Editing Preparing for a Newborn (section)

=== Single vs. Multiple Practitioners vs. Concierge ===

We also had the choice to go to a single-practitioner practice or a multiple-practitioner service or a concierge service. The highest ratings were for the concierge service, with whom nearly everyone was pleased. However, the costs involved ($12000+) were substantial. Considering one of my parents would be present most of the time while we had an infant, we would always have a doctor in the home.

Single-practitioner services have the problem that when the doctor is out for whatever reason, you're out of luck. This is just a queueing theory problem and the reviews on the web reflect that, with fewer practitioners correlating heavily with greater complaints about queues, waiting times, and delayed appointments.

Multiple-practitioner services seem to mostly be the place to go to if you don't have special requirements, which to start with we don't anticipate having. You may be scheduled onto a different practitioner but that is fine. The downside is that m-p services frequently have some who are DOs.