Concierge Medicine began approximately ten years ago and there may be some who would debate this but I would say a group known as MD2 were one of the frontrunners.
This is a centralized group in the Northwest U.
S.
who offers VIP, Elite care to a small group of members who enjoy a VIP experience at their multiple locations.
Pinnaclecare was the first major national service which offers access to advocates who then seek out physicians across the country to coordinate office visits for their members.
They have formed numerous partnerships and can provide access to reputable physicians across the country.
Then you had groups like MDVIP who came in and contracted doctors across the country, basically taking over the marketing management of their practices.
This model turned into the "template" for concierge medicine in North America.
They seek out doctors with specific parameters, partner with them and then send out a letter offering the patients to either accept the concierge medicine offer and receive VIP access to that physician or leave and find another physician.
They have gained tremendous momentum in buying up doctor practices across the country with this model.
It has afforded the doctors sizable revenue, decreased patient load, and more quality time to spend with their VIP members.
The patients who do not opt-in to the service lose out, but overall it has been a very effective model for both doctors and patients.
You now have a new set of hybrid medical concierge groups such as Team Doctors Preferred Access, Signature MD, ChoiceMD, and Elite Health offering a form of Hybrid Concierge Medicine in which patients may opt in to the concierge service and if they do not opt-in still keep the relationship with their physicians.
The patients who choose to opt-in to the preferred access, VIP membership are given priority appointments, less or zero wait times at the offices, and many other services.
This hybrid model is gaining more and more popularity as we have seen a growth from somewhere around 500 concierge practices in 2005 to some 5000 now in operation in the U.
S.
according to the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design, "In 2005 there were about 500 doctors participating in concierge medicine, while today, there are more than 5,000 primary doctors operating some form of direct-payment practice- supplementing or replacing the insurance reimbursement system- in the United States.
"
This is a centralized group in the Northwest U.
S.
who offers VIP, Elite care to a small group of members who enjoy a VIP experience at their multiple locations.
Pinnaclecare was the first major national service which offers access to advocates who then seek out physicians across the country to coordinate office visits for their members.
They have formed numerous partnerships and can provide access to reputable physicians across the country.
Then you had groups like MDVIP who came in and contracted doctors across the country, basically taking over the marketing management of their practices.
This model turned into the "template" for concierge medicine in North America.
They seek out doctors with specific parameters, partner with them and then send out a letter offering the patients to either accept the concierge medicine offer and receive VIP access to that physician or leave and find another physician.
They have gained tremendous momentum in buying up doctor practices across the country with this model.
It has afforded the doctors sizable revenue, decreased patient load, and more quality time to spend with their VIP members.
The patients who do not opt-in to the service lose out, but overall it has been a very effective model for both doctors and patients.
You now have a new set of hybrid medical concierge groups such as Team Doctors Preferred Access, Signature MD, ChoiceMD, and Elite Health offering a form of Hybrid Concierge Medicine in which patients may opt in to the concierge service and if they do not opt-in still keep the relationship with their physicians.
The patients who choose to opt-in to the preferred access, VIP membership are given priority appointments, less or zero wait times at the offices, and many other services.
This hybrid model is gaining more and more popularity as we have seen a growth from somewhere around 500 concierge practices in 2005 to some 5000 now in operation in the U.
S.
according to the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design, "In 2005 there were about 500 doctors participating in concierge medicine, while today, there are more than 5,000 primary doctors operating some form of direct-payment practice- supplementing or replacing the insurance reimbursement system- in the United States.
"
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