Concierge Medicine - Business Model

Business Model

Concierge physicians care for fewer patients than in a conventional practice, ranging from 100 patients per doctor to 1,000, instead of the 3,000 to 4,000 that the average physician now sees every year. All generally claim to be accessible via cell phone or email at any time of day or night or offer some other "special" service above and beyond the "normal" care provided. The annual fees vary widely, from US$600 to US$5,000 per year for an individual, with the lower annual fees being in addition to the usual fees for each service and the higher annual fees including most services.

Some concierge practices do not accept insurance of any kind. These are also referred to as cash-only or direct primary care practices. By refusing to deal with insurance companies, these practices can keep overhead and administrative costs low, thereby providing affordable healthcare to patients. They become "concierge" only if the practice assesses an annual or monthly fee instead of or in addition to a fee for each medical service. Other concierge practices do take insurance, even Medicare, but ask for an annual fee for additional services exclusive of those covered by insurance plans. This annual fee is not a substitute for medical insurance, and generally does not cover consultations outside the practice, laboratory procedures, medicines, hospitalizations or emergency care from other providers.

In February 2010, an informal one year summary of findings related to the concierge medicine marketplace was released. The summary of the study concluded that at the end of 2009:

• Over 66% of current U.S. concierge physicians operating practices today are internal medicine specialists.
• The second most popular medical specialty in concierge medicine is family practice.
• A surprising finding in this study was the increasing number of concierge dental and pediatric practices arising since February 2009.

Mostly concentrated on the East and West Coasts, in 2004 the Government Accountability Office counted 146 such practices. The American Medical Association does not track the number of concierge practices because the concept is still so new.