To my dear patients,

It has been an honor and a pleasure being your primary care physician. I want to thank you for allowing each of us at Weston Primary Care to assist you in curing your ills and guiding your overall healthcare. Since starting my practice in October 2007, I have strived to give exceptional, educational and personalized care. Many of you have commented on how much you have enjoyed the relaxed, efficient and friendly way we run our office.

Weston Primary Care is now at an important crossroads. As you are probably aware, the practice and financing of health care will be undergoing significant changes in the very near future.

Boston Globe February 17, 2011

“Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled legislation [February 17] designed to control spiraling costs by rewarding doctors and hospitals for improving patient care while limiting expensive but often unnecessary tests....

...The overall goal would be to significantly reduce fee-for-service payments and replace them with alternative payment method by 2015.”

My goal is to stay a viable business in this new healthcare market, without sacrificing my style of personalize and attentive medical care. As you may know, since January 2009, I have offered the Executive Health Service, a concierge practice model that has received high praise from those who have joined it. I am now expanding on this model to include additional tiers of concierge care (and with added technology) to allow me to continue to care for you in a thorough, efficient and personalized manner which is consistent with my belief on how healthcare should be delivered.

Specifically, I have recently added an online service that will allow me to remotely track your blood pressure measurements, weight, percent body fat and blood sugar using digital monitors connected to your home or work computers. This will allow unprecedented monitoring of your health and rapid intervention if certain health goals are not being met. In addition, we now have the availability to perform remote consultations with me using Skype video conferencing.

The following concierge plans are now being offered:

The Virtual Medical Evaluation (VME) package at $300 per year will allow for 3 Skype remote-evaluations per year for appropriate routine follow-ups and simple problem visits. This feature is ideal for traditional practice patients who desire extra conveniences without the extra features and fees of the higher level concierge models.

The Enhanced Practice Model ( EPM), ($1700/ year) will give patients 24/7 access to me by email, cell phone or text. Appointments will be made for same-day or next-day office visits. Appointments will be 30 minutes for each routine visit (sick or follow-up), and 90 minutes for annual physicals.

The Executive Health Service (EHS), ($2800/year) will offer the same conveniences as above but with several added benefits, including the availability of physicals and routine visits on the weekends, and video conferencing with Skype up to five times per year.

The Mobile Health Service (MHS), ($3600/year) which includes all the conveniences of the EHS, plus one monthly home or work visit. This is a great service for very busy individuals and especially for the elderly for whom getting to the physician's office can be a major event for themselves or their caretakers.

I recognize that you may prefer to continue to have your care given in a traditional care practice model, without paying a monthly fee. Rest assured, this will still be available to you at Weston Primary Care, but with some necessary changes. I will continue to perform your yearly physical, and will remain closely involved in your care. However, traditional practice patients needing follow-up or sick visits will be seen most often by my excellent physician-assistant, Ms. Kate Tye, and possibly a nurse-practitioner, with very close oversight by me.

Please visit the home page of this web site  for more details and to review the various practice model contracts which are available for download. If you sign up for a concierge service (not including the VME) before May 1^st you will receive a 15% discount. Also additional family members will receive a 10% discount. Please be aware that space is limited in each model, so if you are interested in joining please contact us soon.

I am planning to add additional services and conveniences to these plans over the coming years as health care related technology becomes available. I believe the future success of Weston Primary Care will be through continuing to offer exceptional medical care designed to keep my patients healthier by improving their access to high caliber yet personalized health care.

Sincerely,

Timothy P. Murphy, MD