The concierge medicine market in South Florida has grown fast, and for a reason. The region has a lot of patients who understand that traditional primary care wasn't designed to serve them well: retirees with complex medication regimens, executives with unforgiving schedules, and seasonal residents who need a doctor they can actually reach.
Not every concierge practice is the same. Some genuinely change how you experience medicine. Others are traditional practices with a membership fee and a slightly nicer waiting room. Here's how to tell the difference.
1. Panel size is the number that changes everything
This is the most important thing most patients never ask about.
Traditional primary care doctors carry 1,500 to 2,500 patients. That's why same-day appointments are nearly impossible, why visits feel rushed, and why your doctor doesn't quite remember your history from visit to visit. Concierge practices cut the panel dramatically. The typical concierge panel is around 300 to 600. Some practices (including mine) go further. I cap at 50.
Smaller panels are what make everything else possible: the same-day visits, the after-hours calls, the doctor who actually remembers you.
What to ask: "How many patients do you currently carry?" A confident concierge doctor will answer directly. If a practice hedges or won't disclose, move on. Below 300 is meaningful. Above 600, you probably won't get the access you're paying for.
2. Real 24/7 access, not an answering service
"24/7 access" appears in almost every concierge brochure. What it actually means varies enormously.
Some practices give you 24/7 access to a nurse triage line. Some give you a covering physician you've never met. The real thing is a direct line to your doctor, the one who knows your history, your medications, and your risk factors.
What to ask: "If I have a concern at 2 a.m. on a Saturday, who answers? Is it you?" Look for practices where the physician hands you their personal cell phone number and means it. If the answer runs through an answering service and an on-call physician, that's not 24/7 access. That's slightly better urgent care.
3. Board certification and training
Internal medicine is the right specialty for adult primary care. Internists train in the full complexity of adult health: chronic disease management, diagnostic reasoning, preventive care, coordination across specialties.
What to look for: Board certification in Internal Medicine (ABIM or AOBIM), an active unrestricted Florida medical license, a clean record on the state licensing board (searchable at flhealthsource.gov), and continuing education in areas relevant to your health. The DO vs. MD distinction matters less than people think; doctors of osteopathic medicine complete equivalent training and hold the same prescribing and practice rights. Certification and ongoing training matter more than the letters.
4. Billing model
There's a real distinction in how concierge practices bill.
Traditional concierge. Membership fee plus insurance billing. The retainer buys access and extra services; insurance is billed for the actual medical care.
Direct primary care (DPC). A flat monthly fee covers routine primary care. No insurance billing for covered services. Lower cost, more transparent.
Private-pay concierge. Membership covers the services I deliver personally. No insurance billing, period. You keep insurance for everything outside my office. This is how my practice runs.
Ask about the billing model and get it in writing. The cleaner and more transparent the structure, the better.
5. Geography and house calls
Traffic in Palm Beach County is real. A concierge doctor who only sees patients in a fixed office is still asking you to drive across town when you're sick. The best practices offer same-day or next-day in-office visits for urgent issues, house calls when office visits don't make sense, telehealth that actually works (video, not just portal messages), and geographic range that matches where you live and travel.
6. Questions to ask before you sign
Before committing, ask:
- What is your panel size, and is it growing?
- Can I reach you directly, and how? (Text, cell, both?)
- What happens when you're on vacation or unavailable?
- What's in the membership fee and what gets billed separately?
- Do you do house calls?
- How do you handle specialist referrals and hospital care?
- What's your approach to chronic disease management versus reactive care?
- Can I verify your malpractice and licensing records?
A physician who's confident in how they practice will welcome these questions.
My practice: board-certified concierge medicine in Boca Raton
My practice is structured around the criteria above, not as marketing but as the actual operating model.
Credentials: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), board certified in Internal Medicine, Florida Medical License OS13821, active and unrestricted (verifiable at flhealthsource.gov).
Location: 2901 Clint Moore Road, Boca Raton, FL.
How I work: I cap at 50 patients, deliberately, so every patient gets genuine access. You get my cell phone. You can text or call any hour, and you reach me, not a service. Same-day visits when you're sick, including house calls across Palm Beach County. Telehealth built in, not bolted on. Private-pay; I don't bill insurance.
Where I see patients
I'm based in Boca Raton and see patients throughout Palm Beach County, including Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, and Highland Beach. House calls are standard across the county.
How to evaluate any concierge practice
The right concierge doctor isn't necessarily the most expensive or the most heavily marketed. It's the one who has a small enough panel to actually give you time, will pick up when you call, knows your history and treats you as a whole person, has the training to manage real complexity, and is transparent about what you're paying for.
Take your time. Ask the hard questions. Visit the office. Trust your instincts about whether this is someone you'd want to call at 9 p.m. when you're worried.
Ready to talk?
I offer a no-obligation consultation for prospective patients. We'll talk about your health history, what you're looking for, and whether my practice makes sense for you. If it's not the right fit, I'll tell you, and I'll try to point you somewhere that is.
Schedule your consultation. Serving Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, and the surrounding area.
