Boutique Medicine

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)