Printer-friendly format

Physician/Owner, Private Health MD, Winter Park

WINTER PARK - After almost 20 years as a successful internal medicine physician, Ivan Castro’s dismay was palpable.

“I and a lot of other doctors had discovered that trying to work with insurance companies that tell you what to do, and being told what your time is worth, and that every year your time is worth less and less … it creates a lot of unhappiness,” Castro said. “The doctor is unhappy and the patients are unhappy. I decided I either had to go into another profession and quit medicine altogether, or I needed to find a better way” to ease this frustration, he said.

Then he read the book Concierge Medicine: A New System to Get the Best Healthcare by Steven D. Knope, MD. “I could have written that book,” Castro said, comparing it to his evolving views of healthcare delivery.

Later that year, Castro opened his own concierge practice, Private Health MD in Winter Park, and he’s never felt better about being a physician.

“I see fewer patients and spend a lot more time with each one – a LOT more time,” he said. “There’s a real sense of fulfillment that I get to see the results of my work because they come back to me,” Castro explained.

A concierge model is working for Castro and others who have chosen a direct-care approach to caring for their patients and their practices. Dissatisfaction with the traditional reimbursement system of healthcare services, uncertainty about the future of healthcare policy and the rising cost of insurance premiums for both patients and physicians have prompted a growing number of doctors to explore ways to be more efficient and responsive to patients’ needs.

True to its name, Castro’s concierge practice is all about being available and accommodating. “I’m on seven days a week,” he said. He has patients with chest pains call on him before they call their cardiologist. He has women calling him about vaginal bleeding before they alert their gynecologist. “They interact with me very frequently, so a big bond of trust builds,” he said.

And, while some direct-care doctors opt not to do house calls or hospitalize their patients, Castro does it all. “I see patients in hospitals, nursing homes, their homes and even my home,” he said.

Still, Castro finds time to do much more. He recently ended his second stint as chief of staff at Winter Park Hospital, a facility he first saw when visiting family here. Castro was living in Santa, Clara. Calif., where he had been an intern and resident at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. On trips to Florida, “I used to drive by Winter Park Hospital and I would think ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I worked there someday?’” he said. California was “so expensive” that he made the move to central Florida in 1992 “and I never looked back.”

Since then, he has raised three daughters, ages 15, 14, and 6, and although he is no longer married, he spends lots of time with them, being “Mr. Mom, Mr. Chef and Mr. Trainer” when they are with him. It works well because “I am dedicated to my daughters when they are with me, and dedicated to myself when they are not with me,” he said.

Castro has taken his daughters on rounds and house calls. “They show an interest … They’ve helped me clean lacerations and bandage people,” he said. But he is not encouraging them to become physicians. “The practice of medicine in any specialty is difficult, and the future of medicine is uncertain. … If they choose to go that way, I will support them, but I wouldn’t advise them to do that,” he said.

Castro confessed that he is trying to persuade his oldest daughter to attend his alma mater, Dartmouth University, where he “first realized my dream of becoming a physician was within reach.”

Castro moved with his mother from his native Caracas, Venezuela to Mt. Vernon, Conn., when he was 9 years old. “It was a small town, similar to Mayberry RFD. I was a novelty and they teased me in a loving way. I learned to speak English in 3 months,” he recalled. He spent summers in Venezuela with his father, a professor of literature.

But by the time he was enrolled in an advanced biology class in the 9th grade, Castro knew he wanted to be a physician. By age 16, he was working as an admissions clerk on the third shift of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua, N.H. “Basically, I was triaging patients who walked in through the door, taking their histories, making records, and so on,” he said. “It was a lot of responsibility … and I got to visit every single department at the hospital and talk to a lot of doctors.”

Castro majored in Spanish literature while at Dartmouth, but upon graduation was accepted at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign.

These days, even though his medical practice and his family keep him busy, Castro finds time for other pursuits that would be exhausting for most.

“I’m a triathlete. I’ve been doing it 11 years,” Castro said. “I try to do between four and six events a year, and throw in a couple of half-marathons. Eventually I will do a full ironman challenge,” he said. “Now that I’m almost 50, I need to ratchet it up a little.”

His baseline training consists of running 4 miles three times a week, training on a stationary bike twice a week, and bicycling frequently with a group that pumps out 40 miles a day. In addition, he swims twice a week when training for an upcoming half-ironman or sprint event.

And if he’s not sweating to stay fit, you might find Castro sweating under the hood of one of the three classic cars he has restored: A 1982 DeLorean, a 1969 Ford Mustang convertible, and a 1965 Mustang Fastback. “I’ve put a lot of work into them. It’s very relaxing and there’s a huge payoff as far as the fun factor,” he said.

Castro admits he can’t sit still for long. “Once I accomplish one thing, I have to move on to the next,” he said, a trait that may provide insight into his conversion to concierge medicine.

“I’ve rededicated my life to what I set out to do originally,” he said. “I’m reinvigorated and I have a greater capacity to learn about and stay abreast of new issues because I’m responsible for so much more of my patients’ care.”

Tags:

, concierge medicine, Dartmouth University, Dr. Ivan Castro, MD, Private Health MD, Steven D. Knope, triathlete, Winter Park Hospital

Login and voice your opinion!