EP#32 Aaron Weiss Transforms Pediatric Care with Premier Concierge Pediatrics
Jul 02, 2024
Didier Nicholas
Unlock the secrets to transforming pediatric care with Dr. Aaron Weiss, the innovative founder of Premier Concierge Pediatrics. In this episode, we promise you'll learn how Dr. Weiss's mobile in-home pediatrics practice is revolutionizing healthcare for children in Orlando. With a background in general pediatrics and neonatology, Dr. Weiss shares his inspiring journey from hospital neonatal care to establishing a membership-based direct primary care model. Say goodbye to the inefficiencies, time constraints, and inconsistent expertise of traditional pediatric care and discover how Premier Concierge Pediatrics offers flexible, high-quality, and affordable care for every child.
We also dive into Dr. Weiss's forward-thinking vision for the future of pediatric care. He discusses the importance of holistic and comprehensive care for young patients and shares innovative strategies to enhance their well-being. Listen as Dr. Weiss sheds light on the evolving landscape of pediatrics and how his practice sets a new standard in the field. This conversation is packed with valuable insights and practical advice that will leave you rethinking what pediatric care can be. Don’t miss this engaging episode that highlights the transformative potential of direct primary care and its significant impact on the Orlando community. For more information call (407) 477-6774 or Visit https://www.pcporlando.com
Unlock the secrets to transforming pediatric care with Dr. Aaron Weiss, the innovative founder of Premier Concierge Pediatrics. In this episode, we promise you'll learn how Dr. Weiss's mobile in-home pediatrics practice is revolutionizing healthcare for children in Orlando. With a background in general pediatrics and neonatology, Dr. Weiss shares his inspiring journey from hospital neonatal care to establishing a membership-based direct primary care model. Say goodbye to the inefficiencies, time constraints, and inconsistent expertise of traditional pediatric care and discover how Premier Concierge Pediatrics offers flexible, high-quality, and affordable care for every child.
We also dive into Dr. Weiss's forward-thinking vision for the future of pediatric care. He discusses the importance of holistic and comprehensive care for young patients and shares innovative strategies to enhance their well-being. Listen as Dr. Weiss sheds light on the evolving landscape of pediatrics and how his practice sets a new standard in the field. This conversation is packed with valuable insights and practical advice that will leave you rethinking what pediatric care can be. Don’t miss this engaging episode that highlights the transformative potential of direct primary care and its significant impact on the Orlando community. For more information call (407) 477-6774 or Visit https://www.pcporlando.com
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Didier Nicholas.
Speaker 2:
Hello everyone, my name is Didier Nicholas. I'm your host with the Good Neighbor Podcast and I'm excited to introduce and kind of allow Aaron Weiss with Premier Concierge Pediatrics to bring you an overview of what he does with his business, and just excited to hear more Welcome.
Speaker 3:
Dr Weiss, thank you so much for having me. Didier, I'm super excited to share my vision for mobile pediatrics care in Orlando. Just recently in February actually I opened up my mobile in-home concierge pediatrics practice that serves greater Orlando area. As a pediatrician, I'm actually board certified in general pediatrics and neonatology. I had been down in Florida for about three years working in a hospital setting doing neonatal care and I found that it was a really tough life. I don't think I really appreciated when I started how difficult it was going to be to manage that lifestyle and also manage being a husband and also manage being a father and also manage just being a person who has hobbies and goals and things that he likes to do. I was finding I was sleeping in the hospital many, many nights. I was spending hours there and I wasn't really giving my family or my patients I felt like what they needed to really thrive. So last year I had to make a really difficult decision and pivot away from neonatology and I decided to start my own practice, which is Premier Concierge Pediatrics. I spent about six months just hanging out with my kids in the parks in the communities in my neighborhood and talking to parents about their pain points in the pediatric system.
