@mentsch1
Here in the country things are different.
No shows and cancellations with less than 24 hour notice are billed a fee (there are exceptions, such as being admitted to the hospital). Don’t pay the fee and chances are the doctor will drop you as a patient.
Unlike, some of the Frum enclaves often mentioned in the CR, the doctors here are not seeing a large number of Medicaid patients.
My time is money…that’s what attorney’s do, they bill time. I respect the doctor’s time as well. When booking an appointment I let the receptionist know if I need a brief or extended visit. The internist who is my primary care doctor does not see children. That speeds things up. Also, people who call and say they’ve just come down with a kronk are referred to the walk-in facility in the building, not told to come in and be squeezed in.
As far as your statement about costs, in this areas almost 50% of MDs have sold their practices to the area hospitals and are employees, not business owners. Excluding my dentist. all of my doctors are in practices now owned by two hospitals. This includes the concierge practice owned by Yale.