May 17, 2017

Meet Nelson Simmonss of Personal MD in McKinney

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nelson Simmonss.

Nelson, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2003, I decided to leave my large traditional medical practice to become part of a small movement of doctors that were committing to move away from accepting health insurance to place the focus back on the patient. This model is often referred to as direct primary care, subscription-based healthcare, and concierge care to name a few. There were several variations of how this movement was evolving but I felt trying to focus on the self-employed, small companies, and uninsured was an untapped market. The basic concept was that by contracting directly with my clients (patients or companies) I could focus my care completely on the patient instead of having to be a limited by an insurance company. I was making decisions with my clients instead of for my clients. I was able to take more time to talk to my patient about their options, review the pros and cons, and pick the options that was best for him/her.

Back when I started, I noticed a trend of successful people that did not have traditional health insurance; for example, real estate agents, contractors, consultants, lawyers, and people who worked for small companies. In 2003, terms like Health Saving Accounts (HSA) and high deductible health plans were not well known the general public. Today, it seems like if you are not on one of these plans, your company offers one.

My practice slowly grew the first few years until late 2006 when the Dallas Morning News did a story on my office. Shortly after, Fox 4 News, Dallas Business Journal, as well as other local papers published papers about my office. Fast forward to 2017 and Personal MD is a thriving direct primary care practice that works with over 2000 patients providing primary healthcare services.

Has it been a smooth road?
In 2003, the biggest issue I had was educating the public about what I was trying to do. Most people had not heard about an office like mine and didn’t understand how I could offer primary healthcare services for a flat fee. I had to go to many local businesses, networking groups, and small business meetings to get the word out. The Dallas Morning News truly helped put me on the map by giving me credibility and spreading the word about subscription-healthcare.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Personal MD – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Personal MD offers traditional family practice services to a variety of patients. Our model charges clients $80/month/person and in return the client can be seen as many times as needed without a co-pay, deductible, or co-insurance. We offer acute care, preventive care, and disease management to children, women, and men.

I am known for being a good listener, problem solver, and keeping cost in mind when making medical decisions with my clients. I am very accessible to my clients allowing them to communicate with me in person, by email, phone visits, and by text.

I am very proud of being a pioneer in subscription-healthcare and brining the model to Collin County. Today there are several different companies offering a similar model but I am the only one that can say I was first to market. However, I am most proud of helping a group of patients that didn’t have easy access to a doctor simply because he/she did not have traditional healthcare.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I have lived in McKinney since 2000 and I continue to love the family feel of our community. Despite the exponential growth we have seen since moving here, McKinney is still a very family oriented community.

With growth comes construction and that is absolutely the worse thing about living here during this growth phase of our city. Since we have moved here, there is always construction somewhere. Whether it is an expansion of roads, building of houses, or construction of new companies, you can count on seeing construction signs during your commute in McKinney.

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