FAQs

We don’t bill insurance. Rather, we charge a membership fee for the year, which includes unlimited office visits, as well as care over the phone and through our portal. This allows us to limit the number of patients in our panel, which in turn allows us to give more time and attention to each patient.

In more concrete terms, many full-time primary care physicians who accept insurance will have anywhere from 2,000-3,000 patients for whom they care, which is why they can spend only 15-30 minutes per patient.

At Rockville Concierge Doctors, we limit ourselves to 400 patients per physician, which allows us to spend up to 2 hours for a physical and at least 30 minutes (usually more) for an acute illness visit or follow-up. Having fewer patients also means that we have more flexibility in our schedules, including for same-day or next-day appointments. We’re available to our patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for urgent issues.

Traditionally, insurance companies have paid very little for primary care. As a result, primary care practices that take insurance are driven to jam-pack the schedule with patients, resulting in rushed appointments, long wait times in the waiting room, a lack of same-day or next-day appointments, high rates of primary care physician burnout and turnover, and an overall reactive approach to healthcare.

At Rockville Concierge Doctors, the yearly membership fee buys you an experience that is orders of magnitude different from what you would get in an insurance-based primary care practice. Our appointments are anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. We run on time. We have time for same-day or next-day appointments. We have time not only to help you feel better when you are sick but also to invest in keeping you healthy. And by handling more of your healthcare problems ourselves and coordinating your care, we can actually save you time and money.

The only additional money you pay per year for this high-quality experience is the yearly membership fee. All the rest of your healthcare – labs, imaging tests, specialist referrals – gets billed through insurance by the entities who perform the services, same as it always has.

Two reasons: One, to help stay healthy. We at Rockville Concierge Doctors strongly believe in the power of prevention and, through personalized lifestyle interventions as well as evidence-based screening tests, we can help keep you healthy. Two, to get the care you need when you need it, by someone who knows you and not by a random urgent care provider.

Even young, healthy people get sick, with illnesses both big and small. In our concierge model, we have the time and flexibility to work around your schedule and not the other way around.

In general, our clinic hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. However, to a limited extent, by request and depending on availability, we can see patients in the evening and on the weekends, either in the clinic or at a patient’s home/office.

For patients 18 years old to 39 years old, inclusive, the yearly fee is $1,133. For patients 40 years old to 67 years old, inclusive, it’s $2,195, and for those 68 years old to 89 years old, inclusive, it’s $2,260.50. The fee for patients 90 years old and older is $2,910. These fees include unlimited office visits as well as consultations by phone and patient portal. There are no additional co-pays or fees.

You can pay once per year or, for a nominal administrative fee, twice per year. We accept check, Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card and Amex.

The yearly fee entitles you to unlimited visits, 24/7 access to a physician in the practice, and certain basic blood tests with your physical. Rather than the 15-30 minutes that most insurance-based practices allot per visit, we spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours with our patients.

What’s more, since we’re not beholden to insurance companies for payment, if you’d prefer we try to handle as much as possible over the phone or through the patient portal, as long as we don’t think you have to be examined.

Check with your tax advisor or accountant to find out whether the yearly fee may be tax-deductible.

No. However, certain Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) plans may reimburse for all or part of the membership fee. You should check with your human resources representative or HSA/FSA plan manager to find out.

Also, some insurance plans (not Medicare) will partially reimburse you for the value of care provided at each visit. We provide a receipt, also known as a “superbill,” which you can submit to your insurance for out-of-network reimbursement. Check with your health insurance company for more information.

In order to encourage younger folks to join, the fee for patients < 40 years old is already heavily discounted.

If you have a family member join, as long as neither of you is < 40 years old we will discount the less expensive fee by 15%. This discount continues each year.

Furthermore, we offer a one-time $200 discount on the next year’s renewal for each referral that results in a patient joining the practice.

Because of the effort involved in onboarding a patient, including reviewing all outside records and setting aside 2 hours or more for a physical, we cannot provide any refunds.

Most definitely. Although you will not have to pay anything other than the yearly fee to see us, if you need to get lab work or imaging done, or to see a specialist, or to go to an emergency room/hospital, you need insurance to pay for those expenses.

For the vast majority of insurance companies, no. Most insurance companies do not require one’s primary care physician to be in-network in order to cover his/her orders or referrals. Because we do not accept any form of insurance, we are considered out-of-network by all insurances.