By Laura Turner
SDN Staff Writer
“Boutique” or “retainer” medical practices have been steadily growing since 2005. In this practice model, patients pay an annual retainer fee outside of insurance to gain greater access to their physician. (1)
While it is growing in popularity, some physicians, ethicists, and policy makers are concerned about the trend. (2)
“Concierge care…is like a new country club for the rich,” Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, said at an economic committee hearing to Congress in April 2004. “The wealthy will pay for exclusive access to quality care, and everyone else will continue to have inferior access to primary care physicians, specialists, and basic medical advice.” (3)
Proponents of concierge medicine, on the other hand, say that it enables doctors to provide the best possible care and remain in a clinical setting. Dr. Bernard Kaminetsky, an internal medicine physician in Florida, told the New York Times he would be working for a pharmaceutical company if he hadn’t been able to move to a concierge model. “I’m really helping a lot of people. I feel good about what I do,” he stated. (2)
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