Some patients need more than what standard concierge care provides. The Intensive Care tier of my practice is built for patients whose medical situation requires close, ongoing physician involvement rather than periodic check-ins. It's not meant for most people. For the patients it's designed for, it's often the difference between a chaotic, episode-driven experience of the healthcare system and a coordinated one.
TL;DR
- The Intensive Care tier is for patients whose situation requires close, ongoing physician involvement, not periodic check-ins
- Designed for: frequent hospitalizations, complex chronic disease, post-discharge recovery, end-of-life care
- What it includes: daily interaction, weekly in-home visits, hospital attending at Boca Regional, intensive medication management, coordinated family communication, hospice coordination
- The point isn't luxury; it's the level of physician attention these specific situations actually require to prevent avoidable crises
- Pricing is structured to reflect the level of physician involvement and is discussed during the initial consultation
- To start the conversation: call 561-468-6981
Who this is for
A few categories of patients benefit most:
Patients with frequent hospitalizations. Recurrent admissions are almost always a sign that something isn't being managed well in the outpatient setting. In many cases, close daily attention can prevent the next admission.
End-of-life patients. Terminal illness is where medicine becomes most personal and most logistical at the same time. Hospice coordination, symptom management, family communication, and honest prognosis conversations all need a physician who's available and present. Rushed ten-minute visits don't serve this situation.
Patients with complex chronic disease. Advanced heart failure, oncology patients on active treatment, dialysis patients, patients with multiple serious diagnoses interacting in ways that generic care plans don't anticipate.
Post-hospitalization recovery. The first two weeks after discharge are where most readmissions happen. Intensive daily monitoring in that window changes outcomes.
What the Intensive Care tier includes
Daily interaction. Check-ins as needed, proactive symptom monitoring, rapid response to concerns, real-time medication adjustments. Not a scheduled weekly call; actual day-to-day physician involvement.
Weekly in-home visits. A physical exam, lab draws interpreted in real time, medication reconciliation, a look at the home environment. For patients who can't easily get to an office, this is how medicine happens. (How house calls work in the standard practice.)
Weekly labs interpretation. Regular monitoring of the specific labs that matter for your condition, with trends tracked and acted on. Problems caught early are cheaper, less dangerous, and more treatable than problems caught at the point of crisis.
Family group communication. For seriously ill patients, family members need information too. A secure group chat with the key family members (adult children, spouse, primary caregiver) means everyone is working from the same facts, and questions from any family member get to a single point of contact.
Hospital attending at Boca Regional. If you're admitted to Boca Raton Regional Hospital, I serve as your attending physician. Daily rounds, coordination with specialists, discharge planning, family updates. The same doctor who knows your home situation manages you in the hospital. That continuity prevents the handoff failures that cause most avoidable hospital complications.
Hospice coordination. When the goal shifts to comfort, I help select the appropriate hospice service, coordinate with the hospice team, manage symptom control, and stay present through the final phase. The physician relationship doesn't end when treatment ends.
Intensive medication management. Daily adjustments as needed, drug interaction monitoring, side-effect management, and active simplification. Polypharmacy in complex patients is a common source of harm, and an attentive physician can usually reduce pill burden while improving outcomes.
Why continuous physician involvement matters
When a patient has serious, active illness, the value of a physician who knows the full story is hard to overstate. You have one doctor who understands the medical history, the personal preferences and values, the response to prior treatments, the family situation, the goals of care. Decisions get made faster because the context is already there.
When something goes wrong at 11 p.m., you don't explain your case to a new person at urgent care. You reach the doctor who already knows you, and the right action gets taken in minutes rather than hours. That single fact prevents a substantial number of ER visits and hospital admissions. (What 24/7 access actually feels like in real scenarios.)
Across multiple specialists (which most high-needs patients have), intensive concierge care provides the missing coordination. One physician oversees the whole plan, reconciles conflicting recommendations, and advocates for what's right for the patient rather than what's convenient for any individual specialist's workflow.
Supporting the family
Serious illness affects the people around the patient as much as the patient. The Intensive Care tier includes sustained support for the family:
Regular updates in clear language. Direct physician access when questions come up. Education about the condition and what to expect. Guidance through the hard decisions that accompany serious illness: hospice, advance directives, goals-of-care changes. Presence during the times when presence is what matters most.
