Concierge medicine is a health care model that is committed to patient-centred care. Concierge medicine is a membership-based model wherein patients pay a direct fee to their concierge doctor for enhanced access and a defined set of personalized services, often alongside their existing insurance for other medical needs.
Having a concierge medicine membership entails 24/7 access to your doctor’s personal line, same-day appointments, extended consultation times, and more.
One of the many good things about concierge medicine is that doctors only have a limited number of patients that they see in a day or week, which gives them enough time to spend with each of their patients.
Another benefit of this model is that patients have an option to pay their membership fees monthly, quarterly, or annually – which provide predictable costs for the included primary care services, a different approach compared to the traditional fee-for-service model.
Here’s a little experiment: ask your grandparents how seeing a doctor was like in the ’60s.
In those days, seeing their doctor usually meant expecting a kind yet stern gentleman come into their home (think bowler hat-clad with a medical bag in hand) and see how their health was doing.
Concierge medicine is, at its most basic, a return to the age when doctors made house calls and were paid directly by the patients they treated. - Paul Sisson, UT San Diego
The interaction was simple, straightforward, and highly personalized – not to mention, these doctor-patient relationships transcended generations and were as tight-knit as could be.
It was not uncommon for your grandparent's doctor to also end up taking care of everyone else in the family as well.
During those times, if a family member was sick, our grandparents only ever had to give their family doctors a ring and their doctors will come and pay them a visit.
We have seen America’s health care industry take a turn for the worst within the past few decades. The takeover of third parties, such as insurance companies and corporate hospitals, has created a complicated web of a system that is detriment to doctor, patient, and the fundamental relationship between the two.
This insurance-based, fee-for-service health care system requires patients to spend more and more each year for amenities that don’t even have their health and well-being as the top priority.
U.S. national health expenditures have consistently risen; for instance, from 2000 to 2022, NHE grew at an average annual rate of 5.3%.
That’s faster than the rate of inflation and average wages. Pretty alarming, don’t you think? Family care physicians definitely believe it’s a cause for concern.
That being said, America’s health care industry is undergoing an evolution of sorts as we speak. As patients are made to bear heavier financial responsibility, it naturally follows that they will also demand the quality of patient centered care that is equivalent to what they are paying for.
This demand has not been met for a long time and it seems that the current health care system is looking a little worse for wear. Family care physicians are unhappy with not being able to provide their patients with the attention and care they deserve. Hence, the development of a health care model that is focused on patient-centred care called concierge medicine.
Originally regarded as a hefty health care system that’s exclusive to the rich and famous, concierge medicine has transformed over the years to offer various levels of service, some of which are accessible to a broader range of American citizens.
Concierge medicine is now widely available and more affordable than its earliest iterations, featuring a more direct doctor-patient relationship, premium patient-centred care, and a simple, straightforward system that streamlines access to the physician for services covered by the membership fee.
While this new and improved model initially began with primary care specialties (i.e., internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, concierge family medicine, and direct primary care or DPC), it has since branched out to include specialties such as dentistry, general surgery, gynecology, cardiology, and oncology, to name a few.
Depending on the scope of services and payment terms you wish to avail, the subscription fees for concierge primary care typically range from around $150 to $250 per month on average, though some practices may be lower and many can be significantly higher, reaching a few hundred or even thousands of dollars per month for very exclusive services.
While it is true that your concierge medicine subscription does not replace your insurance plan, the priceless benefits you get out of concierge medicine truly outweigh the cost.
One of these benefits includes reducing your health insurance to one that covers catastrophic health expenses and subspecialty services only, considering that your concierge medicine subscription already covers enhanced access and many aspects of routine care.
In this blog, we will cover all the important questions about concierge medicine – what it can offer, how it takes care of patients like you better, what is the difference between concierge medicine and direct primary care, and how much it will cost to avail of the health care you deserve (hint: it’s not as outrageous as you think!).
If you would like to know how concierge medicine works and how it differs from the traditional insurance-based healthcare system, here is some key information to keep in mind:
A common myth about DPC and concierge medicine is that the former is an inferior version of the latter. Although it is true that the DPC practice is more affordable by nature, there are deeper differentiating factors between the two than just price points.
According to Concierge Medicine Today, “What distinguishes DPC and concierge medicine from each other is not price alone, but demography, insurance participation of the concierge doctor, billing methods, and the number of services offered within the subscription.”
First and foremost, the membership fee transactions are limited between concierge doctor and patient, which can reduce some administrative burdens compared to purely insurance-based models. However, if a concierge practice also bills insurance for certain services, they will still have administrative processes for that.
You’ll be surprised how simple, affordable, and stress-free direct patient care is once you take some of the middlemen out of the equation for the services covered by the direct fee.
With concierge doctors, long-term health management and patient relationships are superior in any given situation. Concierge Medicine Today puts the advocacy of concierge doctors into words so perfectly:
Premium patient-centred care, for one? This new breed of concierge doctors is reminiscent of the ones our grandparents have come to know and trust.
