Freehold Doctor Makes Prevention a Priority

Dr. Kenneth Faistl is a physician in Freehold offering a unique approach to healthcare. His focus goes beyond sick care to include well care. A recent personal experience has exemplified the importance of this type of medicine.

 A person very close to me has leukemia. After ten long months of living in hospital rooms, and a failed bone marrow transplant, he has returned home to Florida. There he and his wife  are trying to sustain his life through blood and platelet transfusions, as well as the continuation of chemotherapy to slow down the attack of the cancer cells. To make matters worse, due a strong medication, hemorrhaging  in his eyes caused him to lose his vision, and he can't walk due to an infection in his leg  as his immune system has completely deteriorated as a result of the transplant he received. He and his wife run from doctor to doctor looking for someone to give them hope. A call today told me the doctor who seemed to know what he was doing doesn’t take their health plan. I heard his voice crack.

When I visit, I see all the frustration they are experiencing. Sometimes tears well up in my eyes for their plight, and other times I become afraid for my own future. The frustrating fact is, when you are sick in a world run by health insurance companies, doctors who need to overbook and rush patients to meet the high costs involved in running a practice, no doctor has time to make prevention their primary goal. If they did, it is possible that my friend would be able to see and walk today.

 As fate would have it, I was talking to my daughter-in-law this week, which is when I learned about Dr. Kenneth Faistl a local physician with an option for health care that many people feel is a worthy alternative. After speaking with him, I thought it important to share what I learned. Dr. Faistl works as an MDVIP-affiliated physician certified in Family Medicine, Geriatrics and Addiction. This award-winning doctor has reduced the size of his practice from the traditional high volume to one with a maximum of 600 patients, where he knows each of them by name.   Every patient can reach him by phone or email 24/7. He is on his secure website daily to answer any questions that are posted.

Dr. Faistl creates a personal wellness program with on-going coaching for each patient integrating prevention strategies with the management of existing conditions. The expansive services he provides includes enhanced coordination of specialty care and the provision of a personal health record created for each patient to carry with them. This is something that may be helpful when seeing specialists or of the utmost importance in the event of an emergency. His care provides guidance and direction concerning heart health, diabetes health (or the potential of), bone health, emotional well-being and more. He told me that MDVIP has a referral program with many of the largest academic medical institutions in the country to foster the best care for people with imperiling diseases such cancer. I was so impressed with the breadth of services I would need a second article to do his practice justice. 

Dr. Faistl’s patients are considered members of his practice with an annual membership fee that comes to $4 a day or $125 per month. For someone who wants to invest in their health that rate seems to be a bargain and an affordable choice.  The annual fee covers the cost of the comprehensive wellness program along with on-going coaching to prevent and manage health issues we are all bound to encounter. His members range in age from 36 to 95, from all income levels, showing his practice is for anyone and everyone whose healthcare is a priority. Additionally, MDVIP is a national company with an affiliated network of physicians across the country so if one of his patients is traveling and gets sick they can contact him to coordinate care with one of the other doctors in the network.

Dr. Faistl holds regular events and educational programs to offer care beyond his office. One event he sponsored was an immunization breakfast for his patients. He made sure that patient vaccinations were up to date and provided them with their annual flu vaccines--all over croissants, coffee and a sundry of other breakfast treats.

On Tuesday, June 28 at 6 p.m., he is holding a lecture and session information session in Salon C of the Radisson Hotel titled “Preventing Heart Disease and Stroke.” Many of his patients will be attending and it is open for community members to participate as well. You can RSVP for the event by calling Dr. Faistl's office at 732-462-2372

Dr. Faistl has made true health care his priority.