Old-Fashioned Medicine Back Again

He wasn't scheduled to have surgery for another few days, but the back pain was too much for Howard Levine to bear. So he called his doctor, and within hours, he checked into the hospital and underwent the necessary operation.

Levine's case wasn't life threatening, yet he received first-class treatment because he subscribes to a service called MDVIP, which promises a deluxe, old-fashioned type of medical care for $125 a month. The fee reportedly goes toward expenses not covered by regular health insurance. It guarantees 24-hour access to doctors in person and by phone, email, or fax. It also offers personalized help with prescriptions and referrals, travel medical services, and a private reception area.

MDVIP is one of a number of so-called "boutique medicine" or "concierge" practices that have cropped up nationwide in the last few years. Several other such companies, such as one known as MD2, have set up shop in Seattle and in Arizona. Annual retainer fees for each practice vary from as little as $900 to as much as $20,000.

"If I were to call up my doctor now and tell him I wasn't feeling well, I bet you I'd see him within an hour," says Levine, who beams at the idea of no longer waiting to make an appointment. "Here, I just get that personalized service that I love."

The 69-year-old restaurant owner is far from being the only one attracted to such pampering. Boca Raton-based MDVIP has enlisted 2,000 paid members since it opened up in March of 2001, and the company, with offices in Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Southern California, is looking to expand its network of doctors.

It's About Choice

"We think that this is about choice," says Andrew Ripps, the CEO of MDVIP. "We are working to create a niche solution for people who value wellness and prevention."

The solution appears to be just what many doctors have been aching for. Beleaguered with paperwork, with rising healthcare costs that are disregarded by HMOs, and with increasing demands to see more patients, many doctors are looking for a way out.

"There is a whole generation of young doctors who are frustrated, and many older doctors want to go into early retirement. Most didn't go to medical school for that," says William Hall, MD, president of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Internal Medicine.

He says it's understandable why many doctors would want to go into concierge care and practice old-fashioned medicine, yet he says he fears that if more and more doctors decide to move in this direction, only those who could not afford boutique care would be left, and insurance premiums would go up.

"It would create a certain amount of chaos for our country," says Hall.