Self-interested doctors need to get over their archaic ways of doing business, says Rahul K. Parikh, M.D. In our current system, costs keep rising and being shifted to consumers while access to care is unpredictable for almost any practice:
> According to a 2004 report by the Government Accountability Office about Medicare preventive services, 30 percent of people over age 65 did not receive a flu vaccine and 37 percent had never had a pneumonia vaccine.On the other hand, retail clinics are thriving, in large part because they provide excellent access. After all, what's more convenient than showing up any day, night or weekend without telephone time spent on hold trying to make an appointment, only to shuffling your personal schedule to theirs? Then there's cost:
> Another example: In 2000, Medicare estimated that 6.6 million beneficiaries were never told by their doctor that they had high blood pressure.
> Retail clinics operate on a fee-for-service basis and don't accept insurance. [nor endure the costs of its processing]Overall, the growth of clinics, and the desire to pay out of pocket, is a not-so-subtle sign that consumers are asserting their purchasing power in the health sector, just as they would with other goods and services, says Parikh.
> Most charge a maximum of $50, which is significantly cheaper than the $100-plus your insurance company will pay when see your doctor.
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