Speaker 3:
Didier, I heard about three things pretty consistently. I heard one that inefficiencies are abound. People are waiting on the phone, they're waiting in waiting rooms, they're waiting in their clinics just waiting to be seen. Two, I heard that the provider that they're seeing is like palpably pressed for time. They come in, they have a list of questions they need to ask and they're already seemingly on to the next patient before you can answer those questions. And I think most concerning that I heard pretty consistently was the competency level of that person is sometimes questionable. You're coming in to see a person with pediatric expertise. You may not be seeing a doctor. You may not be seeing somebody with pediatric expertise. Your child may have a condition that the provider has never seen before. And this all was very kind of alarming to me and as a parent myself, I felt like we could do better. I knew we could do better and that's what really prompted me to start PCP or Premier Concierge Pediatrics.
Speaker 2:
Wow, that is awesome. I like what you said waiting to be seen, press for time and expertise Three main factors that really allowed you to take a grasp of this idea and and bring it to your business model. Kudos to you for that.
Speaker 3:
And.
Speaker 3:
I think, we're doing a little bit differently because, as of right now, as a new startup, it makes most sense for me and for my patients to offer exclusive in-home care. So right now we've grown to about 40 patients and we provide pediatrics care exclusively in the home patients, and we provide pediatrics care exclusively in the home. As my practice grows and scales, I want to give my patients multiple options of either being seen by a doctor, by a nurse practitioner, and within both of those tracks, patients can either be seen in our clinic or in their house. So we can essentially create four different price points to be able to take care of a lot of different populations of people in Orlando. My goal for this practice is it's not just here to take care of the wealthy. I want every child to have access to good pediatrics care and I feel like, in order to do that, we need to stratify the price points.
Speaker 2:
I like that in terms of giving families options. You know your customers, giving them options and working with everyone, like you said, that is that is so important. So what are some of the myths or misconceptions, dr Weiss, that you kind of want to share with our listeners? Are there any in your, in your industry?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so I'm kind of a pioneer in this industry. At least I feel that way. In Orlando this is called direct primary care. So the way I operate my practice it's called a DPC model and what that means is it's membership based. So our services are in addition to your traditional insurance model, not in place of it.
Speaker 3:
And something I often use as an analogy is people are very well versed in how to utilize their home insurance and how to utilize their car insurance. We know if our house catches on fire or we get in a car accident, we call State Farm. But if our battery needs to be replaced or our shutters need to be replaced, then that's coming out of our pocket. I feel like when we utilize our health insurance policies it's a bit more nebulous. So what we're trying to do at Premier Concierge Pediatrics is just carve out general pediatrics and elevate that service. So we're not billing your insurance for general pediatrics care.
Speaker 3:
That is all covered through our membership plan. That entails all of your well-child visits. That entails all of your sick visits. It entails essentially anything you would need along the way. All of my parents have my number in their pocket and they can call me 24-7. I think a big myth about this model is every single touch point comes at a service or at a charge, and that is incorrect. For a monthly membership fee or a annual membership fee. Monthly membership fee or a annual membership free. You have access to me 24-7. You can call me as much as you want, and my goal is to give you the skills and power to be a great parent who needs me less and less and less as your kid gets older and more mature.
Speaker 2:
Very well stated, wow, and I like how you've thought through this process by offering value added or different options to your customers.
Speaker 3:
Can I add one more thing?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:
Like I was mentioning, we carve out general pediatrics from insurance. All of my patients can still choose to utilize their insurance benefits for things like labs, medications or images, and what I'm trying to do with my practice is I've termed this phrase called customized concierge care, where I truly want all of my patients to be able to pick and choose how they receive health care, where I truly want all of my patients to be able to pick and choose how they receive health care. So, for example, if your child were to break his or her arm, I can give you the option, like most people would say, go to the ER, which is going to be the quickest and most expensive way to get an answer. The most cost-effective way to fix a broken arm through insurance is probably to plan it out. Set up an outpatient appointment for x-rays the following morning, plan out an immediate follow-up with orthopedics all through insurance. So you get casted, you get your image, you get a diagnosis, but you do it in a way that the insurance companies like.
Speaker 3:
So, instead of going to the ER and getting a $2,000 to $3,000 bill, your co-pays would pay for that level of care and you would basically walk away with like $100, $50 co-pay. Now, in contrast to that, if you were a family that really, really optimized convenience and really just wanted everything to be easy, I've also partnered with a local company. I take a step out, they come into your home, they shoot the film, they give you a diagnosis and they provide all of the follow-up right there in your house. So I like to give all of my patients, depending on where they're coming from and what their insurance policies actually look like, options on how they want to receive care. And I apologize, I didn't mean to cut you off earlier.
