At North Star Family Medicine, we understand costs of medical care are high and insurance rates are increasing. While we are currently bound by fee schedules set by the government and insurance companies, we do our best to keep your costs lower by providing high quality care in a timely manner. For example, we require one annual visit for refills of medications on chronic diseases that are well controlled and address multiple patient concerns in one appointment to keep the number of visits to the clinic lower. Research showed that on average patients of Independent Medical Practices have lower per patient spending on health care needs, fewer preventable hospital admissions, and lower hospital repeat admissions compared to large health care systems.
In other words, while the visit cost at North Star Family Medicine may be slightly lower, patients of Independent Medical Practices do not go to the doctor as much and are not admitted to the hospital as frequently as patients who receive care at a large health facility.
In addition, unlike healthcare corporations, we do not have facility fees charged to patients, therefore the cost of office procedures, clinic visit, labs and other service offered are lower in a private medical clinic. Research shows that office procedures are 30-40% less in an independent clinic when compared to the same procedure at a large health system.
More importantly, we can easily adapt to patient needs and the ever-changing healthcare climate. At North Star Family Medicine, we feel connected to our patients and their families. We believe this results in stronger patient-physician relationships, trust, continuity of care and better community health outcomes.
Reference:
Healthcare Cost Institute. “Price Variations in Healthcare Services: Analysis of Independent vs. Hospital-Owned Facilities.” Cost Transparency Report, 2022.
