• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Before last week, most of what I knew about concierge doctors I had learned from television: J.D. was a concierge doc before he returned to Sacred Heart Hospital in this year’s revival of “Scrubs,” and the show “Royal Pains” spent seven years exploring how a concierge doc dealt with rich patients in the Hamptons. 

Then I spoke with Alyssa Schaefer, new CMO of MDVIP, the 25-year-old national network of concierge doctors.

MDVIP has a whole webpage that answers the question ‘What is a concierge doctor?”

But, Schaefer told me, the company doesn't like to describe itself with that term “because it sounds like something elite and we believe we have a pretty broad service.”

For a membership fee that ranges between $2,000 and $4,000+ annually,  MDVIP members get no-extra-charge visits to their doctor (usually a PCP), which tend to be longer and easier-to-schedule than the norm, plus an annual wellness program featuring in-depth diagnostic tests like heart health panels, diabetes screenings.

“We don't necessarily target affluent people,” Schaefer said, “but I’m sure we tilt that way given our model and the health consciousness of our member base.”

The wellness program is a key selling point to patients, she noted. Those members who don’t take advantage of it, she explained, are “two thirds more likely to not stay with us for a second year.”

“Most of our patients fall into two categories,” she said. “Usually, they’re 55 or older because (that age group) tends to see their doctor more, have more health concerns and are thinking about their quality of life.” The second segment is “a little bit younger, more focused on longevity and prevention.”

MDVIP’s marketing targets acquisition and retention of both patients and physicians.

On the latter front, MDVIP now boasts 1,400 doctors serving 400,000 patients. Schaefer said MDVIP have a much lower “panel” size, and about half or less of the typical load of 20 to 25 patients a day seen by other doctors.

“The real value proposition on both sides,” Schaefer continued, “is that the doctor and patients end up being able to spend more time with each other. They’re not rushed. They develop a more personal relationship. And the level of care reflects that.”

For doctors, she said, the most engaging acquisition marketing comes via “high-touch events”: in-person gatherings held around the country, where prospective MDVIP doctors “learn about our model, engage with our leadership team, and engage with our current affiliates [doctors].” The live events are supplemented through digital and other channels.

Then, when a doctor comes on board, “we invest hundreds of thousands of dollars setting up that doctor -- from our sales team to our marketing efforts, to sometimes real estate (and more).”

MDVIP also works with the doctors on local marketing to consumers, which range from digital ads and email to events and PR.

A Facebook Ad Library search found some 50 active Meta ads from MDVIP targeted at patients, such as one titled “Primary care that actually knows you,” with text reading "Rushed visits leaving you with unanswered questions? An MDVIP-affiliated doctor has more time to truly listen," along with a video of a current member extolling the service. And many of the MDVIP-placed ads  are geotargeted and include names of local affiliate doctors.

Schaefer's marketing experience includes  eight years at Laurel Road (now KeyBank), a bank with a special expertise in serving doctors -- as we wrote about in 2022.

Schaefer call that experience “a great transition into healthcare marketing because I was so familiar with the doctor segment and understanding... how their lifestyle over time can really compound to be something that’s difficult. And many of our doctors end up going to this smaller patient size route because they want a different lifestyle.”

MDVIP, she said, “is changing fundamentally how they practice medicine.”

And that helps patients, too.

Due to the “deep relationship that the doctor and the patient create together,” Schaefer said, the doctors are “able to detect things about your life, your mental and physical health, etc., to help make sure you’re the healthiest you can be.”