End-of-life care
When cure is no longer the goal, the focus shifts. Pain management, symptom control, quality of life over length of life, and dignity through the process. Honest prognosis conversations that don't hedge. Goals-of-care discussions that actually drive treatment decisions. Advance directive guidance based on what you actually want, not defaults. Coordination with hospice, spiritual care if that matters to you, and bereavement resources for the family.
This is the part of medicine that rushed healthcare handles worst. It's also the part that patients and families remember most.
How investment is structured
The Intensive Care tier's pricing reflects the level of physician involvement required: daily availability, weekly home visits, comprehensive care coordination, hospital attending at Boca Regional, the family communication platform, and priority access. It's structured as a monthly engagement and discussed in detail during the initial consultation, since the right fit (and the right structure) varies by situation.
It's not meant for most patients. It's meant for patients whose medical situation genuinely requires this level of attention.
How it starts
For patients or families considering this tier:
- An initial consultation to discuss the situation and whether this level of care fits
- A clinical assessment of current health status and care needs
- A written care plan that defines what we'll do, how, and how we'll measure whether it's working
- Onboarding to establish communication channels, family access, and hospital arrangements
- The ongoing work of managing a complex medical situation well
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from standard concierge primary care?
Standard concierge primary care (the 50-patient cap practice) is built around the annual physical, same-day visits when something acute comes up, longer scheduled visits, and direct cell access. The Intensive Care tier is structurally different: daily physician involvement, weekly home visits, intensive medication management, and hospital attending. It's a much higher level of physician time and is reserved for patients whose situation actually requires it.
Who's NOT a candidate for this tier?
Most patients aren't, and shouldn't be. Healthy adults with routine chronic conditions, snowbirds wanting an attentive primary care doctor for their Florida months, and busy professionals wanting a real annual physical are all served well by standard concierge care. The Intensive Care tier is for patients whose medical situation has crossed into needing a physician as a near-daily part of their care, not a periodic resource.
Can family members in another state be involved in care decisions?
Yes, with HIPAA authorization on file. The family group communication platform is specifically designed for this; adult children in other states (or other countries) can stay in the loop, ask questions directly, and participate in goals-of-care conversations. For patients whose families are scattered, this is often the most valuable single feature.
What about Medicare?
Medicare continues to cover medical services exactly as it would at any other practice. The Intensive Care membership covers what Medicare never reimbursed: the level of access, the time, the coordination, the family support. Hospital admission coverage runs through Medicare in the standard way; the difference is that I'm involved in the inpatient management as the attending physician.
How long does the engagement typically last?
It varies by situation. Some patients are in the Intensive Care tier through an acute high-needs phase (post-discharge recovery from a major event, oncology treatment, an exacerbation of chronic illness) and step back to standard concierge care once stabilized. Others remain in the tier long-term because their situation continues to require it. End-of-life engagements are often months. The structure is designed to fit what the patient's situation actually needs at any given time.
Can this start mid-crisis (e.g., right after a discharge or a new diagnosis)?
Yes. Many engagements start at exactly that moment, when the gap between what's needed and what the standard system delivers becomes obvious. Onboarding can move quickly when the situation calls for it.
How to think about whether this fits your situation
The criterion isn't financial; it's clinical. Patients whose situation genuinely requires daily physician involvement to prevent the next crisis are the right fit. Patients who can be well-served by standard concierge primary care are better off in that tier. The honest assessment is part of the initial consultation. (Full criteria for evaluating any concierge practice.)
About the Author
Dr. Ben Soffer, DO is a board-certified physician practicing concierge primary care in Boca Raton, Florida. The Intensive Care tier sits within the same 50-patient practice and reflects the same principle: enough physician time to do medicine well, scaled to what each situation requires.
If you or a loved one are in a high-needs situation
A no-obligation conversation about your specific situation, including whether this tier fits or whether standard concierge care would serve you better.
- Call: 561-468-6981
- Email: info@drbensoffer.com
- Or reach out through the contact form
