Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Medical Home?
Premium Medical Home is a new name for the way excellent internists have practiced medicine for decades.  It describes the experience we think every patient should have: a premium relationship and communication with your personal physician, expert medical care, and an office environment where you feel at home.  Together, these characteristics describe your Premium Medical Home.  A ‘medical home’ is not a building, an office, or a care center; instead, it describes the feeling of comfort that we want our patients to have when they walk through our door.

Who is Premium Medical Home?
Currently, Premium Medical Home is comprised of the individual internal medicine practices of Allan R. Kelly, MD FACP and Robert H. Kelly, MD, FACP and their staffs, and you, our patients.

How does the change affect my status as a current patient?
The new name Premium Medical Home does not describe a change in how our physicians will treat the medical needs of patients.  It does describe the enhanced access to communication services now available to subscribers. 
Our practices focus more and more on the Premium Medical Home model for the benefit of subscribers.

What is a PMH Subscription?
As a PMH Subscriber, you will receive unlimited use of these services:

• PMH Personal Health Hotline connecting you and your PMH physician, 24/7/365, through e-mail interaction, text message communication, and cell phone access 
• Prescription refills at your convenience, wherever you are – at home or on the road
• Private quarterly medical news written by PMH physicians for PMH subscribers only
• Extension of the same convenient subscription services to your out-of-town guests, without additional charge

I want to subscribe! What do I do now?
If you are a current patient, please refer to our information packet mailed to your home, fill out your PMH Subscription form and mail it in with your payment as soon as possible. You may also pay for your subscription online, if you wish, but we need your subscription form returned to us by mail or by fax.

If you are not yet a patient of Dr. Kelly’s practice, please call us to discuss.
Dr. Allan Kelly’s Office: 817-334-0003
Dr. Robert Kelly’s Office: 817-336-3431

What do I do with the subscription response form?
You can use the subscription response form to become a PMH Subscriber.

• Please check the box next to your current doctor’s name in the top right-hand corner of the form.  You are not being asked to choose a new doctor. 
• Select your subscription package (either the General PMH Subscription Package or the reduced-rate Adjusted PMH Subscription packages for younger patients and couples).
• Provide your name, contact information, and payment details.  You may include your credit card details on the form, or you may enclose a check.  (You may also pay online, but the form must be submitted by mail or faxed with your name, contact details, and Subscription Package selection.)

If you have any questions, please call your doctor’s office.
Please mail or fax your subscription form: 

Can I change to another Premium Medical Home doctor?
No.  Premium Medical Home refers to a way of practicing medicine embraced by both Dr. Allan Kelly and Dr. Robert Kelly, but it applies to each doctor’s practice and patients individually and independently.  You become a PMH Subscriber in your current physician’s practice. 

Are PMH physicians still seeing patients who are not PMH Subscribers?
Our physicians give preference to PMH Subscribers to be members in their practices.  One aspect of the Premium Medical Home experience is a reduced practice size, which optimizes the convenience and comfort of appointments for Subscribers.  We may continue to see some non-subscribing patients as time and space permit.

What happens if I choose to discontinue my PMH Subscription?
If you choose to discontinue your subscription within 30 days of subscribing, your payment will be refunded less an administrative cancellation fee of $50.

If I choose to go to a different doctor and not be a patient any longer, what is my next step?
Let us know the new doctor’s name and we will transfer your records.

How can I pay my PMH Subscription fee?
You may call or visit our offices, or mail in your payment along with your subscription form (please request one from the office). Your enhanced communication with your PMH physician begins the moment you subscribe.

Does my PMH Subscription cover medical or health care costs?
No.  The Premium Medical Home subscription is not a substitute for insurance or Medicare, nor do PMH services include the diagnosis or treatment of disease.  Your Premium Medical Home subscription is directed towards increasing your comfort and convenience as a patient and enhancing communication with your PMH physician.

What is the best way to get a prescription refill, and is there a charge?
Ideally, any prescription refill needs should be addressed during your office appointments. 
As a PMH Subscriber, you may call your physician for same day prescription refill needs, and he will call or fax the appropriate prescription to the pharmacy of your choice.

