The change to a Membership Model is, quite frankly, a last resort. For years, the practice of medicine has been changing, leading to a massive number of doctors leaving the workforce and a shortage of both primary care and specialty physicians in many areas of the country (including ours). Insurers, including Medicare, are paying physicians less for their services while imposing more administrative burdens for each visit (things have become so blatantly dysfunctional that Medicare even has an official program called the “Patients Over Paperwork Initiative!”). Other industries can raise their prices to cover increasing costs for services; however, as a small independent medical office, we are not able to negotiate such with the insurers. With inflation raising the cost of everything from our office staff salaries to IT support and even janitorial services, coupled with decreasing revenue, our business position has become untenable.

If this sounds like just a feeble excuse for trying to squeeze more money out of you, you can be assured we would have made such a change long ago were this our priority. Those of you who have been with us a long time may be surprised to find that we are an outdated relic in how we practice and bill for services, while those of you who are new to us probably sought us out because we are old-fashioned in many ways and unlike other practices in the area. Things we take for granted in our office, like physicians performing physical examinations, referring you to the specialists we think are best, getting to know you through an extended new patient visit, and having helpful medical assistants who actually call you back, are unheard of in most other practices! There is a reason nearly every other practice in the area has either changed to a membership or concierge model, joined a large health corporation, added nontraditional services, or closed its doors. Our commitment to sparing our patients from these sorts of adverse changes is the only reason we have held to our traditional practices for so long, but we are no longer able to do so without a change.

Our available options at this time are to:

1. Join a large health organization – that will style our practice to maximize profits from you, our patients.
2. Change our practice style to be like that of the large health organizations – with short 8-10 minute, single problem visits.
3. Close the practice – sending 6000 patients to find new primary care providers in the local area.
4. Change to a business model that more appropriately values physician professionalism and preserves our ability to provide high-quality patient care.

At this time, we felt that choice (d) was the most prudent course of action for us and our patients.

We are aware that insurance premiums — as well as deductibles and copays — have increased exorbitantly over the past decade, but these increases are not being passed on to primary care physicians. Most payments from your insurance to us only cover the evaluation and decision making within an office visit. Traditionally, physician reimbursement was sufficient to cover many other professional tasks outside of your visit, such as preparing forms and letters, relaying test results, routine communication with other providers, and follow-up management of straight forward problems without requiring additional visits. Sadly, physician time and services have been so devalued by insurers that it is no longer economically feasible to provide all these benefits free of charge while still remaining in business.

The membership fee will allow us to continue providing these additional professional services that are simply part of good patient care, but are not part of the office visit that is paid for by insurance. Generally speaking the membership model will permit us to continue practicing medicine the way we think is best — with longer visits and multiple problems per visit, provider independence to refer you to the best specialists as we see fit, and increased availability of urgent appointments. It will also allow us to retain and build our excellent office staff, whom we feel are among the most capable in Kitsap County.

Before deciding that our membership fee is excessive or burdensome, we encourage you to consider the possible hidden costs of other practices: copays for multiple visits to address what we often take care of in a single visit; charges for phone calls or form completion; decreased provider availability leading to more Urgent Care or Emergency Room visits; referral patterns leading to higher specialist charges and copays; less experienced and expert care, possibly leading to increased costs later on.

Yes, if you want to remain a patient with the practice. Olympic Internal Medicine is a membership-based practice.

Patients can print out the membership agreement from our website: olympicinternalmed.com/membership, fill it out and mail it to our practice. Patients can also enroll via the patient portal or in person at their appointment.

The membership is an annual subscription. The term is January 1 - December 31.

Partial terms (new patients initial term) are prorated at $25 monthly, not to exceed $250 per year.

The annual membership fee is $250.00, due and payable before membership begins.

The first year is prorated based on the month you enroll. For example, if you join in September, you will owe $100 ($25/month for September, October, November, and December). The annual subscription will renew on January 1 every year.

No. Once you sign the membership agreement and pay the annual subscription, your membership begins. Patients are automatically re-enrolled until the practice receives cancellation in writing.

Members may cancel their Membership Plan effective as of the end of the current Membership Period by providing written notice to Olympic Internal Medicine by December 1 of the current Membership Period. The written notice may be provided via Olympic Internal Medicine’s Patient Portal, in person, or by mail.  Failure to provide written notice of cancellation by December 1 will result in automatic renewal for an additional Membership Period, and Member will owe the applicable Membership Fees for such additional Membership Period. 

No. The membership fee is non-refundable.

Yes. OIM will continue to bill your insurance company, but you are still responsible for the copays and deductibles. The Membership Model is separate from your current medical insurance; it is a yearly membership fee, which allows us to provide services to our patients beyond what medical insurance covers.

Yes. Olympic Internal Medicine does not offer health insurance. The membership does not replace your health insurance. The membership will allow us to provide services beyond what medical insurance covers.

• Cost effective prescription management;

• Assistance with prior authorizations for over-the-counter and elective medications to help reduce out-of-pocket expenses for Members;

• Messaging your provider through the Olympic Internal Medicine patient portal, including refill requests;

• Administrative form completion with no additional fees or a required office visit for routine forms (FMLA, disability and life insurance applications, disabled parking permits, work accommodation letters, etc.);

• Travel counseling (reviewing travel precautions and recommended vaccinations) and non-emergent medical advice when traveling outside the United States;

• 24/7 telephone access to our physicians for urgent medical advice; and

• Access to health education and medical blogs on our website and/or distributed by email.

No. We are unable to bill your health insurance for the membership cost.

Yes. Olympic Internal Medicine will continue to provide preventative services, including exams, labs, and other screenings to keep you healthy and focus on preventing health problems from occurring.