How to offer concierge-like care without the fee

I like to describe my practice as “concierge like.” We are all familiar with the concept of MD VIP practices. They require patients to pay a flat fee to be part of the practice’s patient base, and, in return, the patient has free access to his physician at any time.

I don’t require my patients to pay a flat fee to be part of my patient base. However, because I participate only with Medicare and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, I am able to offer “concierge-like” care for all of my patients.

Like MD VIP doctors, I partner with my patients to create a tailored wellness plan for their general health and their ocular health.  Patients are seen on time unless I truly have had an emergency or the patient just prior to them has arrived late.

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When you open your own practice, you have to decide to whom you will market yourself. ODs cannot be all things to all people. If you participate with a lot of managed vision care plans, most of your patients will be initially selecting you because you are “on the list.” It will become increasingly more challenging to build rapport with your patients when you have less and less time to spend with them. I am proud of the fact that when I tell my patients, “I love what I do,” they say that it’s quite obvious.

Part of the family

My muse at Montgomery Eye Care is my paternal grandfather, Mat G. Boname, MD. He was the primary physician in my hometown for 65 years. He had an office in his home. Together with my grandmother, Altha C. Boname, RN, they provided primary medical care for five generations of people in my hometown and surrounding area. My grandfather made house calls and dispensed medication from his own office.

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I receive many compliments on the style of my office and how it makes my patients feel like they are being welcomed into my home when they arrive here. To pay homage to my family and family history, my office is decorated with family photos and college textbooks from the 1920s (belonging to my grandfather). New patients and previous patients enjoy looking at my family memorabilia. Often they are reminded of similar pictures they have of their own family.  My patients say that they feel very welcome in my office and I have created an atmosphere where they want to hang out and check out the latest styles in our optical dispensary or drop by to say hello and see if anything new has arrived.

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