What are boutique concierge physician practices

Submitted by Patrick Grote on Tue, 06/05/2007 - 5:58pm.

The medical community has long been considered a stable business to go into, but in the last decade it's been turned on its ear. With the advent of managed care and the increased costs of having a practice, many doctors are preferring to move to a boutique practice. I think this is a fascinating development, as it brings customer service and service providing back to the doctor's practice.

If you're older than 25 you probably remember a time when doctors were more accessible. Today, having a doctor's practice is a total numbers game. See X patients, generate Y revenue. If you toss in the restrictions of managed care you end up with an endless loop of frustration and exhaustion.

One of the more recent developments is the boutique practice. This is where a physician will charge an annual fee for you to be a patient. This does three things:

Limits the amount of patients the doctor has in the practice.
Generates stable revenue for the doctor.
Makes the doctor more accessible to you.

The time element cannot be understated. Many of today's ills are preventative in nature, but if the doctor isn't taking the time to explain things to you, how can you know?

A large company in the mix of this is MDVIP. They provide a number of services that help the doctors make the transition, and make ongoing customer service easier. You can think of them as the franchiser of this concept.

The article does note Dr. Elizabeth Laffey, who happens to have her practice in my city. She was a pioneer of this concept, and while she isn't an MDVIP member, she does offer similar services. Her base price is $1500 per patient with discounts for multiple patients.

For the yearly payment you receive the benefits of direct contact with the doctor, home and office visits, dietary review and probably the most important thing, she will go with you to specialist appointments. Imagine that .. having an educated advocate with you when you go to another doctor.

Dr. Laffey doesn't accept insurance, but there are no additional costs to you outside of her fee. Your insurance should cover any lab work or specialists you go to see when necessary, but you have to check.

The United States does have issues with the current system of providing health insurance to people. Is it a fundamental human right? I don't know, but what I do know is that patients in the United States are seen as revenue and numbers now. It's nice to see the boutique concierge physician practices bringing caring back into being a doctor.