Cape Coral and Southwest Florida Feature Stories

Do you ever find yourself feeling shortchanged by modern health care? Have you ever sat in a waiting room for a couple hours, spent six minutes with a doctor who barely knows you and gone home feeling confused? Do you have fond and fuzzy memories of a time when medical care was more personalized? Wouldn’t you love to have a more direct relationship with a doctor who offered you convenient and timely access to the medical services you need?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, perhaps you’d benefit from the services of a concierge medical practice.

Concierge medicine — also known as direct care, boutique medicine, retainer-based medicine and innovative medical practice design — is a relatively new health care concept wherein a physician charges a fixed annual fee to patients in exchange for enhanced, personalized and accessible medical services. A key component of concierge medicine lies in the physician limiting the size of his/her practice. Where an average primary care practice might serve 2,500-3,000 patients, a concierge practice will typically limit the size of their practice to 200-600 patients. This is what allows the physician to provide the undivided attention and individual services which are the hallmark of concierge medicine.

Other benefits of the concierge medicine model are the potential for more thorough diagnosis and treatment of new and existing illnesses, as well as a health care environment which allows for time to engage in preventive care, wellness programs and intervention.

Naples Barometer recently made a visit to the office of Dr. Craig Davis, a local concierge care physician in Naples, Florida. While there, we spoke with office manager, Jennifer Davis, to learn a little more about how the concierge medicine concept works. Here’s what she had to say:

“We operate as a concierge practice, however, we consider ourselves as an office providing comprehensive internal medicine.

We chose the concierge practice model because we felt it best allowed us to practice the type of comprehensive and compassionate care we strive to provide to each of our patients. Under this model, we are able to limit the number of patients we see. A limited number of patients increases the time we can spend with each patient, and gives the patients greater access to Dr. Davis. The increased attention results in a personal relationship between the patient and Dr. Davis. Our goal is to use that relationship to move from a reactive approach to urgent care issues to a proactive practice focused on prevention and optimal health outcome.

Each concierge practice has its own agreement. Our practice is limited to approximately 200 patients. We charge an annual fee to each patient that includes an annual history and exam, emergency and follow up visits, ECG’s, lab drawing, and selected immunizations. We make every attempt to offer timely appointments, with same-day or next-day care for acute/emergency issues. We do not accept insurance; however, we do collect insurance information and submit it on the behalf of the patient for outside consultations and tests. We accommodate our patients by scheduling their outside appointments for them—our patients find this especially helpful, as it can be very difficult and time-consuming to obtain appointments in other offices. We have established relationships with many physicians and medical centers in the Naples area, which allows us to refer our patients to specialists with confidence.”

— writing by Eric Taubert

Additional Information

Craig C. Davis, MD PL

201 8th Street S.

Suite 304

Naples, FL 34102

(239) 304-3030

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