- Opening Remarks
- Why Dr. Marty Makary
- Lunch Meeting with Dr. Marty Makary
- Dinner with VIP Sponsors
- Dr. Marty Makary’s Presentation
- Building a Network
Opening Remarks
Our physician and founder of Direct Med Clinic, Dr. Roger Moczygemba, opened the San Antonio chapter of the Free Market Medical Association with keynote speaker Dr. Marty Makary on March 4, 2020. The first quarterly meeting of 2020 was held at the Omni Hotel and Resorts Colonnade San Antonio.
Dr. Marty Makary, respected surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital and professor of Health Policy Management, and Dr. Roger Mocyzgemba, a navy veteran and family medicine practitioner came together to launch the first quarterly meeting of 2020.
This pairing of healthcare doctors who care for vulnerable populations, (one through primary care and another through devout advocacy), is part of the catalyst that propels the free market medicine movement forward. The San Antonio Free Market Medical Association upholds the pillar that “any willing cash buyer should be offered the same price regardless of any factor.”
Why Dr. Marty Makary?
Dr. Marty Makary acknowledges that the United States has a broken healthcare system. Chief of Islet Transplantation Surgery and surgical oncologist for Johns Hopkins, he developed a surgical checklist for the World Health Organization. This surgical checklist, which includes a way to monitor hospital infection rates, also tracks procedure costs and surgical outcomes. Makary is in alignment with one of the pillars of the FMMA, that “PRICE is NOT a product. CARE is the product.” He is also a Health Policy Advisor.
Dr. Makary sympathizes with the most vulnerable patients who are especially subject to overcharges, price gouging and surprise bills. Concerned about patients receiving appropriate care for an affordable price, he has traveled the country, often with his research team, in efforts to stop hospitals from suing patients and to keep them from getting their wages garnished over unpaid bills. He documents his experience and findings in his best-selling book, “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Healthcare–and How to Fix It.”
One of the main questions that Dr. Makary wanted to answer was, “How can we stop the healthcare cost crisis from destroying the country?”
The San Antonio Free Market Medical Association invited this thought leader and knowledgeable health expert to help bring an honest conversation into an exclusive table talk at the first quarterly meeting.
Lunch Meeting with Dr. Marty Makary
Prior to the special event, Dr. Marty Makary and Chapter Leader / CEO of Shankx Web Development Shankar Poncelet discussed the direction of the night’s meeting with Dr. Moczygemba over lunch. Dr. Moczygemba expressed his desire to promote honest and transparent conversation, namely among brokers and employers, regarding Third-Party Administrators and Pharmacy Benefit Management, even if it led to an emotive conversation.
Dinner with VIP Sponsors
Dr. Moczygemba was one of the few VIPs invited to have an exclusive dinner before the main meeting where healthcare advocate Dr. Marty Makary sat with Gold Sponsors River City OMS, IB-TX, Direct Med Clinic, Shankx Web Development, and Cox Manufacturing to chat more about ways that the gap can be bridged.
The questions asked at the table led to a dynamic discussion about patient interest and doctor’s care, given that some third-party administrators do know how to create a health insurance plan with Direct Primary Care at its core. Although Direct Primary Care is not synonymous with free market medicine, they do complement one another well. Direct Primary Care focuses on giving autonomy back to the consumer, the patient, and the doctor, without the hassle of middlemen who directly profit from upcharges that are passed down to the consumer.
Questions were posed during dinner that made everyone understand how integration and connection between parties that have otherwise acted as a separate unit would most benefit the public by considering what the best solutions are for every key stakeholder in the room, and most importantly, the patient.
Dr. Roger Moczygemba strongly believes that restoring medicine means bridging the gap between the patient and the doctor as closely as possible, working with third parties who only have the best interest of the patient at heart.
MyMD Connect, D.O.A. Pest Control, Dr. Kristin S. Held, Atlas Medical Holdings, Right At Home and Altique also contributed to the conversation.
Sponsors had the opportunity to speak and ask questions about insurance, Third-Party Administrators (TPA’s), Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM’s) and transparency.
“How do you show documentation of what’s happening with your plan?” “How as an association, do you serve the health of your population, when it’s small groups we’re advocating for?” Then, there was more discussion on bundled pricing, health insurance design, Obamacare, and community pricing.
“CEOs need to get involved with decisions,” Dr. Makary said. By the end of dinner, it became abundantly clear that although employers do need honest brokers, they need to be more involved with Human Resource decision-making.
Dr. Marty Makary’s Presentation
We are happy that Dr. Makary sees the value in Dr. Roger Moczygemba’s vision for Direct Med Clinic to make healthcare direct, accessible, transparent and affordable at his clinic. Since Direct Med Clinic accepts cash payers and self-funded employers, members and self-paying patients do not have to worry about co-pays, deductibles or non-covered service charges. Dr. Moczygemba is also a pioneer in the telemedicine app industry, which he introduced into Direct Med Clinic’s model, understanding that telehealth is important in keeping doctors accessible to patients.
The Direct Primary Care model also fits in line with the last pillar of the FMMA, since our membership model of a monthly price helps members to be able to control price, and not have to worry about surprise bills or relying on the selling of access to pricing for Direct Med Clinic, since “access to pricing is anti-free market.”
“Everyday Americans are asking for honest prices, and we need to respond,” Dr. Makary said after describing the hidden forms that federal spending goes into healthcare.
Building a Network
Dr. Makary helped to give a framework for discussion about how to truly fix the wrecked healthcare system. People from the meeting were eager to learn how to spend our dollars in a wiser manner, and people were eager to talk about it.
Dr. Makary gave a call to reestablish medication to its original form, and also how to offer services through straightforwardness in a direct, accessible, transparent and affordable manner, just as Direct Med Clinic is doing, for all of San Antonio.
As we look forward to driving down the cost of healthcare, we hope everyone will see the value that can be created through a membership model and a free market as an inaccessible healthcare system will become only a thing of the past for San Antonio.
The next meeting for the San Antonio Free Market Medical Association is scheduled for June 3, 2020.
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