As deductibles and copays rise, Americans who rely on insurance are finding they can’t really rely on insurance. Membership in The Sheldon Sowell Center for Health is a way of buying what insurance was supposed to provide: confidence that your medical needs will be addressed.

Your membership includes all visits, the annual Comprehensive Health Assessment (likely the most thorough and thoughtful checkup you’ve ever experienced), associated labs*, a written report, and the substantial benefits of having a personal physician. Learn about those benefits here.

We know that time is your most important asset, and we won’t waste it. If we can manage your care by phone or email, we will. 

Young peoples’ memberships do not include the Comprehensive Health Assessment or labs because most don’t need extensive chronic disease management. It does include the same access and single-minded attention to detail that all our patients receive. Your young adult will get empathic care that emphasizes privacy and clarity to help him or her make intelligent health choices.

*Labs and studies will vary by age and gender but a typical panel includes:

Blood work:

• Full chemistry panel
• Complete blood count
• TSH (thyroid function)
• Hemoglobin A1c (glucose metabolism)
• LipoProfile (sophisticated cholesterol analysis)
• Vitamin D level

Other studies:

• EKG
• Audiometry (hearing)
• Vision
• Spirometry (lung function)
• Urinalysis
• Stool test for blood

Depending on age and gender:

• PSA (prostate)
• ThinPrep Pap smear
• Screening for hepatitis C
• Screening for HIV

The reason is that POP would cause healthier patients to subsidize sicker ones in a way that, we believe, would be unfair. The way we operate now, the annual membership that all patients contribute allows us to maintain their health by hiring highly educated staff, keeping our technology up to date, and allotting virtually unlimited time for annual health assessments.

When unique situations arise, a reasonable hourly fee kicks in. Our patients, many of whom are in business, understand what it means to seek excellence and pay their own way for services they use and value.

POP is uncomfortably close to the HMO model of insurance, a seemingly good idea that foundered because of the bureaucracy and poor care it spawned. We fired the insurance companies from our practice back in 1998 when we insisted on being doctors who worked directly for our patients and called ourselves an HMNo®, and we’re not going back. Working directly for patients is our story and we’re sticking to it.