Posted on 04/16/2013 3:15:05 PM PDT by rstrahan
Got a survey on behalf of my physician. Now, I've been a patient for over 25 years. But from the sound of the questioning, he is considering closing his primary care operation and going to a concierge, cash-only physician operation ("Royal Pains" style, if you're familiar with the tv show). So, if he does, he'll have the cream of the local populace, and us who rely on private insurance and Medicare will be looking for another doctor.
Just another thank-you to Obama-care.
I saw an area TV news report just a few weeks ago about several doctors who have opened a similar kind of clinic in Oklahoma City. They seem to be very successful and are planning on expanding into other locations.
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As others have posted, look for the FED/States to find a way to regulate those.
I would think over time competition will lower the costs, plus having to choose from several tiers of service depending on the kind of care you want.
“When their care requires more than he can provide, he’ll hook them up with specialist. He knows he gets a million a year to run his office - no paperwork - and patients get what they need.”
And who pays for the specialist? That can get expensive fast.
Before I joined MDVIP I made my doctor sign an oath that he would never treat poor people, that he would never let anyone park next to me, that his office staff would never make direct eye contact, that he would always exit the examining room backward in my presence, and that his nurse would act out my wildest fantasies. (Sure hope that insect Slyballious never finds out).
I have this service. Worth every penny.
Get low cost catastrophic insurance.
"The only thing I'm actually sorta good at is referrals. You know that thing where doctors send patients to other doctors. Well, I'm the king of referrals. What I do is I call the, uh, the sick person into my office, and I stare for a long time really seriously at this blank sheet of paper. Then I say, "Hmmm. I'd like you to see someone. He's a specialist in this area." (laughs) There are specialists who have their whole career based on my referrals. I am the cornerstone of a medical empire."
Does he keep medical records to himself?
Good for everything except surgery. Then you want "maitre d'" service. I mean, really, who wants a table next to the kitchen?
Life imitates art...
I have been seeing something like this coming for a long time as well
I have also wondered if the solution to high healthcare cost is not giving everybody insurance but giving nobody insurance.
Suppose the US did something like this:
Some real tort reform to eliminate frivolous malpractice lawsuits.
Provided scholarships to medical students (Instead of student loans) so that anyone who scored high enough on the MSAT could go to medical school
In return for this Doctors be required to lower their fee
Eliminate Insurance so that doctors set their fees based upon what people could pay not what the insurance could pay. Right now the insurance payments skew the cost system. - But and this is a big but - They must offer free consultations on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesday of every month and any referral given on those Tuesdays are taken by the specialist at no charge.
This would give those who need care but cannot pay about 2 1/2 days a month for doctor visits. It would also allow cheapskates who have money to go stand in line if they wished.
Lastly and this is also a big issue:
Allow some medical procedures like basic physicals, children’s vaccinations, and consultations for continuing medications for conditions like hypertension or the ubiquitous prostate issues men have to be done by Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants giving doctors time to deal with more urgent or critical matters. This could even apply to things like X-rays and basic triage.
These steps would significantly lower the cost of medical attention without reducing the quality
Free market solutions would fix this healthcare nightmare.
Not Obamacare.
Elites won't have to worry about all those middle class people and their kids filling up the waiting rooms. NOPE, only the best for elites now... Elites will pay a ‘membership fee’ on top of doctor visit fees. Like belonging to a country club - you pay to get in then you pay other fees....
And for the rest of us? It'll be long waits, affirmative action ‘doctors’ and people with two year degrees making medical calls. Welcome to the crap people in Communist countries and hellholes have had to put up with for years...Oh - and our congresscritters - jerks in both parties - they'll have the best. No middle class 'target shopper types' to put up with...
You should check and see how much he wants. You might find it a worthwhile price. Don’t assume it’s out of your reach.
Go to any VA Hospital and look at the staff. That is government run healthcare. I can’t remember the last time I saw a doctor from the US.
Two of our favorite docs have retired since 0Care. They said it wasn’t worth staying in, anymore.
Lucky you - my doctor of thirty years just took early retirement rather than put up with all that Marxist Obama crap.
Good move for him.
Oh my, was it win-win for everyone. He kept I think 500-1000 of his best patients. Not the richest, just the ones he knew he could help, and charged a rather nominal fee per month for the "membership". The patients paid with insurance or cash.
He had to deal with a few "stragglers" that would call him off hours, but in general the patients were given the time and attention they needed.
It was a treat as a physician to have 45 uninterrupted minutes with a patient, get to know them and not rush out of the room to complete some assinine EMR template.
He keeps asking me to come back and be his partner, but I've got a job closer to home.
Maybe I'll retire to something like this.
It's the kind of medicine I had hoped to practice. Caring, compassionate, and rewarding emotionally and financially.
Saving my tax check for future health bills.
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