Concierge Medicine in New York
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Chelsea PerryDecember 15th, 2009 |
Why are patients in New York choosing to switch to concierge medicine? Concierge doctors charge an annual fee or retainer for their services. For the small fee of around $1000 to $2500 you and your family can obtain concierge like care from your primary physician. The practice of this boutique medicine business model was started in the 90’s but has since risen dramatically in popularity. Why are more patients growing increasingly unhappy with their primary care physicians and making the switch to concierge doctors?
Patients who have made the switch to concierge medicine often express dissatisfaction with their primary care physicians. This dissatisfaction more often than not is the result of impersonalized care including long waits for appointments, shorter doctor visits and shuffling of midlevel caregivers like nurses and physical assistants.
Some patients require a slightly different and sometimes higher demand from their doctors. Many primary care physicians are unable to handle the amount of patients they have. Concierge doctors limit the amount of patients they take so they can spend more time caring for each patient individually.
Common and basic preventative services in traditional primary care are often missed or delayed because of time constraints that limit compliance with currently acknowledged clinical guidelines. Concierge medicine would result in comprehensive outpatient visits and enhanced physician compliance with these suggested guidelines.
There haven’t yet been any evidence-based studies done yet that would determine the effectiveness of concierge medicine over more traditional managed health care. However, one could assume that with proper preventive care, that concierge medicine is supposed to provide, the average patient would generally be healthier.
The overall response to concierge medicine has been varied. Some healthcare providers, medical centers and economists would say that concierge medicine is creating a two-tier health system that further separates the rich and the poor. The practice of concierge medicine has been described as both an effort by physicians to sustain a high-income ratio and an effort to offer patient higher quality healthcare services.
Concierge medicine is expected to grow over the coming years with the development of the healthcare reform bill.
