High-net-worth families aren't immune to health care concerns. Even if money is no object to some people, health-related issues for individuals and their family members can be stressful and time consuming, and some families have adopted management resources to coordinate prevention programs, reduce the burden of chronic illnesses and react to acute health events.
Yet most families essentially have the same professional resources at their disposal they had 20 years ago-namely, networks of physicians and non-physician providers tasked with providing direct health care and health management and consulting services.
While "best-in-class" health care providers are essential for quality health care, they have significant limitations. The demands of direct patient care means health care providers don't have the time, financial incentives or resources to assume the role of family health manager. This puts a whole array of complex management responsibilities in the hands of the family's ad hoc health manager, leaving even the most affluent families with pressing demands for new resources to meet their health management needs.
One resource advisors should consider is an advisory-based personal health "portfolio" akin to the portfolio investment system used by financial advisors. Personal health portfolios provide affluent families with a health management platform to help organize health assets, reduce the health management burden and lessen unreasonable management expectations put on the health-care provider-patient relationship.
Like financial portfolios, personal health portfolios are composed of sectors that represent broad categories of health assets common to all families. A typical portfolio will include such sectors as prevention, disease management, crisis management and health care resources.
However, a personal health portfolio alone is not enough. As with financial portfolios, expert advisory support is essential-in this case, a family health advisor.
Health Advisor
A family health advisor is a health-care provider who has transitioned from clinician to family health manager. They are often doctors, but can also include professionals such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Their education and experience in clinical care provide the essential background for the family health advisor's new role as planner, communicator, facilitator and health manager. Like their counterparts in the financial services industry, family health advisors identify, organize and manage their clients' health assets.
Family health advisors work with family members to set up their personal health portfolio. This involves getting a person's health history by interviewing them and reviewing their medical records, as well as discussing health goals. The process allows the family health advisor to prioritize a person's health goals and identify, screen and implement essential health resources.
These advisors typically have two sets of fees. Setting up a health management program usually involves a flat fee that can range between $10,000 and $25,000. Retaining the advisor to manage the program on an ongoing basis may involve a monthly retainer that can range between $5,000 and $10,000, or an hourly rate of $300 to $400.