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When’s the last time you saw your doctor? And I don’t mean, “When’s the last time you got a check-up”, I mean, when’s the last time you saw your actual doctor? If you’re like most Americans, it’s been a while. Most medical service today is delivered by physician’s assistants and specialists. If you try to schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor, you’re probably going to wait a long, long time for an appointment, and you probably won’t get much face time.

No one seems to like this scenario -- not doctors, and certainly not the people they serve. That’s why some physicians are branching out into a practice known as “boutique medicine”. Under this type of care, patients can get an appointment with their doctor without having to wait forever, and the doctors can take their time with each patient. They accomplish this by charging extra and by limiting the number of people they’re willing to see.

Proponents say it’s a great band-aid for a broken healthcare system, critics say it leaves the poor and middle class out in the cold. Health reporter Jeff Levine recently wrote about boutique medicine for the AARP Bulletin, and he joins us to talk about it on Word of Mouth.

(Photo by Adrian Clark)

They come quiet and unassuming... then they choke, ravage and rob native plants and ecosystems of valuable nutrients. We’ll learn more about these pestiferous plants, where we find them, what people are doing to get rid of them and why invasive species have become such a problem in the state.

Guests

• Amy Smegula, limnologist and Exotic Species Program Coordinator for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
• Doug Cygan, Invasive species coordinator for the markets and food plant industry division of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture