Family Practice of Suntree and Viera focuses on providing local residents with concierge medical care across numerous areas of practice.
Frank Ditz, M.D., started Family Practice of Suntree and Viera when he left the U.S. Air Force in 2001. Although he loved serving his country, he wanted to create an idealistic medical practice to best serve his patients. Attempting to break away from the increasingly institutional and insurance company-driven practice of medicine, Ditz focuses on the doctor-patient relationship and treating patients as a whole rather than just the sum of their parts.
“Nature, God and evolution have made the human body pretty resilient, and listening to patients’ histories as they transition from health to disease or the mechanism of trauma may reveal the key to solving multiple related conditions all with a common cause,” he explained.
Too often, Ditz experienced, doctors find a symptom to treat and do not spend the time and effort to go deeper to reveal the common cause of many of a patient’s ailments and treat that issue, allowing the others to improve accordingly.
Ditz wants to change this dynamic, which is why Family Practice of Suntree and Viera is not a corporate medical resource. Diagnostic and treatment decisions are made between patient and practitioner, not in a boardroom. This focus on personalized care is part of why Ditz chose to offer concierge medicine through a partnership with SignatureMD. Concierge medicine is a relationship between a patient and a primary care physician in which the patient pays an annual fee or retainer. In exchange for the retainer, doctors agree to provide enhanced care, including principally a commitment to limit patient loads to ensure adequate time and availability for each patient.
“Doctors and providers need ample time to see patients in order to speak with and examine them and get a clear picture of their overall health,” he asserted. “I care for fewer patients, which allows me to spend quality time with each of them. In the end, the goal is always on finding ways to help patients live longer and achieve the best possible quality of life, and I can better achieve this by spending more time with each patient.”
Besides providing SignatureMD concierge medicine, the practice also offers a variety of aesthetic services such as body sculpting, laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation, injectables, PRP injections and BioTE Hormone therapy. Family Practice of Suntree and Viera has become a center of excellence and training center for both functional and aesthetic medicine, utilizing a family of Cutera medical devices that address a wide range of face and body medical aesthetic applications.
Examples include the Trusculpt ID, which helps patients reshape their bodies by almost painlessly melting body fat in a single non-invasive 15-minute treatment; and the Secret RF, which refines, brightens and rejuvenates the skin in almost any area of the body. The Cutera Xeo and Cutera HR retexture, rejuvenate, return collagen, improve color and appearance of skin, and remove unwanted hair. Ditz also provides the traditional fillers and neurotoxins for the quick treatments many people desire.
“We believe in prolonging life traditionally but also increasing the longevity of a full-functioning quality of life for all our patients,” asserted Ditz. “There’s a significant difference between survival and truly living.”
Ditz believes concierge healthcare and treating the whole person is the future of medicine. He also believes there is nothing more important to an individual than his or her health.
“Patients are people, not objects,” he said. “They want to be able to call for help when needed. They want to feel comfortable coming in and getting preventive medical care easily and inexpensively. They want to have their issues truly listened to and fully addressed. They want to look in the mirror and look good to themselves and others. They want to feel good in their own skin. They want to call their doctor and his staff their friends. We try to provide an environment where patients feel comfortable calling it their medical home.”
For more information or to book an appointment, call Family Practice of Suntree and Viera at 321-522-4720.