also out of pocket expenditures are getting up every year, to the point that they’re not, you know, people to pay anymore. Number one cost per mile is unpaid medical bills, which keeps going up as well. On the other side of frustration that 30% or more of your time, dealing with the paperwork seen denials, and things that are actually causing physician burnout, and the quality of health care.
Frank Felker
You know, that’s the funny thing, all of us is laymen or civilians or whatever a non medical professional should refer to themselves as we usually just think about how the whole medical crisis affects us, the cost, the insurance companies, all that everything you just mentioned, but frequently, we forget about the pressure it’s putting on medical professionals like yourself. Your approach your concept, as you just said, sort of takes a lot of the pressure off of both sides of the equation. Let me ask you this. Your does it result in a significant cost savings for the patient?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Absolutely. And this started right after the crisis back in 2009 2010. And I know that getting old The problem was with healthcare there’s something is unsustainable, like the cost and expenses and the frustration and so on. So I want to do to everyone, both providers, as well as patients. And that’s why the work of a project here and you’re doing contracting things every $70,000 per person per year. And we have like a couple of you know, they saved more than $9,000 over five years ago and what used to pay for traditional insurance. And I’ve never been asked to borrow money to pay bills, really.
Frank Felker
So I take it there’s a monthly like, Is it a membership fee? Or how does it How does it work?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, there is an age specific contract that people can go online, basically for contract is from age 20 to 3050 bucks a month or somebody enrolls annually, there we go. 600% off, and we also will have a part of what we do is social responsibility, as well, mostly 5% or 580, between 30 to 40 bucks a month for the day to annually. So they get temporary part of the annual enrollment of Resident COVID 120. And then also relate back to the third category, which is most important category, age 40 to 65. That’s where more chronic diseases are. That’s where more hospitalization expenses per year. So that’s 100 bucks a month. It’s like $50,000 a month. And again, rather than paying 250% off 116 20 no co payments, no, no denial for a discount, you’re looking at the people that administer PayPal, and then we’re, you know, basically make your appointment and become a member of pronto parent, and everything is under contract with the folks between 62 because that’s measured. And all that we went through very meticulous work. In a way that was the contract that was written. And we only made like a wellness plan. So this way, if it’s somebody down there, there’s no conflict of Medicare Corporate Services, it’s basically going to tell people how to stay healthy, healthy nutrition and how to basically stay away from the hospital report, or many unnecessary hospitalizations. Well, let’s see.
Frank Felker
If we could let’s talk about first, when somebody is ill, how that would work for them. But then I want to come back to what you’re talking about a wellness plan, I think there’s a big benefit of your approach that has to do with maintaining your wellness, rather than just showing up to the doctor when you got a sickness. So let’s say my kid, I’ve got a seven year old kid, and he’s in your plan. And he wakes up one morning with a sore throat, and I’m concerned that he has a strep throat, what happens next week, we call your office what happens?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Very good number of hits are before we started from h4 100 Okay, we’re going toand expanding is your pediatrician, and so on. All right, well,
Frank Felker
let me let me just say, my, my child, I have a child is 29. So let’s say that that
Dr. Adel Eldin
very basic makeup, and, you know, they get an appointment. And, you know, usually within 24 hours, and we’ll be able to address their concerns in any medications that are prescribed here that will help them with that. So they don’t end up in the emergency room or urgent care. Visit our 1000 so that you know the one that could be yours 10 years. So there’s no comparison.
Frank Felker
Okay. And so then they come in, let’s say that it were you did diagnose strep throat. And now it’s time for a prescription to be written and filled and so forth. Does that occur just as it would with, shall we say, a normal situation with insurance? Or how does that work?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, you know, and we have a network of, you know, basically pharmacy that are discounted significantly. These are all benefits. Sometimes they have discounted labs also, but more and more defaults to each of the diagnostics. Mr. Break?
Frank Felker
He said he, and do you do any testing or lab work in house that’s covered? What What did I travel easier to say? what’s outside the bounds of the coverage? Or maybe it’s easier for you to say, included is, you know, your assessment of the patient, and, and anything else any sort of testing or anything?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, we do have quite a bit of evolution by echocardiogram, which is basically a cartogram for looking at the heart muscle function, develop function. And also stress testing to look at in someone has just been entered could be suspected of coronary artery disease technology that’s contributing just for her. So
Frank Felker
I see on your website that there are I think I saw four doctors on there, each of which has a different specialty and there was even a dentist, I believe in your group, is that correct?
Dr. Adel Eldin
That is correct. And this is an additional advantage of being enrolled in AdvoCare. That if you ever have a need for a dentist or a newborn relative or other specialist, then you can refer to those so you know, excellent, caring Doc’s Who are you know, basically Wouldn’t deliver excellent service and also give discount, actually, so this way, no hassle, no backup, no our usual copayments and all that. All that great forward, it’s well known, no, you know, no added stress.
Frank Felker
What about Is there any level of like, let’s say just initial examination by one of those specialists that’s included, or what level of diagnosis is included in my monthly fee?
