A standard insurance physical examination is a 10-15 visit with your primary care physician that does not touch on very much besides the most looming of problems. The Presidential Physical Exam™ is a form of preventive medicine consisting of physical and diagnostic evaluations that usually takes a full day to complete. It is guided not by what has been deemed cost effective in any given population, instead it is driven by an individual’s unique risks and balanced by available resources to effectively detect preventable illnesses. For the past 100 years, similar physical exams have been administered to pilots, astronauts, Fortune 500 executives, and very wealthy individuals for whom cost is not an issue. As a result, a test that may not be cost effective for the society at large in detecting preventable illnesses is still offered for this corporate demand.

Cost cutting managed care plans and medical insurances think in terms of populations, not unique individuals. They set standards and restrictions that can inhibit a physician’s ability to deliver truly “best of the best” care. They have a certain budget that must be allocated towards the most important healthcare items. Thus, allocating funds for a sophisticated test may less appealing to them than making sure everyone in their network gets the most basic preventative tests. At Concierge Medicine/LA, we think in terms of individuals not populations. Doctors practicing insurance based care are incentivized to bring you back to the office many times since they charge by “office visit”. Thus, a comprehensive visit is not as financially rewarding to the insurance based physician since you only come in for one visit.