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configuration of three-G capability with a minimum of thirty-two GB of memory. Any current enrollees who now fall below those smartphone specifications will be upgraded at our expense.”
    Now George felt a chill descend his spine. He had the distinct feeling he was witnessing history in the making. With the idea of a smartphone functioning as a primary-care physician, something he had thought about in the past, he was in shock. His mental association of the Amalgamated Healthcare presentation with one of Apple’s product releases was magnified. This was a big deal. He was also amazed that Amalgamated would be able to absorb all these costs and still have a profitable business plan. What was he missing?

4
    CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL
    CENTURY CITY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
    MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014, 10:14 A.M.
    G eorge glanced around the room at the other attendees. No one spoke. No one coughed. No one moved. The only sound was that of the faint Celtic choir in the background.
    George redirected his gaze toward the dais. Thorn was still twisted around, staring up at images of the smartphones like a proud father. When he turned back the crowd burst into applause.
    â€œHold your excitement,” Thorn said. “There’s more. Shortly you are going to hear brief presentations from our three other speakers this morning. First will be Dr. Paula Stonebrenner.” He gestured toward Paula, and George looked over at her. She stood briefly and nodded to the audience. If she was nervous, it didn’t show. There was a smattering of applause.
    Thorn continued. “Dr. Stonebrenner, I know, doesn’t look old enough to be an MD, but I assure you that she is. She will be giving a very short overview of iDoc and its capabilities. She is the best person for this task, as she is the individual who gets the credit for the idea of a smartphone functioning as a twenty-first-century primary-care physician. There have been multiple apps for smartphones configured to do various and sundry medical functions, but it was Dr. Stonebrenner who came up with the brilliant concept of putting them all together in a purposeful algorithm to create a true ersatz physician on duty twenty-four-seven for a particular individual, truly personalized medicine.”
    â€œHoly shit!” George whispered to himself. He felt a surge of color suffusing his face. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard and didn’t know whether to be angry or flattered. Suddenly George realized why Paula had invited him to the presentation. They’d had a conversation about this years before. She hadn’t come up with the concept. She’d gotten the idea for a smartphone primary-care physician from him!
    When George had first come out to L.A. for his residency, he’d known that Paula was coming, too, not for a residency but rather for a job with Amalgamated Healthcare. They’d talked about being in the same city before graduation. She’d been in the MD-MBA program during medical school, a fact that they’d argued about on occasion. It had been George’s opinion that she shouldn’t have taken a slot to become an MD if she had no intention of ever practicing medicine. There were too many people who really wanted to be doctors who couldn’t get a spot in medical school, and that was leading to a shortage of primary-care doctors. Paula, of course, had seen the issue differently. It had been her contention that the business of medicine was so important there had to be people who understood all sides of it. Neither convinced the other.
    When George arrived in L.A. he tried to contact Paula a few times, but she never returned his calls. He didn’t have her home number or address, so he’d only left messages at Amalgamated’s main number. He never knew if she got them or not. But then, after an emotionally draining trip back home for Thanksgiving 2011, he made a more determined effort to track her down. His mother,