Dr. Adel Eldin
What happened is that when they first did, how many of them we’ll see. If it is, then we have to specifically for that particular request or need to meet, and then they know exactly what they’re going to get exactly what the price is. So it’s a beautiful transparent system, there’s no surprises, there’s no hidden cost or anything that you don’t know that out of the visit will be agreed upon and signed.
Frank Felker
Okay, now, I want to move this over to more the world of business, I understand that you in addition to your medical degrees, and other things that you’ve achieved, you also have a Master’s of Business Administration. And as you know, our audience here is business owners. And they also are human beings who are concerned about their own health care costs. But they have the additional challenge of trying to figure out ways to provide medical benefits to their employees, or at least help support the provision of those benefits without running their business, you know, to the bankruptcy court. How can your direct contracting approach help business owners?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Thank you so much, that that’s why I went back to school did the MBA for fixed healthcare and also the magic word here is called affordability. What can you afford for the kind of health and we were able to prove and our you know, model that we can provide per pair and take tons of money. And I know we have a lot of testimonials and example, a couple that saved $9,000 over five years in Roman numeral plan compared to traditional insurance. The bottom line is we you know, recognize the pain, entice business go through if you want to rate a worker employee, and then the filler is the portability of insurance coverage, and so on, which is part of the factors that anybody will expect, you know, the job or being recruited to the office being okay, what kind of coverage on right, oh, take a load off things in the spawners, and then we can help people be recruited with their parents. And then we can save the money. Because it’s really a, you know, we have a combination of intercare we think you care, but also the bubbles where we can prevent future problems. So it’s a really win Landon, are getting more and more of this model being, you know, is the way to go. Because the amount of money that I pocket, for instance, it’s more than $75 a year, and you can look at the numbers, because everything’s out. This is the smart way to go. I don’t have to go and drive and make an ER for like, eight hours. Or something that could be managed, you know, in a plan to continue 1000s
Frank Felker
let’s kind of look at it real nuts and bolts level, what a business owner pays the monthly fee for their employee, for example. And then I don’t know what else they might and then help them set up a health savings account, or how would a business owner implement, integrating with your direct contracting model
Dr. Adel Eldin
is very similar. if somebody were to come say, Doc, I have 10, you know, employees in my, you know, my business and we’d love to have them covered with care. So we actually make kind of a special offer for those folks, because the more you know, you show that you’re being, you know, aware and sensitive to the cost issue, the more people are attracted to come in and so we give them years to deal with a woman to get 10% off. And also if you have a certain number of employees, you may get additional savings. As a bonus on top of what they have saved conditionally and are of the beneficiary of all the Back to the community. So this way, everybody, everybody benefits.
Frank Felker
And I can imagine the more patients you have in your program, the lower the costs are overall for everyone.
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, absolutely. And then the patient also would have lower costs for everything else is being done, whether laughter, diagnostics or anything, because we can have more division power on those providers, because everybody right now need cash. And if you don’t have that, shut down, and that’s really the magic. So we have grown, you have business employees, and there’s nothing coming, we have all the bills done, that you get up before everybody goes on.
What About Surprise Billings?
Frank Felker
And I imagine also, the whole issue of surprise billings is taken out of the equation, that’s something that I hear just anecdotally, from friends and family, like, wow, I just got a bill from the hospital or from whomever, for $12,000, three months afterward, I take it, that’s your system, that there’s no room for that.
Dr. Adel Eldin
at all, it doesn’t exist, you don’t have that. Everything is everything that you read on the website, and you sign for the honor, no local payments, no, no deductibles, no pre authorization, nor deny existing condition and no referral necessary. You are the boss, as a consumer, you get what you need. And we provide you with that service. That’s, you know, that’s great. It’s a straightforward deal.
Frank Felker
And you know, and that’s a big problem that people have is all the, you know, seems like a shell game, I can’t figure out who I’m supposed to talk to about, what, where did this bill come from, I never even heard of this doctor and that kind of thing. And so it just, it just makes a lot of sense, what you’re doing, as does something we just touched on earlier that I want to come back to, which has to do with ongoing wellness, you know, uh, you know better than I do, but me as a patient, I avoid going to see the doctor, because you know, there’s going to be all these costs involved. And again, I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and so forth. And yet, I should see the doctor, because I you know, in order to maintain my health, rather than reactively proactively maintaining my health rather than reactively trying to fix my illness, can you speak to some of the wellness services that you offer?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, we are all your chronic diseases that’s affecting 140 million Americans have the high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, you know, all these diseases are preventable, or manageable for the most part. So that’s the, you know, my app, here on the screen management of the disease entities, and also directed toward towards a healthy lifestyle, and a total, you know, wellness approach that will transform those people from chronic repeated admission to the hospitals or ER visits, enter more or less, you know, taking control of their health, and then save money in their pockets. So, that’s, that’s a big motivation for a lot of folks.
Frank Felker
And, you know, as you know, the, that’s one of the reasons why health care costs are going through the roof, is because people don’t show up until you know, it’s time to have their blade cut off or something. Whereas if they had just been, you know, on an ongoing basis, in a real relationship with a physician, who’s helping them take care of their physical health, it may never have gotten to that point and could have saved a lot of money, and a lot of emotional agony as well.
