April 17, 2020 / Sai Balasubramanian, J.D., Contributor
The coronavirus has upended life for nearly every country and person worldwide. For many, the emergence of this virus has reshaped life into a “new normal,” entailing a permanent state of social distancing, remote working, and harnessing the power of digital technology to stay connected with business and operations as needed. Although the healthcare industry is facing the brunt of this crisis, the pandemic has forced healthcare to evolve more rapidly over the last few months than it has over the past 30 years, in terms of embracing new forms of patient engagement and care delivery. Though certain aspects may revert once the pandemic has subsided, the coronavirus may be the unfortunate stimulus that medicine needed to make some of these changes that are beneficial, the “new normal.”
Concierge Medicine 
One of the biggest opportunities that has largely been untapped thus far and will likely use this pandemic as a launching pad will be concierge medicine. As many medical institutions have temporarily banned elective procedures and routine office visits unless medically essential, this pandemic has shown people the value of having regular access to primary care. Furthermore, the jarring number of lives that the virus has already claimed will only further encourage people to get routine care and maintain healthier lifestyles, acting as yet another reason for more frequent visits with a primary care physician. These factors, in light of a newfound appeal toward social distancing, create the perfect platform for concierge medicine.
The general premise behind this model is that patients pay a retainer or premium fee to establish a relationship with and have a physician on-call as desired. Concierge physicians only take on a limited number of patients so that they can provide exclusive and timely access to their existing patient base. These patients can thus bypass the typical inconveniences in seeking care, such as the month-long wait times for typical primary care appointments, the nuances of finding the right provider, prolonged ER wait times, and of course, the formalized nature of establishing care with someone that doesn’t know the patient’s background or medical and social history.
However, it is important to note that concierge medicine still has significant hurdles to overcome, including deciphering the liability process, patient privacy aspects, malpractice issues, and how to scale the business model at a time when large hospital systems continue to expand. Nonetheless, this pandemic has highlighted that patients may prefer to pay a premium price to get customized and personalized routine care, especially in times of need and desperation.