Modern day house calls

A very random post, but I started thinking about it after reading an article in the Washingtonian yesterday.  The article tackled the topic of concierge medicine, and focused on a doctor I used to see several years ago.  The first time I heard the term 'concierge medicine' was last summer, and that was from watching the show Royal Pains (you can learn so much from TV!). 

After reading the Washingtonian article, I realized this is the type of doctor my mother has been seeing for the last ten years, but she's never called Dr. S this.  In a nutshell, patients pay a yearly retainer to have enhanced care from their primary care doctor, including 24-hour access, more one-on-one attention and house calls.  I don't think Mother has ever had a house call, but heaven knows I'm sure she's taken advantage of the 24-hour thing!  And I can say that Dr. S has treated Mother spectacularly, and has even reached out to my sister and me when she's been concerned about something.

Part of the article dealt with the opinion that this is medicine for the haves, while regular primary care practices are for the have-nots.  There were arguments for each side, but one that resonated with me is that concierge medicine can actually prevent doctors from doing test after test, since they have more time to spend with the patient to diagnose the problem.  This seems like the costs are actually lower.   

Is this new type of medicine making its way across the country or is it focused mainly on the East Coast? (And I say that simply because I'm in DC and the Royal Pains takes place in NY.)  I don't want to turn this into a healthcare thing, I'm just curious to see if others use this type of doctor.

P.S. The Washingtonian article isn't online yet but I found this one in another publication, and it too profiles my old doctor.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/10/19/story5.html