Concierge Doctor
June 26th, 2008
Damn. I received an odd letter from my doctor today. Beginning in January, he plans to reduce his patient load from a few thousand to several hundred patients. Along with this, he promises 24-hour access to his cell phone, free routine office visits, same-day care, reduced waiting time, a comprehensive annual physical, etc. All for an annual “fee” which is not in the letter.
Of course when they don’t mention a price, you know it is expensive. So I did some basic research, and now I know he is becoming a Concierge Doctor, and I imagine the price will be at least $1500 per year.
Do any of you have experience with this?
I’ve been using a Concierge Doctor (although this is actually the first I’ve heard the term) and I love it. One of the best things is that a Drs appointment now takes only 15 minutes. You go there, you see the Dr, and you leave. No more sitting in the waiting room until 30 minutes past your appointment time, then sitting around for 20 minutes in a cold room by yourself before you see the Doctor. The 24 hour availability is nice - mine has met me on Saturday and Sunday at the last moment. Course, I don’t know anyone else who has done this so as usual YMMV, but as I said, I love it.
Have you found out how that will play out with the ol’ insurance yet?
No clue. This is many months out and he hasn’t scheduled the meetings yet.
Ahem: In any civilised country (as Austria in Europe seems to be) I don’t have to wait anymore than 5 minutes to a Dr. Appointment. I call the same day in the morning and the assistant gives me a time and I never waited longer the 5-10 minutes.
And I don’t have to pay him anything (the proposal of your doctor sound’s like protection money…)… but maybe this is, because we have better social security in good ole europe…