Speaker 2:
No, no, that's great, and I'm glad that you're sharing this with our listeners as well, because it's important that they understand there's so many different options when it comes to their kids, you know out there. So we are all so busy in this world that we work in right. So what is something that you really like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:
Oh, for me. So I have two young kids. I have a five year old and a two year old. So I have on my website and I mean this, I'm pretty experienced as a doctor and a dad and a lot of the pearls that I share on my website, and I mean this, I'm pretty experienced as a doctor and a dad and a lot of the pearls that I share with my patients. I feel like I've learned more from my five years of being a father than I had from all my years as a medical student, trainee, resident, etc.
Speaker 3:
But I'd say the biggest perk of living here is access to Orlando and all the cool stuff for little kids. So every weekend we are doing something really fun. We are members at pretty much every amusement park and thing that exists in the city. So we're either at the Iron Manor or we're at the Crayola Factory or we're at Disney. I'm a pretty active guy so I do Peloton, I like to run, I like to box and train, but as I'm getting older I do that less and less and less. But really it's a lot of family time, spending time outdoors in the heat and, you know, taking advantage of all that Orlando has to offer. I was joking with my wife the other day. She was talking about going to Europe and I was like, look, we got a five and a two-year-old, we don't need to go to Paris yet.
Speaker 1:
We are in their like.
Speaker 3:
Mecca right here in Orlando. We shouldn't have to leave until they're at least seven or eight. I'm joking.
Speaker 2:
No, no, there you go, I like, I like that.
Speaker 3:
We are so happy to be here and it just gives us every weekend it's like a whole new bag of things to get involved with.
Speaker 2:
Well, as we wrap up here, dr Weiss, let's kind of share one thing that you want to tell our listeners about your business. I know you've shared so much, which is awesome, but what is that one thing that sticks out, I think?
Speaker 3:
as we all become more accustomed to the insurance-based healthcare model and we either have parents or children or we are patients ourself, I think everyone realizes that it is not working.
Speaker 3:
When I look at insurance, I think we all need it for emergencies, I think we need it for bad diagnoses, but I think your day in, day out maintenance health care works much, much better when insurance companies aren't involved. When you knew your pediatrician, your pediatrician knew you and they were available. So when there was an emergency at two or three in the morning, you already know who you're talking to and you can streamline the problem right away. I feel like, as our healthcare system changes and sadly I feel like it's changing for the worse I want this to be an option for patients to get competent pediatrics care from someone they know and trust in a comfortable setting, and I don't think that's impossible to provide. In the last four months, just rolling out this model and learning from the little bumps along the way, this is a sustainable model and I truly believe that this it's not concierge care, it's truly direct primary care is going to be the future of healthcare in this country.
Speaker 2:
Wow, that's very well stated. As we wrap up now, can you share with our listeners how to get a hold of you, your phone number and?
Speaker 3:
your website, absolutely. We have a brand new website that I'm really proud of. We've been updating it every couple weeks, dropping videos. You should be able to really get to know who I am and what I'm all about from looking at our website. It is wwwpcporlandocom, and PCP stands for Premier Concierge Pediatrics. If you need to get a hold of us, our practice line is actually ported to my cell phone, so in the true, you know nature of this vision and I really want to be available to my patients 24-7,. The practice number is 407-584-7330. Again, that's 407-584-7330.
Speaker 3:
And as a practice for all new patients, we do a complimentary meet and greet, either via Zoom or in person, so we can really get to know one another, make sure that we're aligned in the care we want to provide for your children and really just make sure that we like one another and we can provide great care for your family, and I think that's imperative to really forming a great relationship with your doctor.
Speaker 2:
Well, dr Weiss, thank you so much for joining us here on this podcast and you know we look forward to having you back in the near future again, and it was literally my pleasure.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much for giving me this platform to share my vision for pediatrics care, and I really appreciate your time as well. Thank you.
Speaker 1:
Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpwindermerecom. That's gnpwindermerecom, or call 407-783-8320.