20 Questions to Ask Before Joining a Concierge Practice

The patients who become genuinely happy concierge members usually came in already knowing what to ask. The patients who are disappointed often signed up without doing the comparison.

Here are 20 questions worth printing and bringing to every meet & greet. The questions are blunt on purpose. A practice that resents being asked any of them is telling you something useful.

About the practice structure

1. What is the maximum number of patients you'll accept? If they don't have a number, that itself is the answer.
2. How close are you to that cap right now? A practice approaching its cap is a different proposition than one at 30% capacity.
3. Has the cap ever been raised? Under what circumstances would it be? A "no" with a credible explanation is reassuring.
4. Is the practice physician-owned, or owned by a national company, hospital, or investor group? All four models exist. They produce different incentives.
5. If it's affiliated with a network, what does that affiliation actually do? Brand only? Referral pipelines? Operational standards? Get specifics.
6. If the doctor leaves, retires, or sells the practice, what happens to my membership? Read the membership agreement on this.

About the doctor

7. What is the physician's training and board certification? Verify it independently if you can.
8. How long has she practiced in Naples specifically? Local reputation, hospital relationships, and specialist networks take years to build.
9. What hospital privileges does she hold? At which hospitals? No privileges means a complete handoff if you're hospitalized.
10. If I'm hospitalized, what specifically does that doctor do? "Coordinates" is vague. Visit you? Communicate with the inpatient team? Advocate based on history? Manage care? Get specifics.

About access and continuity

11. Will I primarily see one doctor, or rotate among several? If multi-physician, how is continuity maintained?
12. How long is a routine appointment scheduled for? "30 minutes" is a different answer than "as long as the visit needs."
13. How are after-hours questions handled? Direct doctor access? Answering service? Triage to ER?
14. How quickly are phone calls returned during business hours? By whom? Same day by the doctor herself is the strongest answer.
15. If the doctor is on vacation or out sick, who covers? Will they have access to my chart?

About care coordination

16. How is care coordinated when I see specialists or get imaging? Specifically: who reads outside reports, follows up on results, and integrates findings into my chart?
17. Are there in-network referral preferences? Hospital-affiliated and network practices may have explicit or implicit preferences. Independent practices don't.

About cost and what's included

18. What is the membership fee, and what does it cover? Does it replace insurance billing for visits, or is it in addition to insurance billing?
19. Are there any per-visit charges, copays, or additional fees beyond the membership? Get this in writing.
20. Can I see the membership agreement before deciding? Take it home. Read it carefully. Have someone else read it. Don't sign in the office.

What to do with the answers

If you've done meet & greets at three or four practices and asked the same 20 questions of each, the right one for you should be obvious by the end. The answers reveal which practices are structured around the patient and which are structured around their own operations.

The right practice may not be the first one you visit. It may not be the cheapest. It may not be the one with the most polished marketing. It will be the one whose answers match what you actually want from a primary care relationship.