LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The waiting room at Dr. Willilam Haney’s office in St. Matthews rarely has any patients in it. In fact, he calls it the non-waiting room.
He owns a concierge medical practice, so short to no wait times is part of the deal. Concierge medicine is a membership-based healthcare model in which doctors keep patient numbers down. That ensures same-day or next day visits, as well as 24/7 phone access.
“The whole idea is that patients who joins our practice are members of our practice, so they pay a sort of retainer fee. That’s a monthly or yearly fee in order to engage with the doctor and have the time and energy. It’s a convenience fee,” Dr. Haney said.
He worked for traditional healthcare systems, but started feeling like that didn’t allow enough time with each patient.
“It gives people a security with their health that I don’t think people were feeling with the way things were evolving in the market right now,” Dr. Haney said.
That convenience comes with a price tag that varies from practice to practice.
“They always want to know what is the fee. That’s always a question and that varies across our market quite a bit. I know there are some concierge groups that give you basic services for $1,000 a year. Some are as expenses as $4,500 a year,” Dr. Haney said.
He said it’s there are a lot of people who could benefit from concierge medicine, but he sees three main categories of patients:
The medically complex patient: This could be someone with heart problems or diabetes who could use more time with their physician.
The business executive: This is someone who wants to pay for convenience in order to fit a doctor's visit into their busy schedule on a short notice. This person may also travel often, so this allows them to communicate with their doctor over the phone.
Elderly patient whose family members live elsewhere: Dr. Haney said this is a good option if there is an elderly patient who does not have family nearby. This allows those out-of-town caretakers an opportunity to communicate directly with their family member’s doctor.
Concierge medicine is similar to, but not the same as direct primary care. A main difference between the two is concierge medicine still uses the patient’s healthcare, while direct primary care does not.
It is not clear exactly how many concierge medical practices there are across the state, but upon a search, there are more Kentucky doctors in concierge medicine than direct primary care.