February 16th, 2010 by DrRich in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
1 Comment »
In his past few posts, DrRich has offered a substantive criticism of the new code of medical ethics which has now been formally adopted by over 120 physicians’ organizations across the globe. (See here, here and here.) Fundamentally, the New Ethics abrogates the physician’s classic obligation to always place the welfare of their individual patients first, by adding to it a new and competing ethical obligation (called Social Justice), which requires doctors to work toward “the fair distribution of healthcare resources.”
The New Ethics was explicitly born of the frustration felt by physicians as a result of the multitude of coercions the payers have thought up to force them to place the needs of the payers (the proxy for “society”), ahead of the needs of their patients. Thanks to the New Ethics, doctors can now bend to this coercion without violating their ethical standards. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
January 20th, 2010 by AlanDappenMD in Primary Care Wednesdays
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I bristle when my patient-driven, fee-for-service primary practice, DocTalker Family Medicine, gets lumped into the “concierge” movement, as it frequently does. First, veterinarians, accountants, mechanics lawyers and all other service providers in everyday life who work directly for their clients and not as “preferred providers” for the insurance companies are not labeled “concierge.” Secondly, the label “concierge” implies exclusivity, membership, high yearly retainers, and capped patient enrollment. Each of these labels we too reject.
A practice like ours out-competes the traditional model and the “concierge idea” in almost every measurable way: access, convenience, patient control, speed to treatment, quality and finally and maybe most importantly for the sake of the health care debate, price. Our boss is each patient one at a time, and our goal is to provide the most cost effective delivery model achievable. We strive for nothing less than making primary care immediate, high quality, patient controlled and affordable to every American. We deliver a concierge-level service at a price that is much less than even the price-fixing controlled by the insurance-driven model to date. Read more »
December 12th, 2009 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy, Opinion
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My Practice Partners On A House Call
My friend and Better Health contributor, Toni Brayer, recently polled her blog audience about their opinion of concierge medicine. She describes concierge medicine this way:
Also known as “retainer” practice, concierge is a growing type of medical practice where the patient pays the physician an up front fee (retainer) for services. The fee can range from $100/month to $20,000/year, depending upon the practice and the services offered. The fee usually covers all visits to the doctor, phone calls, more prompt service and email access. Labs, tests, Xrays, referrals to specialists, and hospitalization are not included.
Her readers responded: Read more »
