The annual retainer, whether paid by the individual or the employer, typically ranges from $1,600 to $2,200. This generally includes an annual physical plus impromptu visits whenever the need arises. Besides the retainer, exams and treatments are usually covered by insurance.
Sponsored: Executive Health, Crain’s New York
December 18, 2015 – It was a breezy, cool day in early December, and Tom Blue was on a business trip in New York City. Walking a bit too quickly in midtown and unused to the hurried pedestrianism of New Yorkers, he felt a pain in the back of his leg, and noticed under his pant leg a bulging blood vessel. Pulling out his phone, Blue took a photo of the problem spot, texted it to his primary care physician and asked what to do. Good luck with that, right? “Two minutes later I got a text in return telling me not to worry, and just to go to a pharmacy, buy a compress and put it on,” said Blue, chief strategy officer of the American Academy of Private Physicians. “Within two minutes I’m at ease, I’m not going to stroke out, I’m not going to die. I call that concierge medicine.” Others, waiting weeks for a mere appointment, would call it a miracle. But concierge medicine’s model is simple: In exchange for an annual retainer fee to their physicians, patients gain quick-and-easy appointments, more personal treatment and, according to studies, more effective treatment. Such a business model may seem counter-intuitive these days. As employers and individuals alike strive to keep medical costs for appropriate care under control, there is a growing movement to voluntarily pay more, for more. Concierge medicine is one such approach.
“The typical primary care physician practice may have 2,000 to 3,000 patients it handles regularly,” said Bret Jorgensen, chairman-CEO of MDVIP, the country’s largest concierge medicine consortium with 840 physicians in 43 states. “Because of the retainer method, concierge doctors can get this workload down to 300 to 600 patients, they serve, and keep time on their schedule for same-day appointments in half-hour time slots, whether during the week, in the evenings or on weekends.”
