Business Week Article 11/29/2012
Is Concierge Medicine the Future of Health Care:
“There are 4,400 concierge doctors in the U.S., 30 percent more than there were last year, according to the American Academy of Private Physicians, their professional association. ‘This is all doctors want to talk about,’ says Jeff Goldsmith, a health-care industry analyst and trend spotter. Some health policymakers are encouraged by this trend. They think an increase of direct-pay doctors—especially affordable ones—could lead to better healthcare in the U.S., which has the highest costs and some of the worst outcomes of any wealthy nation. ‘I think it’s great,’ says Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine and business administration at Duke University. ‘We’re rediscovering that if we just ask people to pay for services, we could provide them with better value. Primary care is affordable.’”