ABSTRACT

Addressing the impatience that many people increasingly seem to have when they are ill or injured, what can be called "concierge lite" models have emerged. The use of e-mail for patient communication is not unique to concierge models. The patients identify with the clinic, rather than with one individual physician. For traditional physician practices with large patient panels, such e-mail access can be overwhelming. Concierge medicine is being driven by both physicians and patients: patients are becoming less satisfied with health care delivery, and physicians are increasingly frustrated with their workload. From the patient perspective, there are a myriad of issues with the current system. Understandably, when patients have a medical issue, serious or not, they want to visit, or at least talk to, their doctor. In the 1960s and 1970s, Robert Young portrayed a family physician on television who exuded compassion and gave unlimited attention to each patient, often in the patient's home.