The free-market is forcing doctors to extend office hours

I recently had a patient with acute renal failure requiring dialysis leave the hospital AMA to attend his daughter’s birthday party.

Everyone has their priorities. As an adult, your health care (and that of your family) is supposed to be one your priorities.

How many dentists do you know that are open on weekends or at night for non-emergency dental care? What about optometrists or gynecologists?

I understand how hard it is to take a day (or more) off to go to the doctor for routine care – we’ve all done it. However, this sort of schedule will only chase more good people out of primary care.

The medical profession cannot force people to take their health care seriously and cannot fix the fact that some people have jobs that only pay them if they produce a produce that day. Are we supposed to ask our collegues to offer mammograms, colonoscopies, allergy testing or total hip replacements at 9PM because that’s when the patient can be there? Try that at a bank or a dry cleaners and see what happens.

No problem with after hours schedule, as long as you pay for it.