39 South River Road Bedford, NH, 03110
Frequently Asked Questions
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PriorityDirectMed of Bedford uses an innovative membership direct care model where providers are paid directly by their patients, rather than multiple health insurance companies. Basically, we are cutting out the middleman, along with their complications. PDM is reminiscent of the provider-patient relationship from times gone by, when providers didn’t have thousands of patients, had plenty of time to spend with you, and you didn’t have to wait weeks for your appointment. Cutting out all the middlemen and red tape increases the provider’s and the patient’s satisfaction and dramatically cuts costs.
You can expect shorter wait times, longer appointments, and access to your provider after hours, including virtual appointments to fit your schedule. No more rushed visits or waiting weeks for an appointment. You can contact your provider via phone, social media, email, and text messaging day or night. Members have access to in office labs and free or extremely discounted procedures.
All patients are encouraged to have at least major medical insurance coverage to cover things like specialist and hospitalizations.
Another way to save money on your healthcare is by getting insurance with low premiums and high deductibles. Paired with a PDM membership this could save you hundreds, if not thousands, on out of pocket costs. PDM strives to eliminate insurance claims. Why pay upwards of $300 for an urgent care visit, when you could be seen at your primary care office free, same day!
At this time, we will only be processing Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for non-members with insurance. You can submit a receipt (super bill) for your in-office procedures, labs and medication costs. Some insurance companies will apply these payments toward a deductible. But remember, most services are included in your membership, so there will be no bill at all to submit. Membership fees are usually not reimbursable by your insurance company. For non-member Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, you are eligible to join as a member at a different rate to take advantage of the after-hours access. For more information, you can contact information at info@prioritydirect-med.com.
The law currently allows the use of HSA money to pay for medications, imaging tests, labs, etc. However, it is legally unclear if HSA funds can be used to pay for PDM membership fees. This is a question for your tax professional. Legislation has been proposed to clear up the question regarding if HSA money can be spent on a provider’s retainer or membership fee.
Our monthly membership fees are based on the patient’s age. We are always seeking ways to reduce costs for our patients and are continually working with you to determine the best way to save you money. This includes prescribing the most inexpensive medication, working with pharmaceutical reps for coupons and not ordering labs and imaging that are not necessary. We will never order anything without your permission and will always explain in detail the potential costs, risks and benefits.
PriorityDirectMed will only be accepting a limited panel of patients per provider. Considering that managed care has driven modern era providers to patient panels of 2,000 to 4,000 or more, it’s no wonder you encounter long waits! We keep our patient panel low so we can spend plenty of time with you and get you in quickly. This is the kind of attention and accessbility we’d want our family to have, and it’s what we offer our patients.
When a referral is necessary, we will help you find the most desirable option. We have established relationships with specialists such as orthopedics, cardiology, general surgery, ENT, and many more.
Many specialists are willing to provide cash pricing for visits and procedures that are often less than insurance costs. Our providers spend the time needed to carefully coordinate and facilitate your care with a specialist team as needed.
We know that illness and injuries don’t always happen during office hours. If you just need to get in touch with us to order a medication refill or schedule an appointment, you can directly e-mail your provider anytime or leave a voice mail. If you have a non-urgent question, but one that probably shouldn’t wait until tomorrow, members can send our provider a text message and expect a prompt reply. Lastly, if you have an urgent issue after-hours, our provider is only a phone call away!
Almost all of the routine procedures our provider performs have no additional charge to members. There are a few exceptions, for more complicated procedures. We do not offer onsite imaging such as x-ray or MRI. We have a few options for patients at nearby facilities that offer discounted self-pay and accept insurance for those wanting to use insurance. As a membership benefit, our provider will see sick or injured visiting family of members for a low one-time office visit fee based upon the severity and time requirements of the visit.
No, your provider will coordinate with your OB/GYN during your pregnancy and continue routine care for non-pregnancy related health needs.
Insurance companies use a fee-for-service payment model in which practices may be incentivized to see more patients in a day to generate higher revenue. At PDM, we offer a hybrid approach in which our practice is made up of primarily direct primary care patients and a smaller number of fully insured patients. By only working with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and Aetna we are still able to maintain a small patient panel which ensures more time is spent with our patients. We are essentially removing the middleman in healthcare which allows us to focus more on our patients' needs and less time navigating insurance carriers.
Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise. We offer rapid, accurate test results in 30 minutes. Binx io is a molecular point-of-care testing platform designed to enable single-visit diagnosis and treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections.