Top-Rated Concierge Physician Services in Oregon

TL/DR –

Nonprofit hospitals initially created to serve the poor are now adding concierge physician practices, charging patients substantial annual fees for easier access to their doctors. This trend, which sees physicians increase their income while decreasing their patient load, is being adopted by large hospital systems such as Northwestern Medicine, Penn Medicine, University Hospitals, and Baptist Health. Critics argue that the practice exacerbates primary care shortages and drives up healthcare costs, but supporters highlight that the fees provide new revenue and assist with physician recruitment and retention.

Nonprofit Hospitals Introduce Concierge Physician Practices

Nonprofit hospitals, primarily established to serve the poor, are now adding concierge physician practices, charging patients annual membership fees that could go beyond $2,000 for an easier access to their doctors.

This practice began decades ago among physicians; thousands of doctors have moved to the concierge model to increase income while reducing their patient load.

Major hospital systems such as Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, University Hospitals in Cleveland and Baptist Health in Miami are offering concierge physician services. The fees can exceed $4,000 a year, over and above co-payments, deductibles, and other charges not met by patients’ insurance coverage.

Despite criticism that concierge medicine potentially intensifies primary care shortages, limits access to the affluent, and increases healthcare costs, tax-exempt hospitals find the practice financially beneficial. The fees serve as a new revenue source directly and as a tool to attract and retain physicians who refer their affluent patients to the employing hospitals.

Gerard Anderson, a hospital finance expert at Johns Hopkins University, explained that hospitals favor physicians offering concierge services as their patients typically have no bad debts or need for charity care and mostly have private insurance.

Concierge physicians limit their practices to a few hundred patients to guarantee immediate access and longer visits as opposed to traditional primary care doctors who cater to thousands.

Concierge Physicians Offer Exclusive Services

Concierge physicians typically promise same or next-day appointments. Some even provide their mobile numbers to patients. Baptist Health, for instance, began its concierge program, primarily meant for donors, in 2019. It now runs three practices across South Florida, charging patients $2,500 annually.

Concierge physician practices emerged over two decades ago, largely in upscale areas, catering mainly to wealthy retirees keen to pay extra for better physician access.

Concierge Medicine Impact: Higher Costs, No Impact on Mortality Rates

Proponents of concierge medicine argue that the more attentive care results in healthier patients. However, a study by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley and University of Pennsylvania found no impact on mortality rates but higher costs. Patients’ total healthcare spending increased by 30%-50% upon enrollment in concierge medicine.

Concierge Medicine: Extension of Market Consolidation for Hospitals

Concierge physician programs are now being initiated even far from hospitals’ home locations. For instance, Tampa General Hospital in Florida opened a concierge practice in upper-middle-class Palm Beach Gardens, roughly a three-hour drive from Tampa. Similarly, Mount Sinai Health System in New York runs a concierge physician practice in West Palm Beach.

NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Florida, employs 12 concierge physicians who treat about 3,000 patients in total, charging at least $3,500 as an annual fee.

NCH patients whose doctors convert to concierge and do not wish to pay the membership fee are referred to other primary care practices or to urgent care, said James Brinkert, regional administrator for the system.

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