Concierge Medicine, Membership Medicine, Primary Care, Patient Fit, Healthcare Access, Cape Cod Healthcare, Sandwich Massachusetts, Preventive Care, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Personalized Medicine, Meet and Greet, Ms.Medicine Affiliate

“Concierge medicine” means different things to different people — five-star service, expensive insurance, neither of which is quite right. Here's what it actually means, and what it doesn't. At the most basic level, it means seeing far fewer patients than a typical practice — and that one change is what makes everything else possible.

There's a habit I picked up years ago that I still keep before every visit: I take off my watch. It sounds small. It isn't. The watch is a reminder that time is being measured, and once I'm aware of it, I start rationing what I give a patient instead of giving them what they actually need.