Concierge medicine, the way it was meant to work.

Some patients are looking for what concierge medicine offers but don't recognize the term — or actively dislike it because of how it is sometimes marketed. "Private primary care" gets at the same thing without the connotations.

What both terms describe is a primary care practice where the doctor is paid through patient memberships rather than through volume-based insurance billing. The practical effect is that the doctor has time. Time to listen, time to think, time to coordinate, time to follow up. That single change, paid for by the membership fee, is what separates this kind of practice from traditional insurance-based primary care.

What "private" means at Diamond Cove

It means three specific things:

Private as in independent. Diamond Cove is owned by Dr. Michelle Becker. Not by a hospital system, a national network, or a private equity group. Decisions about how the practice is run — patient cap, time per visit, how phone calls are handled, how care is coordinated — are made by the doctor who sees the patients, not by an operations team somewhere else.

Private as in your information stays in one place. Diamond Cove does not bill insurance for in-office primary care visits. That means there are no insurance claims floating around for routine appointments, no prior authorizations, no third-party utilization review. Health insurance still covers outside services like specialists, hospitalization, imaging, and prescriptions, and we help coordinate that — but the relationship between you and your doctor at the office is direct.

Private as in unrushed. The membership model is what allows for long appointments, same-day or next-day access when appropriate, and the kind of unhurried care that traditional primary care — built on a 10- to 15-minute slot length — can't really deliver.

Who tends to look for concierge medicine in Naples

The patients who find their way to Diamond Cove are usually some mix of:

• Tired of feeling rushed in primary care
• Managing one or more chronic conditions and want a single doctor who knows the full picture
• Coordinating care across multiple specialists and want someone holding the threads together
• Busy enough that a half-day at urgent care is not realistic
• Already members of a different concierge or "private" model that turned out to be more systemized than it advertised

What concierge medicine costs

At Diamond Cove, adult membership is $5,700 per year. Children are added at lower rates as part of a family membership. Pricing for younger or healthier patients can sometimes be adjusted based on anticipated care needs. The membership covers the cost of in-office primary care — there are no copays, deductibles, or insurance claims for routine visits at our office. Outside services (specialists, imaging, hospitalization, prescriptions) still go through whatever health insurance you have.

If you'd like to compare the value calculation against traditional primary care, we walk through that on the cost page.

The cleanest way to evaluate it

Private primary care is not the right model for everyone. It is a meaningful annual commitment, both financial and personal. The cleanest way to figure out whether it suits you is to come in for a free meet & greet — sit with Dr. Becker for an hour, ask whatever you want, and decide on your own time.