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The most common medical practice size is 2,000 to 3,000 patients. With so many patients to see, a doctor has limited time to spend on each person, making it difficult to establish strong doctor-patient relationships. This is why concierge medicine is gaining popularity. With this model, doctors are able to provide more attentive care while maintaining the same revenue flow.
There are many factors to consider before a traditional medical practice can make the switch over to concierge medicine. Software Advice, a website that provides reviews and ratings of medical and EMR software, recently wrote an article that weighs a few of the pros and cons of this approach. Here are a few we found to be most helpful.
Pros
1. A different model, less patients
Concierge practices require patients to pay a retainer fee. According to Tom Blue of the American Association of Private Physicians (AAPP), the fee can be anywhere from $50 to $25,000 per year, with the average amount being about $150 a month. Therefore, the number of patients they have drops significantly depending on what type of payment model the practice uses. This allows for concierge doctors to spend more time with patients and accommodate last minute appointments.
2. Equal pay, more satisfying work
Since patients in concierge practices pay an annual, monthly or quarterly retainer fee, doctors are able to see less patients and still make the same amount of money per year. For instance, if each patient is charged $1,500 a year, then a concierge practice with 1,000 patients can bring in 1.5 million a year. Additionally, with a lower patient count, concierge practices require less staff which also lowers administrative costs.
Cons
3. Not ideal for all practices
A major downside of this model is that it doesn’t work in all types of healthcare. According to Dan Behroozi, EVP of business development and operations at MDVIP, the physician needs to be a general practitioner for the model to be successful. Unless there is a primary care relationship, this model is not an ideal fit.
4. Requires more marketing
The single biggest challenge of concierge medicine is marketing. Since concierge medicine is still gaining popularity, doctors have to invest more time and money into attracting new patients and raising awareness about the business model. Some doctors have found success with ads in a country club newsletter while others seek speaking engagements with men’s group. The method is all dependent on the target patient audience. But anyone who wants to do well in the concierge medical field has to prepare for the marketing commitment.
For more information on switching to concierge medicine, check out the article on Profitable Practice blog: http://profitable-practice.softwareadvice.com/should-you-consider-concierge-medicine-0413/.
Nice article. Concierge physicians routinely report more amazing job fulfillment, since they can practice the way they were trained — sitting down for a bit to truly converse with their patients and utilize their abilities to their fullest extent.
Depends on the Doctor we were assigned to a Doctor with a kiss the ring attitude. We joined to get my Mom more personal care unfortunately the Doctor cause such havoc among the inner circle of the family I called and the Doctor went off on me because I ask questions. This was the first call I made to the Doctor because my Sister does the calls she was in a meeting . I do not like Doctors screaming at me. I asked the Doctor to please talk to me not at me and he said fired. Because of this Doctor does not have a bedside manner only focused on subservience when I asked questions he fired me causing my Mother stress when she needed him. The Doctor is blaming me for his Receptionist crying his Receptionist makes mistake after mistake according to the family member who handles the interactions. Can this be a scam or can this be marketing for Doctor’s that have defective personalities and need a marketing company to get them patients ?