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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
SAN FRANCISCO — When John Battelle's teenage son broke his leg at a suburban soccer game, naturally the first call his parents made was to 911. The second was to Dr. Jordan Shlain, the concierge doctor here who treats Mr. Battelle and his family. "They're taking him to a local hospital," Mr. Battelle's wife, Michelle, told Dr. Shlain as the boy rode in an ambulance to a nearby emergency room in Marin County. "No, they're not," Dr. Shlain instructed them. "You don't want that leg set by an E.R. doc at a local medical center. You want it set by the head of orthopedics at a hospital in the city." Within minutes, the ambulance was on the Golden Gate Bridge, bound for California Pacific Medical Center, one of San Francisco's top hospitals. Dr. Shlain was there to meet them when they arrived, and the boy was seen almost immediately by an orthopedist with decades of experience.
For Mr. Battelle, a veteran media entrepreneur, the experience convinced him that the annual fee he pays to have Dr. Shlain on call is worth it, despite his guilt over what he admits is very special treatment. "I feel badly that I have the means to jump the line," he said. "But when you have kids, you jump the line. You just do. If you have the money, would you not spend it for that?"
Increasingly, it is a question being asked in hospitals and doctor's offices, especially in wealthier enclaves in places like Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and New York. And just as a virtual velvet rope has risen between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else on airplanes, cruise ships and amusement parks, widening inequality is also transforming how health care is delivered. Money has always made a big difference in the medical world: fancier rooms at hospitals, better food and access to the latest treatments and technology. Concierge practices, where patients pay several thousand dollars a year so they can quickly reach their primary care doctor, with guaranteed same-day appointments, have been around for decades.
But these aren't the concierge doctors you've heard about — and that's intentional.
Dr. Shlain's Private Medical group does not advertise and has virtually no presence on the web, and new patients come strictly by word of mouth. But with annual fees that range from $40,000 to $80,000 (more than 10 times what conventional concierge practices charge), the suite of services goes far beyond 24-hour access or a Nespresso machine in the waiting room.
Indeed, as many Americans struggle to pay for health care — or even, with the future of the Affordable Care Act in question on Capitol Hill, face a loss of coverage — this corner of what some doctors call the medical-industrial complex is booming: boutique doctors and high-end hospital wards.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 05 2017, @08:34PM (5 children)
The scenario described happened to me in first grade:
I broke my arm at school, school called my parents, parents came and picked me up and instead of taking me to the ER, they drove me directly to a specialist's office where he set my arm so well that the 4 break lines were virtually undetectable after the cast came off (some 6 months later...) Were we "wealthy"? Well, no deep family money, grandparents were a mechanic, bumper plating salesman, hairdresser and teacher, parents were public middle school teachers - so, no, I don't think we quite qualified as "wealthy," it's just how my parents chose to spend their money at that time.
I also broke my arm in 6th grade, dad dumped me at the local ER where the doc made a half-assed attempt at setting it, he did O.K., but anyone looking at x-rays to this day can see where the set was less than perfect. If anything, we had more money at that time, I guess that the "precious children" just didn't rate as highly anymore.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @11:23PM
Perhaps your father remembered his out of pocket cost from 5 years previous and wasn't going to do that again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:25AM
Perhaps that bone-setting specialist was no longer available?
- joined a medical group
- became a salaried "hospitalman" MD
- system required a referral to go to a specialist
- retired early (possible from large earnings)
- ...
When I dislocated a small toe, the ER doc never even found the problem, only took an X-ray straight down. The swelling hid the problem from manipulation. Later I went to an independent doc who requested X-rays from the side that showed the little dislocated bone starting to knit onto its neighbor. Paid an osteo (very strong fingers) who tried and failed to rebreak it (huge pain, even with local numbing) and now I have a fused joint.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:44PM (1 child)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 06 2017, @01:02PM
Your point is also true (double jointed, break prone), but the point is that you don't have to be "super wealthy" to go to a specialist when you want to, you just have to be willing to pay the extra price.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @01:24PM
The younger you are, the more easily and cleanly bones mend after fractures.