Dr. Adel Eldin
Yes, and I have lived through this, with, you know, literally 10s of 1000s of patients, I heard all those stories. And then we showed the remedy effective solutions to these problems that, you know, someone has to go four or five times a year to the hospital, because of our situation of guests with heart failure. Now they don’t, and it’s really have been a great example to follow. And then the patient can come to their homes and their health and in financial, you know, physical in nature. And that makes it stressful.
Frank Felker
Yeah, you know, seeing is believing. And when you can see the difference in your health and see the difference in your checking account. You believe. That’s a wonderful record. Now, it’s just a wonderful program you’ve outlined for us today. And I understand that you’re looking for ways to expand the concept across the country. What How were you thinking that you might be able to make that happen?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Well, I just mentioned 140 million people with chronic diseases and the small businesses that are hurting everywhere. So if anybody wants to benefit from all the things that have developed and worked on 24, seven, or the past You know, 12 years or so going to the legislature and have it actually became, you know, a formidable option, or that people can do it, a lot of the I know, the governor of Florida passed in 2018. That’s why ProntoCare became the continuation of really delivering as your folks again, and now I think the concept is going through the nation. And then if people can join our network, and that may be a virtual option for folks to get easier services and so on. Which the same concept of wellness education, and, and kindness and bringing back the community with the whole idea is really bringing the heart back to medicine, how can we all work collaboratively, people don’t have to simply get sick, a lot of diseases, mostly the chronic ones, that usually send a lot of books and cleaners and bankruptcy. And I believe they’re, you know, ultimately to the consumer. And that’s why I made a direct to consumer, I’m looking for health care, you know, mingle, try to your, you know, you can from any mobile phone and internet, to go to wwe.com to care.co not.com, that’s the Oh, and then check it out yourself, look at your age group, read your contract, likely, you’re going to go to paypal and make a payment and bingo, you have become a member of
Frank Felker
So are you saying that you’re serving patients across the country that not just in your local area,
Dr. Adel Eldin
I’m glad you mentioned, research, and learning very particular because it’s very unique, because we have snowbirds, in our six months of the year, I come down around this time and then go back to his hometown in Alaska, for instance. And then I have a whatever, you know, situation that they need, that they need help, they call up and we take care of them. And or they see the grandkids, Chicago, and I got a right guy for the granddaughter, and we don’t want to, you know, get up and drive to the emergency room an hour away and late and have all this stuff and save five grams. So you know, just simply your personal you get a lot of these great things and access 24. Seven, and also the the comfort and the convenience, and that is that you know that whatever you need to answer can be taken care of in the most efficient way, and also cost effectively.
Is ProntoCare Going Nationwide?
Frank Felker
Now, are you considering the idea of opening ProntoCare practices in other states across the country? Or what about that thought?
Dr. Adel Eldin
Absolutely. And we have, you know, now we’re making it known to everybody, if you’re interested in becoming like a local partner affiliate of any anywhere across Florida or across the country, you certainly will be welcome to have a conversation and see how we can move to help so many people in so much devastation out there now has been exploited with COVID. And so I’m in the financial devastation, these numbers that I show in the plans are literally pennies compared to others, you know, better arrival, and everybody has a research, comparison. And we’re very proud that we have so many unique things. One, we see a patient 1000s of dollars, average seven to $10,000 per person per year. And we already have that documented, we came back to the community that’s part of our social responsibility, mostly to fight hunger.
Because we have 70 million Americans, women, children, seniors and veterans. And I believe this is part of bringing the heart back in medicine. And also other important part is protecting your data. So you’re the owner of the data, whatever you have, it’s you can share with the people that you want to go. So if you want to go for our phrase, orthopedic doctor, I only those with your permission, rather than data could be sold out and not made. Made make a lot of money. So we’re protecting patients protecting patient data, because health data now can be used to get their jobs, quote unquote, their data, whatever. So we protect the patient’s health and data and when Give back to the company. And I think that’s that’s the really the ultimate goal of successful, compassionate, caring healthcare. That’s really
Frank Felker
what we’re just about out of time here. If somebody wanted to reach out to you to find out about you being their physician and more about ProntoCare, I know, they can go to pronto, care.co. I’ve shown that on the screen a few times, and I’ll include it in the show notes. But if they wanted to connect with you directly, what’s the best way for them to do that?
Dr. Adel Eldin
All right, I appreciate that. That’s a very important question. So the the best way I would go to go on LinkedIn, I have 30,000 plus followers worldwide, and I communicate with everyone. And this will be a simple, you know, message that we can express interesting, and become a part of our family so that we can communicate directly and see how we can make that happen.
Frank Felker
Dr. Atul Eldin, thank you so much for being with me today.
Dr. Adel Eldin
Thank you for the opportunity.
Frank Felker
Thanks again to Dr. Eldin. And thank you for joining us. Until next time, I’m Frank Felker saying, I’ll see you on the radio.
