I’ve been thinking more about the MDVIP program that my former doctor ran off and joined. The program is pitched as a way to be seen by your doctor much easier than in a traditional medical practice: for the annual fee of $1500 over and above your other healthcare charges.
What’s been bothering me is the ridiculousness of it all. Why should a patient pay extra for something that the doctor should be doing all along: being responsive to his patients (otherwise known as “customers”)? Why don’t doctors already accept only enough patients that they can comfortably deal with? If you load up on thousands of patients where you can only spend 10 minutes with each, you’re doing it wrong!
And why aren’t doctors already more accessible? I just played phone tag with my new doctor all week: if he gave out his email address I could’ve spelled out my concerns precisely and saved us both a bunch of time.
I know medical school loans, malpractice insurance, and the requisite country club membership are hugely expensive but come on! There are doctors in India and Cuba who rival America’s and would be happy to practice medicine for a fraction of what American doctors charge. I might suggest to doctors that making your skills more expensive might not be the wisest long-term strategy.