The Ambulatory Opportunity: Why Concierge Medicine Matters More Than Ever

By Keith Elgart
Chief Executive Officer, ​Concierge Choice Physicians ​

​As health systems prepare for the financial impact of Medicaid reductions under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, executives are reassessing where to invest capital and how to create sustainable sources of revenue. As Becker's recently reported, several health system CEOs are shifting investments away from capital-intensive hospital projects and toward ambulatory care, including primary care, outpatient centers, and other lower-cost sites of care.

​This shift creates an important strategic question for health system leaders: How can primary care become more financially sustainable while preserving the availability, relationships, and community presence that make it so important?

One proven answer is concierge medicine, delivered through flexible models specifically designed for large health systems.

​​As health systems prepare for the financial impact of Medicaid reductions under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, executives are reassessing where to invest capital and how to create sustainable sources of revenue. As Becker's recently reported, several health system CEOs are shifting investments away from capital-intensive hospital projects and toward ambulatory care, including primary care, outpatient centers, and other lower-cost sites of care.
 
This shift creates an important strategic question for health system leaders: How can primary care become more financially sustainable while preserving the availability, relationships, and community presence that make it so important?
 
One proven answer is concierge medicine, delivered through flexible models specifically designed for large health systems.
 
Primary Care Is More Than a Referral Source
 
Health systems have long recognized the strategic importance of primary care. Primary care physicians sit at the center of the patient journey, maintaining relationships with broad patient populations, coordinating care, and influencing where patients receive specialty, diagnostic, and procedural services.
 
Just as important, primary care serves as one of a health system's strongest connections to the community. Primary care physicians offer something large organizations often struggle to create: personal relationships, continuity, and trust. For many patients, the primary care physician is the face of the health system.
 
Historically, however, primary care has often been valued primarily for its downstream impact rather than as a financially viable service line on its own. Today, that perspective is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Workforce shortages, physician burnout, reimbursement pressures, and rising operating costs are forcing health systems to take a closer look at the economics of their primary care practices.
 
At the same time, the industry's trend toward ambulatory care requires health systems to strengthen primary care, not simply maintain it. It’s more critical than ever that every service line must contribute to both strategic and financial performance.
 
Concierge Medicine Changes the Economics
 
At CCP, we have seen firsthand how a well-designed concierge medicine program can create significant new revenue from existing primary care practices, while maintaining a health system's commitment to patient care. When implemented thoughtfully, concierge medicine can help transform primary care from a traditional loss leader into a profitable and sustainable business line.
 
The key is flexibility.
 
Large health systems with multiple primary care physicians and practice locations possess a key advantage. They can offer patients the option to join a concierge program while preserving continuity of care for those who choose not to participate.
 
We accomplish this in two ways:
 
Full Practice Transition Model: A physician converts their practice entirely to concierge medicine, and patients who elect not to join the concierge program are reassigned to physicians with capacity, allowing those providers to grow their patient panels.
 
Hybrid Concierge Model: Physicians continue caring for traditional patients while offering concierge services to a small group of patients who want it.
 
Whether implemented as a full practice transition or a hybrid program, the financial impact of a Concierge Choice program can be substantial.
 
Consider a single physician participating in a hybrid concierge model. If just 100 patients enroll at an annual membership fee of $3,000, the practice generates $300,000 in recurring private-pay revenue each year. Expand that model across ten physicians, and the health system creates a new revenue stream of $3 million annually.
 
Importantly, the benefits extend beyond financial performance.
 
Physicians gain the ability to spend more time with patients, practice at a more sustainable pace, and regain professional satisfaction, all of which are increasingly valuable in an era defined by burnout and workforce shortages.
 
Patients benefit as well. Concierge medicine offers an enhanced practice experience with greater connectivity and more time with their physician. Perhaps most importantly, it gives patients the confidence and peace of mind that comes from feeling like more than just a number on a chart.
 
Primary Care May Be Healthcare's Most Undervalued Growth Opportunity
 
As health systems continue expanding their ambulatory footprint, I believe success should be measured by more than just opening new locations or hiring more physicians. The greater opportunity lies in maximizing the productivity and value of existing primary care investments.
 
A flexible concierge medicine strategy can help achieve that objective. For health systems willing to think differently, our approach to concierge medicine offers more than a supplemental service. It represents a strategic opportunity to transform primary care from a traditional cost center into a powerful engine for growth and financial sustainability.
 
At a time when Medicaid-related funding pressures are forcing difficult decisions across healthcare, the answer is to reimagine what primary care can deliver. Contact Concierge Choice Physicians at 877.888.5590 or email [email protected] to learn more about our models and how they are being used to strengthen health systems from coast to coast.