Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Dermatologists Reportedly Offer Two Tiered Skin Care


I read the Schwitzer Health News Blog and found the following topic discussed on the blog to be quite interesting. According to the blog, The New York Times reported that dermatologists are now serving first class and second class services and "it is fast becoming a two-tier business in which higher-paying customers often receive greater pampering."

Excerpt:
"In some dermatologists’ offices, freer-spending cosmetic patients are given appointments more quickly than medical patients for whom health insurance pays fixed reimbursement fees.
In other offices, cosmetic patients spend more time with a doctor. And in still others, doctors employ a special receptionist, called a cosmetic concierge, for their beauty patients.
Dr. David M. Pariser, a dermatologist in Norfolk, Va., and the president-elect of the American Academy of Dermatology, said some practices did maintain preferential policies for cosmetic patients.
“The message is that the cosmetic patient is more important than the medical patient, and that’s not a good message,” Dr. Pariser said.
At a time when dermatologists are trying to advance the idea of a national skin cancer epidemic, such a two-tier system is raising concerns that the coddling of beauty patients may divert attention from skin diseases."

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