I read some news articles recently about "premium" or "premier"
medical services, where a primary care physician accepts your
insurance and in addition charges a premium fee...in exchange, he only
accepts fewer patients, you don't have to wait for appointments, and
you get his cell phone number plus undivided attention during
visits..where can I find this in Manhattan?

The largest firms offering premium or "concierge medicine" or
"boutique medicine" it is called  are MDVIP www.mdvip.com and
www.md2.com). Although neither have affiliated physicians at this time
in Manhattan itself, MDVIP lists two affiliated physicians in Pomona,
New York and one in New Jersey at its web page:
www.mdvip.com/selctphy.htm.

They are:
Charles Glassman
Pomona, New York
 
Richard Handelsman
Pomona, New York

Bruce Aronwald
Morristown/Bernardsville, New Jersey

Contact information for MDVIP is:

6401 Congress Avenue, Suite 120
Boca Raton, Florida 33496
Phone: (561) 995-2546


MD2 does not have any affiliate physicians in New York.

Contact information for MD2 is:
Duane Dobrowitz, CEO
MD2 International, LLC
Seattle, WA
206-447-1367 (telephone)
206-447-1368 (fax)
(Although this phone line has only been busy)
info@md2.com

None in Manhattan seem to offer this type of service at this time.


The New York Times ran a relevant article, that can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/health/15DOCT.html

Other discussion of concierge medicine, which is still controversial
in health care policy circles, can be found at:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/print_report.cfm?DR_ID=9831

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/2002/pd011502c.html

http://www.ncpssm.org/news/update_congress/update_0402.pdf

I hope this information is helpful.

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Clarification of Answer by vitalmed-ga on 05 Nov 2002 12:00 PST

Since you requested information regarding Manhattan, my response may
be considered a negative answer. I shall yield my answer to another
researcher, if a physician in one of these types of practices can be
found in Manhattan.