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Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

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Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#11

Post by click170 »

This is maybe a little bit off topic, but I am glad to see that Doctors on Demand would be doing general medical house calls in the US. This seems like a good idea, I hope it spreads.

I don't live in the US myself, but I've always wondered why doctors doing house calls was a UK thing but wasn't a North American thing, even in Canada.

Are there real obstacles preventing doctors from making house calls in the US, or is it just tradition to "go see your doctor" instead of them coming to see you?

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#12

Post by prawn »

PeterWhittaker wrote: post #6

Perhaps it's just because I live far from the valley and have never used Uber, but I had to scan the article repeatedly to figure out what the headline meant. (No, I didn't read it, I simply scanned, I stopped reading after the first sentence. If you cannot bother to tell me in the first sentence why I should continue, I don't. And telling me you visited a website doesn't tell me why you did so. Whatever.) What does…

I almost gave up after your own first sentence. Your post could've been simply this:

A better headline, less link-baity, would be "Meadow (YC W15) hires doctors for {just in time|on demand|favourite term here} medical marijuana evaluation."

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#13

Post by unchocked »

Crito wrote: post #8
bunkydoo wrote: post #7

Well, here's the thing. I'm not actually sure doctors will be out of the mix with legalization on the horizon. Because to expand the cannabis market and poach alcohol sales - you could have doctors vouch for cannabis & cannabis-infused products as remedies for common ailments (when is the last time a doctor did this for a brand of vodka?)Think Mary-Kay - but for doctors who endorse weed. This market is going to be a…

Actual legalization would kill this industry. In Washington and Colorado (states which have actually legalized, not merely implemented a medical system or decriminalized) there is no need to see a doctor first. You just walk into the store, show a photo id to establish your age, and hand over cash. Also: "During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze" http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/d…

What bunkydoo is saying, is that doctors touting cannabis may still be a thing, because it's legal to tout cannabis as a health product. Which is an interesting thought, because doctors totally used to do that with alcohol and tobacco.

https://www.google.com/search?q=doctor+recommended+cigarette...

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#14

Post by 001sky »

click170 wrote: post #11

This is maybe a little bit off topic, but I am glad to see that Doctors on Demand would be doing general medical house calls in the US. This seems like a good idea, I hope it spreads. I don't live in the US myself, but I've always wondered why doctors doing house calls was a UK thing but wasn't a North American thing, even in Canada. Are there real obstacles preventing doctors from making house calls in the US, or is…

Lets say a doctor charges $1,000/hour and each trip takes 20 minutes, plus 10 mintues to egress a building and parking garage/pick up a taxi. The overhead for a single visit is...$1,000 give or take...

You can adjust the numbers around a bit but the point remains the same unless you radically change the transit time and the wage by a factor of 10.

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#15

Post by ceejayoz »

001sky wrote: post #14
click170 wrote: post #11

This is maybe a little bit off topic, but I am glad to see that Doctors on Demand would be doing general medical house calls in the US. This seems like a good idea, I hope it spreads. I don't live in the US myself, but I've always wondered why doctors doing house calls was a UK thing but wasn't a North American thing, even in Canada. Are there real obstacles preventing doctors from making house calls in the US, or is…

Lets say a doctor charges $1,000/hour and each trip takes 20 minutes, plus 10 mintues to egress a building and parking garage/pick up a taxi. The overhead for a single visit is...$1,000 give or take... You can adjust the numbers around a bit but the point remains the same unless you radically change the transit time and the wage by a factor of 10.

No GP is making $1k/hour.

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#16

Post by Crito »

rosser wrote: post #9
Crito wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual legalization would kill this industry. In Washington and Colorado (states which have actually legalized, not merely implemented a medical system or decriminalized) there is no need to see a doctor first. You just walk into the store, show a photo id to establish your age, and hand over cash. Also: "During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze" http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/d…

It's my understanding that under the WA system, some things still require a doctor's recommendation. EDIT: A recommendation increases the amount of marijuana or marijuana-based product one can legally possess (strictly speaking, it offers an affirmative defense for people possessing more than the amount authorized by I-502). Source: http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/Marijuana/MedicalMari...

These sort of "house call" or "doctor-on-location" weed businesses rely on people trying to get high that day. I find it incredibly hard to believe that they could be sustained by people who want to remain legal while owning more than an ounce of weed (a rather large amount of weed for all but the heaviest users...).

If it is merely a matter of keeping more than an ounce legally, the urgency is all but gone, and with it the advantage of the house-call system.

Also I sure as hell wouldn't start a business based on the current state of medical marijuana in Washington state; the system will likely be gutted and reworked relatively soon. Furthermore states that legalize in the future will likely follow Colorado's example more than Washington's.

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#17

Post by _delirium »

click170 wrote: post #11

This is maybe a little bit off topic, but I am glad to see that Doctors on Demand would be doing general medical house calls in the US. This seems like a good idea, I hope it spreads. I don't live in the US myself, but I've always wondered why doctors doing house calls was a UK thing but wasn't a North American thing, even in Canada. Are there real obstacles preventing doctors from making house calls in the US, or is…

I've never heard of house calls in Scandinavia either, unless it's strictly necessary (immobile elderly patient, etc.). It takes more of the doctor's time, therefore is more expensive, and generally we don't want medical care to get more expensive when it's possible to avoid it. For example a typical GP in Denmark sees 6 patients per hour, which seems difficult to do with house visits unless the patients live in the same building or something.

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#18

Post by Crito »

unchocked wrote: post #13
Crito wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual legalization would kill this industry. In Washington and Colorado (states which have actually legalized, not merely implemented a medical system or decriminalized) there is no need to see a doctor first. You just walk into the store, show a photo id to establish your age, and hand over cash. Also: "During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze" http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/d…

What bunkydoo is saying, is that doctors touting cannabis may still be a thing, because it's legal to tout cannabis as a health product. Which is an interesting thought, because doctors totally used to do that with alcohol and tobacco. https://www.google.com/search?q=doctor+recommended+cigarette...

People making house-calls selling knives is also still a thing, but I wouldn't recommend getting into that business. The business existing doesn't mean it is a smart business to get into.

The high-availability-doctor/one-stop-shop variety of weed business relies on loose medical laws but draconian recreational laws. Recreational users don't want to shop around for a doctor to approve their "condition", so these businesses do very well for themselves. Legalization, combined with regulation of medical, will remove a large segment of these businesses target audience.

Some people seem to think I am saying that medical marijuana will go away. I am not. I am just saying that these "convenience businesses" cater primarily to recreational users in markets with draconian recreational laws. Those people are their bread and butter.

Do you think that Florida's infamous "pill farm clinics" would still do well if you could buy Vicodin over the counter in 7-11's? Doctors would still be prescribing Vicodin because it is a useful medication, but would those businesses that specialize in getting prescriptions for middle-class addicts stay in business?

Re: Meadow (YC W15) ‘Ubered’ Over a Doctor to Give Me a Medical Marijuana Evaluation

#20

Post by Crito »

ceejayoz wrote: post #15
001sky wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets say a doctor charges $1,000/hour and each trip takes 20 minutes, plus 10 mintues to egress a building and parking garage/pick up a taxi. The overhead for a single visit is...$1,000 give or take... You can adjust the numbers around a bit but the point remains the same unless you radically change the transit time and the wage by a factor of 10.

No GP is making $1k/hour.

Swap in any number that you think is reasonable. The reasoning and conclusion is the same.
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