Can I call about another member of my family who is visiting me?
Premium Medical Home recognizes the importance of your family to you, and we think that individuals can benefit when other members of their family see the same physician; that’s why we encourage couples and family members to join PMH by offering discounted subscription rates. 
In some cases, your PMH physician will see other members of your family who are not PMH subscribers, including any family visiting from out of town.  In general, though, we ask that all of our regular patients subscribe to PMH.

A guest visiting me from out of town is ill.  Can I bring my guest to see my doctor?
As a PMH subscriber, you may schedule an appointment for an out-of-town guest facing a medical question or problem.

Is email communication with PMH Subscribers kept private and confidential?
Emails are inherently less private than direct, phone, or written communication. Your emails are read personally by your doctor.  If you have any questions about email confidentiality, consult with your PMH physician.

Why is the PMH Subscription based on a subscription model?
Premium Medical Home offers something different: a new level of service and patient-centered care. The subscription means that you can have the confidence and freedom to call your doctor directly, knowing the convenience costs have already been paid by your subscription. It is not covered by insurance, but it is valuable.

Do PMH Subscription programs exist elsewhere?
Premium Medical Home represents an independent effort to improve internal medical practice for our patients.  The subscription allows our practices to continue in a way that honors the tradition of internal medicine and the experience of care it provides to patients and that welcomes the innovative and enhanced communications that are part of the 21st century.

What was the reason for creating the Premium Medical Home Subscription?
To improve internal medicine practice for the benefit of our patients and to promote innovation in primary care.

I’ve heard the term ‘medical home’ before.  What exactly does this term mean?
The ‘medical home’ is gaining importance.  The American Academy of Family Physicians defines the ‘patient-centered medical home’ as one that integrates patients as active participants in their own health and well-being.  Patients are cared for by a physician who…coordinates all aspects of preventive, acute and chronic needs of patients using the best available evidence and technology.  These relationships offer patients comfort, convenience, and optimal health throughout their lifetimes.   (http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/p/patientcenteredmedhome.html). 
The American Academy of Pediatrics states:
A medical home is not a building, house, or hospital, but rather an approach to providing comprehensive primary care. A medical home is defined as primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. (http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/medicalhome.cfm)
At Premium Medical Home, “medical home” refers to primary care that is expert, experienced, and integrated into the medical community. In addition, PMH puts a primary emphasis on your experience, comfort and convenience.

Why do some people say there is a crisis in primary care?
Because innovation has not been encouraged. Because fewer and fewer doctors choose primary care: compared to other specialties, the pay is low, the hours are longer, and the responsibility is continuous.  This combination makes it hard to recruit young doctors.  The shortage in primary care leads to long waiting times, closed practices, or reliance on physician extenders.  We believe these developments worsen many people’s experience of medical care.  We can do better. Innovation is needed and can overcome the crisis in primary care.

How are PMH Subscription services different from a VIP or concierge practice?
Doctors around the country have developed some qualitative improvements through what are called concierge practices or executive physical programs. But frequently such programs seem overpriced and even unavailable to many people.  At the heart of concierge medicine is convenience and enhanced, immediate, direct communication.  Premium Medical Home offers what a concierge or VIP service offers: a smaller medical practice with more time for each patient.  But PMH goes further – we offer primary care across the broad experience of the patient, from the office to the emergency room, the hospital, rehabilitation facilities and back to the office.  We are here not only for the annual check up or executive physical, but also for ER visits, for infirmity or illness that may occur, or to coordinate care for different consultations.  With the PMH Subscription, we offer enhanced communication and convenience that will improve your and your family’s experience, without the high cost and unneeded services of the usual concierge model.  You don’t need to be wealthy to be a VIP.  This is a premium worth paying for.

How is PMH different from an executive physical?
Your Premium Medical Home provides preventive care and physical examination, often covered by insurance.  But unlike the ‘executive physical’, our examinations are based on avoiding both under-treatment and over-treatment.  We base our annual checkup on decades of experience and careful study of generally accepted guidelines for preventive care, such as those of the American Cancer Society or the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
And we offer more.  After an ‘executive physical’, you walk away with a report, but who will be your doctor if you need follow-up care or if you get sick?  PMH provides you care all year, not just for the day or two you might spend at an executive physical.  It is the opinion of many that the ‘executive physical’ by itself does not improve the overall quality of medical care, but all agree that good primary care serves the patient’s best interests.