Laissez-faire Healthcare Blog

Being a simple-minded person, the best metaphor I can think of for what I’m about to describe is this: “concept car.” This is where a car manufacturer showcases radical thinking and new technology by developing a machine full of ideas, many of which will make it to market in a real car. Take for example carbon-fiber. This light, expensive, stronger-than-steal material debuted in numerous concepts before appearing in production. The “rough edges” had to be sanded down, so-to-speak, and the market had to accept it as an innovation they were willing to use, and pay for… However, many concepts are just too unorthodox…too ahead of their time to ever make it to production. In the 60’s, GM conceived of a series of gas turbine-powered cars. The idea was too crazy and not economically feasible for mass production.

A Concierge Physician is a doctor who is basically at your family’s service (house calls and all) 24/7. Some family practitioners are tired of conventional medical practices - $20 co-pays, 40 patients a day, 5 minutes a patient, full compliment of overhead expenses including: nursing, admin staff and office space. For an annual fee, say $1000-$3000, (usually no insurance allowed), you get a personal doctor who will answer your call at 3am when your 3-year-old swallows a tub of Playdough. Doctors can take a portfolio of patients, maybe 150, and focus a dedicated practice.

Jay Parkinson is a newly-minted MD (and MPH - Masters of Public Health), putting a Web 2.0 spin on the notion of a concierge practice. The Crossover Health Blog summarizes some of Jay’s proposed innovations - which will put to heavy use electronic communication such as email, text and possibly social networking sites like Facebook. For $500, Jay will be a medical consultant or “physician adviser” for the modern, engaged medical consumer (fancy word for a technologically savvy patient taking active role in his or her health management). I encourage you to read the blog posting which describes some of Jay’s radical ideas.

Much like a concept car, I’m willing to bet many of Jay’s ideas will be put into practice by primary care physicians in the next decade. To many, the thought of describing your hemorrhoids to a doctor via your Blackberry is disconcerting. However, as people with HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) appear in record numbers, I’ll bet we’ll see a new kind of medical consumer — one that takes ownership of his or her health - one that sees the primary care physician as a partner, rather than an authoritative white-coat scribbling notes in a chart.

I think our health care system needs this.