Why VIP Services Are Ethically Indefensible in Health Care
Department
Internal Medicine
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
AMA Journal of Ethics
Abstract
Many health care centers make so-called VIP services available to "very important persons" who have the ability to pay. This article discusses common services (eg, concierge primary care, boutique hotel-style hospital stays) offered to VIPs in health care centers and interrogates "trickle down" economic effects, including the exacerbation of inequity in access to health services and the maldistribution of resources in vulnerable communities. This article also illuminates how VIP care contributes to multitiered health service delivery streams that constitute de facto racial segregation and influence clinicians' conceptions of what patients deserve from them in health care settings.
First Page
e66
Last Page
e71
DOI
10.1001/amajethics.2023.66
Volume
25
Issue
1
Publication Date
1-1-2023
Medical Subject Headings
Humans; Delivery of Health Care; Health Facilities; Health Services Accessibility
PubMed ID
36623306
Recommended Citation
Rojas Marquez, D., & Lever, H. (2023). Why VIP Services Are Ethically Indefensible in Health Care. AMA Journal of Ethics, 25 (1), e66-e71. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2023.66