The changing face of health care providers.

[TalkingDog]

Recently Williamsburg doc Jay Parkinson unleashed his revolutionary idea onto Brooklyn -- a doctor for the uninsured, medical advice through emails, and the return of the house-call. The word spread fast and now much of the world is looking his way to see if he can change the way health-care is provided.

http://gothamist.com/2007/10/01/jay_parkinson_m.php



There are a number of Dr.s who are bypassing the vultures insurance industry to treat patients directly. They usually charge a flat fee ($30.00 is the standard I've heard of). Because they don't have the (mandated) staff requirement of an individual staffer for medicare, Medicaid, etc. for each type of coverage they don't have to have an office or any of the extraneous costs that they pass on to those least able to afford.

Yay, for ethical, forward-thinking medical personnel!

My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[NashVegas]

1. Wired Did a Big Write Up On Him, Too

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/news/2007/10/im_doctor

He's an amateur photographer too, very cool photos on flickr.

[Warpy]

2. I go to a doc here in NM who is starting such a practice

He's a vascular surgeon who got sick to death of the insurance company rat race in a state where 96% of the people who are insured have HMOs and the proportion of uninsured is among the highest in the country. He now has several associates who work at the practice part time.

For years, if one didn't have insurance (and I have been declared uninsurable for 20 years now), there was no alternative to going to an HMO doc and paying a triple fee. Now that there's a doc willing to work as a GP out of his own office, I'm finally able to get routine care

I have a sneaking suspicion these docs are the wave of the future. For profit insurance companies have interfered with the practice of medicine so much that docs are overworked, burned out, frustrated, angry, and sick of the whole thing. Some are quitting and going into teaching or administration. Others undoubtedly will follow my doc into private practice.

[TalkingDog]

3. For years I have found the irony much too thick.

In the 70's and 80's, Dr.s were "afraid" that socialized medicine would end up with bureaucracies dictating patient treatment protocols. Nah... Instead we'd like a for-profit venture with an eye on the bottom line dictating patient treatment protocols.


How'zat workin' out for ya' docs????


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios