Starting a concierge medical practice is a legal, financial and clinical project, but it is also a communication project that patients will judge you on for years. This guide covers the marketing side of the launch, whether you're converting an existing panel or opening a new membership practice. The legal and payer steps appear as pointers to official sources, not advice; your attorney and accountant own those.
The search data reflects that split. "Starting a concierge medical practice" draws about 20 US searches a month, with clicks averaging $11.69, while patients search "concierge doctor near me" about 12,100 times (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026). Consultants compete for the first phrase. Your launch plan should be built around the second.
The launch at a glance. Count backward from launch day (L). Copy this table into your own planner and replace the offsets with dates.
| When | Step | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| L minus 12 to 9 months | Choose the model; engage counsel and an accountant | Physician owners |
| L minus 9 to 6 months | Settle Medicare, payer and state-law questions; draft the agreement and price | Counsel, owners |
| L minus 6 to 4 months | Send the transition letter; hold patient meetings | Owners, practice manager |
| L minus 4 to 2 months | Rebuild the website; update Google Business Profile; set up inquiry tracking | Practice manager |
| L minus 2 months to L | Enroll founding members; transfer care for patients who decline | Front desk, physicians |
| L to L plus 90 days | Public marketing, community events, referral outreach, first measurement | Practice manager |
Decide the model first: full concierge, hybrid or DPC
Every later message depends on this choice, so make it before any letter goes out. Answer four questions:
- Will you bill insurance or Medicare for member visits? If yes, you're running a concierge or hybrid model. If you'll collect only a periodic fee for primary care, you're closer to direct primary care.
- Will you keep seeing patients who don't join? If yes, it's a hybrid, and your marketing has to protect those relationships.
- How many members can you serve well? Work this out from your own hours and access promises. No outside benchmark fits your schedule.
- Will you sell to employers? That's mainly a DPC channel, with its own state rules.
The tax treatment follows the model. Under IRS Notice 2026-5 (opens in a new tab), an arrangement that bills members' services separately "through insurance or otherwise" isn't a direct primary care service arrangement for HSA purposes. If DPC is your direction, our DPC marketing guide covers its specific messages.
Legal and payer steps to settle before you market
Marketing can't promise what the legal setup doesn't support. Settle these first, with counsel:
- Medicare status. Medicare.gov explains participating, non-participating and opt-out (opens in a new tab) providers. CMS's Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, chapter 15, §40 (opens in a new tab) says opting out is all-or-nothing: a physician "cannot choose to opt-out of Medicare for some Medicare beneficiaries but not others; or for some services but not others." Affidavits signed on or after June 16, 2015 renew every 2 years, and private contracts must contain specific terms (§40.8).
- Commercial payer contracts. Read each one for terms on charging plan members additional fees and for termination notice periods.
- State law. The DPC Coalition (opens in a new tab) says 34 states had enacted laws generally defining DPC as a medical service as of 2025. DPC Frontier (opens in a new tab) keeps state-by-state summaries and a page on opting out of Medicare.
- Your medical board. Rules on notice, ending care and records apply to a conversion. See the next section for one state's guidance.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm how it applies to your practice with a qualified advisor.
The transition letter and timeline for current patients
Existing patients should hear from you before anyone else does. Follow these steps:
- Mail the letter to every active patient months before launch, with your counsel's sign-off.
- Hold open sessions within two weeks of the letter, in person and by video.
- Call high-need patients personally: frail, complex or long-standing relationships.
- Send a reminder at the halfway point, with the enrollment deadline.
- Send written confirmation to patients who decline, with their transfer details.
State boards set the floor for that last step. The Medical Board of California (opens in a new tab) says physicians "should notify patients sufficiently in advance," and that a written notice discontinuing care should state the last day the physician will be available, provide "at least 15 days of emergency treatment and prescriptions," name alternative sources of care, and explain how to obtain records. Check your own board.
Illustrative example (outline of a transition letter for a fictional practice):
- Why Dr. Ortiz is changing the practice, in her own words
- What changes on [date], and what stays the same
- The membership: fee, what's included, what isn't
- If you choose not to join: care continues until [date], help choosing a new physician, how records transfer
- How to join, the enrollment deadline and how to ask questions
- Dates of open Q&A sessions
Make declining easy and respectable. Patients remember how the practice treated the people who didn't join.
Pricing and the membership agreement page
Publish your price and a plain-language summary of the agreement. Use your own numbers; there are no typical fees here.
Your pricing page should state the fee and billing cycle, what's included and excluded, how membership relates to insurance or Medicare, how to cancel, and how prepaid fees are refunded. Then add an agreement summary page that mirrors the contract's key terms.
For DPC, the DPC Coalition's model legislation (opens in a new tab) lists what an agreement should contain: it is written and signed, either party can end it on written notice, it describes the services and fees, it allows no more than twelve months of fees paid in advance, it returns unearned funds on cancellation, and it states "prominently" that it isn't health insurance. Your state's statute governs. If you've opted out of Medicare, nothing on the page should contradict the private contract terms in CMS §40.8.
Website and Google Business Profile before day one
Patients will check your website and Google listing the day the letter arrives. Have these live before it goes out:
- Membership and pricing pages, plus a page on what's included and excluded.
- A "For current patients" page with the transition timeline, FAQ and Q&A session dates.
- A Medicare page for patients 65 and older that matches your actual status.
- Physician pages that explain why you chose this model.
- A HIPAA-compliant inquiry form for prospective members.
On Google, change your business name only if your real-world name changes; Google's guidelines (opens in a new tab) bar marketing taglines in the name. Update the description, services, hours and website link instead. If you're opening a new location, our guide to adding your practice to Google walks through verification.
Medfy can do the website part: it rebuilds your site and hosts it on your own domain, with HIPAA-compliant forms, and its Google reporting shows Business Profile activity alongside Search Console and Google Analytics. A free marketing audit scores your current site and listing, and Medfy shows a free preview of the rebuilt website before you pay.
The first 90 days: getting the first members
Once current patients have had their say, go public in this order:
- Weeks 1 to 2: follow up with patients still deciding; open enrollment for family members.
- Weeks 2 to 6: meet-the-doctor evenings and talks at community groups.
- Weeks 3 to 8: introduce yourself to specialists and hospital teams you refer to, and to local employers if you're DPC.
- Weeks 6 to 12: test paid search on "concierge doctor near me" with a tight radius and a monthly ceiling, sending clicks to the membership page.
- Week 12: review what worked and set the next quarter's plan.
Our concierge marketing plan template turns this into a monthly budget and calendar.
Measuring sign-ups and inquiries
Track a small set of numbers from day one, by source:
| Metric | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Existing patients who joined, as a share of letters sent | Your enrollment list |
| New inquiries by source (Google, referral, event, ad) | Inquiry form and phone log |
| Consults booked and held | Your schedule |
| Consult-to-member rate | Enrollment list against consults |
| Days from inquiry to decision | Inquiry log |
| Cancellations and reasons | Exit conversations |
Review monthly. These are your own baselines; compare yourself with last month, not with someone else's practice.
Common mistakes
- Announcing publicly before existing patients get the letter.
- Changing the Google Business Profile name to include "concierge" as a tagline.
- Publishing a price without saying what's excluded.
- Running ads before the membership page is live.
- Treating patients who decline as a lost cause instead of future referrers.
For the general new-practice checklist, see starting a practice and starting a medical practice. For strategy after launch, return to our concierge medicine marketing guide.
Frequently asked questions
What do you need to tell patients when converting to concierge medicine?
Tell them, in writing and well ahead, what is changing and when, the membership fee and what it includes, and what happens if they don't join. Patients who decline need help finding another physician and getting their records. Some boards publish specifics; California's says a notice ending care should give the last available date and at least 15 days of emergency treatment and prescriptions.
Can I keep accepting insurance in a concierge practice?
Some concierge practices do, but it depends on your payer contracts, your Medicare status and your state's laws, so confirm with counsel. A practice that bills insurance for member services doesn't count as direct primary care for HSA purposes under IRS Notice 2026-5. If you opt out of Medicare, CMS says you may treat Medicare patients only under private contracts, apart from emergencies.
When should a new concierge practice start marketing?
Public marketing starts after existing patients have heard from you directly. Before that, the work is internal: settle the model, the legal and payer steps, pricing and the agreement. Build the website and update your Google listing in the weeks before launch, then go public. Paid ads come last, once your membership page is live and you know how many members you can take.
Do I need a new website when I switch to a membership model?
Usually you need new pages more than a new site. Add a membership and pricing page, a page explaining what's included and excluded, a Medicare page if you see older patients, a transition FAQ for current patients and a HIPAA-compliant inquiry form. If your current site can't do those cleanly, a rebuild is faster than patching. Keep the domain either way.