Hair Maintenance Organizations? (HMO's)
This article was written by Sharon Lewis who is a doctor in private practice in New York City. She wrote it for the New York Times. Whether it was published or not, I am unsure.
I went to my hairdresser the other day. I'm a doctor on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and my hairdresser is my patient. He asked me whether I was in a certain managed care network and I said I was thinking of dropping them.
He said, "What will I do?" and I said, "You'll just have to pay me like I pay you." It occurred to me that my haircuts cost twice as much as his visits to me.
I always ask new managed care patients who referred them to me. Sometimes they say, "I got you're name out of the managed care directory." I find myself asking them, "Would you choose a hairdresser from the Yellow Pages?" The answer invariably is, "No! Who knows what I'd end up with!"
Something is wrong with this picture. For the sake of fairness in life, I think this country needs Managed Hair.
Hairdressers and clients would join HMO's (hair maintenance organizations).
Clients would pay a small co pay at each visit. Hairdressers would bill the HMO's and then wait (indefinitely) for payment. Because of the reduced fees for service, hairdressers would have less time to spend with each client.
People with hair emergencies would have an 800 number to call for permission to see their stylist. These emergencies would be ranked in severity. For example, waking up one morning with no hair at all would be the most critical, followed by various sorts of bad hair days. If a client needed a major procedure (cut and color, let's say) this would have to be pre-approved by a well paid HMO employee.
Sure, this would be a radical change, but these are desperate times. After all, the cost of hair care in this country is very high and everyone has the right to good hair.
The above pokes fun at how insane our system has become. So find an Upper Cervical Doctor with an affordable fee for care and get results and save yourself time and money in the long run. Forget the HMO's and all its other relatives. Take charge today, chose Upper Cervical Care you'll be glad you did.
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