Perhaps not

There's a lot of excitement in the media lately with house calls and concierge medicine. Today's Washington Post has an article that combines both and inadvertently undermines the point it's trying to make.The story is told of a certain Dr. Schleider, "cruising" around New York City in his black BMW, making "convenience calls" to patients who pay $400 or $500 per visit, depending on whether they are established patients or new ones. No insurance accepted. Dr. Schleider "sees perhaps six patients a day. His practice grosses $25,000 a month..."Do the math and you'll notice he's only seeing 50 or 60 patients a month. If he's seeing six a day, he's only working 10 days. Most likely, he's not that busy, because people aren't as willing to pay for convenience as articles like this would imply.Dr. Schleider doesn't  seem to have much self-respect either. The one patient encounter mentioned in the article is described as follows:

"This is ideal medical care," Michael Harrison, 28, a commodity futures trader, said during an examination from Schleider in which he smoked and played with his dog...

Is it really appropriate to smoke while your doctor examines you?