Primary care physicians (PCPs) provide medical services within certain office hours, so visits to the doctor follow a regular schedule. Concierge services, however, offer patients the ability to access their primary care doctor at any time of the day or night through a visit or phone call. Another area where you can tell the difference is with the annual physical exam. Traditional primary care physicians accept payments from health insurance providers, while concierge drug providers only accept payments from patients directly, either by charging for service or offering monthly memberships with a certain range of services. The difference between a concierge doctor and a regular doctor isn't in the doctor themselves.
Primary care doctors, regardless of the type of office, are usually family doctors or internal medicine doctors. In both traditional and concierge offices, you'll find capable doctors who strive to provide the best possible care for their patients. It has been almost 20 years since the first concierge medicine offices opened and it is still not a widely known or understood concept in the field of health care. According to a survey conducted by the Concierge Medicine Research Collective, an increasing proportion of patients in most concierge offices are people aged 50 and older.
