Harvard researchers say the number of doctors leaving traditional primary care to join a private membership model has almost doubled in five years.
In the “concierge” model, primary care providers take fewer patients and charge a membership fee in exchange for longer visits and quicker appointments. They also get reimbursed from insurance.
A similar model, known as “direct primary care,” bypasses insurance altogether so there are fewer administrative costs.
A new study from Harvard Medical School and other institutions found that the number of doctors choosing one of those models jumped about 80 percent since 2018 – to more than 7000 providers nationwide. That’s more than twice as fast as predicted.
Researcher Zirui Song from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital said both doctors and patients tend to have a more satisfying experience in those models. But there’s a tradeoff for the overall health care system.
“For everyone else left in traditional primary care practices,” Song said, “there are more patients needing new primary care physicians, and, in the short term, fewer physicians to actually take on those patients.”
He said fewer providers are even going into primary care, which tends to have more paperwork and lower salaries than specialties like cardiology or dermatology.
“There are new graduates going into primary care every year, but the number is not nearly enough to meet the aging population and the demand,” he said, “not to mention the exits to concierge and direct primary care practices.”
Song said there’s still hope that state and federal efforts will shore up primary care by dedicating more money to traditional practices.
He said future growth of the membership models may come down to how many people can afford the fees, which can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars a year.
