Overwhelmed by patient loads and work, some rural physicians are turning to concierge models to find balance, KFF Health News reported April 16.
Concierge medicine models see physicians cap their patient load, charging a monthly or annual membership fee while patients still pay insurance premiums, copays and deductibles. It’s estimated there are 7,000 to 22,000 concierge physicians in the U.S. Their membership fees range from $1,000 to $50,000 a year.
Critics of the model point out that only patients with extra money can pay for healthcare, and that the model shrinks the number of primary care practices in a community. This is especially concerning in rural areas where there is already a shortage of primary care options.
However, physicians who have made the switch told KFF it solved the pressures they were facing by trying to treat too many patients in too short of a time.
In rural Massachusetts, a few physicians have made the switch. One shrunk her patient load from 1,700 to around 800. The quality of care for those who stay increases, but it also reduces access for many patients.
However, physicians using concierge medicine told KFF that it was the only way they could have the personal relationships with patients that attracted them to the field to begin with.
“It’s a way to practice self-preservation in this field that is punishing patients and doctors alike,” internal medicine physician Shayne Taylor, MD, who recently opened a practice offering direct primary care in Northampton, Mass., told KFF. “It’s either we do something like this or we quit.”
