The NY Times gives an update on how concierge medicine is going

“Even patients who decide on a concierge practice may find themselves back in managed care, as those of Dr. Enrico J. Versace, in West Yarmouth, Mass., discovered recently. Dr. Versace said he spent $100,000 on consultant fees and marketing to establish a practice charging $3,000 a patient two years ago. There were complications from the beginning. Although he wanted 40- to 60-year-olds, he said almost half his patients were over 75. Many demanded house calls, often leaving his office unused. Although he told his patients that he was available at all hours, he said he felt that some patients abused the system. “They’d call on weekends, telling me they were feeling better,” he said. He sent out a reminder notice that after-hours contacts were only for emergency care.

After two years, as their contracts ran out, he referred patients to other doctors. He closed his practice in March and is now on the staff of Cape Cod Hospital, in Hyannis.”