Here are key definitions you should keep in mind if you’re considering making the switch:
Physicians and patients alike are switching to the concierge medicine practice and its time you hear what they have to say about it.
This new and improved health care model is motivated by patient dissatisfaction over America’s failing health care system and it’s the solution this industry needs.
Who knew the bulk of the solution was simply all about allowing more time spent between doctor and patient?
Here’s a side-by-side guide to help you out.
1. A traditional family physician works for its affiliate insurance company or corporate hospital. This means that they are inclined to make decisions based on what will put said entities in a financially better position.
Concierge doctors, on the other hand, work for you without the influence of any third party regarding the services covered by your direct membership fee. They have no vested interests other than your health and well-being alone.
That way, there is a fundamental level of trust that comes with seeing your concierge doctor knowing that they have your best interests at heart.
2. Trips to see your traditional family physician is nothing short of an ordeal. Recent data (e.g., a 2022 Merritt Hawkins survey) indicated average new patient physician appointment wait times can be around 26 days.
Once they finally get to their local family medical clinic, patients wait for an average of 18 minutes for an appointment that lasts often only 5-10 minutes tops in many traditional settings.
If you have follow-up questions or concerns, there is no way to reach your family doctor other than to do the whole process all over again. In concierge medicine, complicated, long-playing booking procedures are unheard of.
You can quickly reach your concierge doctor for same-day appointments, home visits, doctor’s personal cell phone access or even teleconsultations.
3. As a follow-up to the previous point, booking an appointment at your local clinic is an entirely different story. Patients are required to endure frustrating front desk calls, problematic booking platforms, being put on hold, or going straight to voice mail.
In contrast, concierge medicine gives patients the privilege to access their concierge doctors directly via their personal line. If you need medical advice, your concierge doctor is on call for whatever you need.
4. Patients have fallen victim to higher and higher medical expenses each year even when they have insurance premiums to supposedly save them from that. It is not uncommon for patients to spend significant amounts, sometimes thousands of dollars, a year on out-of-pocket expenses on top of their monthly insurance premiums.
With a concierge medicine subscription, your out-of-pocket expenses for the primary care services covered by the membership are consolidated into a predictable fee. However, it's important to remember that for services outside the membership (like specialist care, hospitalizations, or major procedures), your out-of-pocket costs will depend on your health insurance plan.
The claim that concierge doctors universally offer heavily discounted lab procedures and medication at wholesale cost is more typical of Direct Primary Care (DPC) models that do not bill insurance for these items.
5. Primary care physicians not having enough time with their patients is one of the largest pain points of the traditional health care model.
First, physicians are forced to provide the cookbook treatment, a generic form of patient care that does nothing to understand and individualize each patient’s health.
This is also the reason why physicians tend to pass on their patients from one specialist to the next. Because they do not have time to carefully assess the health conditions of their patients, they prefer to eliminate the risk of liability by having the patient undergo a series of tests and procedures instead.
On the other hand, concierge medicine is characterized by highly individualized direct patient care. Concierge doctors have more than enough time to evaluate your state of health and even educate you about how to best maintain your well-being.
This way, lab tests and procedures are only done when absolutely necessary, saving the patient from wasted time, money, and effort.
Rushed, robotic appointments are the norm in the traditional health care model. Because primary care physicians have to go through patient after patient each day, it is close to impossible for them to develop a relationship with each one.
Primary care physicians, first and foremost, want an ongoing relationship with their patients and concierge medicine is able to provide exactly that. - Gary LeRoy, President of the American Academy of Family Physicians
Happier doctors equal to satisfied patients. When doctors are able to sit down and spend time with their patients, it restores the layer of trust between doctor and patient.
There are a few concierge medicine benefits that help you to choose Concierge Medicine over traditional insurance-based health care.
What we found was that the value was in being able to reach the doctor any time for any reason and that he always had time for them. If anything, the greatest endeavor concierge medicine can achieve is to restore the level of health care our grandparents were accustomed to, says - Sean Dougherty, a 52-year-old public relations executive from New York City
Physicians and patients alike are switching to the concierge medicine practice and its time you hear what they have to say about it.
This new and improved health care model is motivated by patient dissatisfaction over America’s failing health care system.
It is a transforming solution that this industry needs. Who knew the bulk of the solution was simply all about allowing more time spent between doctor and patient?
The most important benefit [of concierge medicine] for the patient is that their concierge doctor is far more accessible. The office visits last much longer – in fact, as long as the patient needs. -Jim Williams, MD, a concierge doctor in the primary care practice
This is what FindMyDirectDoctor.com stands for. Our life’s work is to improve the health and well-being of patients like you by doing well on two very important things:
Join the movement for improved patient-centred care and see a concierge doctor in your area today. Find your nearest concierge doctor at – findmydirectdoctor.com
