Concierge Medicine

Concierge medicine. It's a term that's been around for a while, but what does it actually mean?

At the heart of concierge medicine is 24-hour phone-based access to the on-call physcian*. Most concierge groups offer full primary care services within the four walls of their clinics. Others also have limited arrangements with a handful of specialists.

Our concierge medicine program offers something very different: 24-hour phone-based access to a Concierge Medicine physician*.

This means we coordinate everything for you, including:

• Extra one-on-one time with your primary care doctor
• Any specialist appointments you may need
• Imaging tests or blood work
• Surgery—including pre-operative and post-operative

Learn more about concierge medicine

Our concierge medicine doctors have an average of 20 years of experience. They embody Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s commitment to providing an extraordinary patient experience for each person we serve. And it shows—year after year, they are rated in top one percent nationally for patient satisfaction.

Your doctor has immediate access to all of your records, and can advise you on every aspect of your care—no matter where you are. This type of personal care is vital to our members who may:

• Travel frequently for business or pleasure. They have peace of mind knowing they can speak with their doctor—or, in an emergency, have their doctor talk with an emergency room physician in any location.
• Have busy schedules, both professional and personal.
• Want easy access to a medical staff that knows them personally, coordinates all their appointments, and keeps them out of waiting rooms and frustrating voicemail loops.
• Have medically complicated conditions and need someone who watches out for them.

To make sure they have all the time necessary to meet each member’s needs, our concierge medicine physicians carefully manage their workloads. While the average primary care physicians cares for about 2,500 – 5,000 patients, our concierge doctors focus on just 300.

Members of our concierge medicine program are given their doctor's cell phone number and email address, and may contact them at any time*. If your doctor is not available, there is a covering doctor during regular weekday clinic hours and your doctor's cell phone message will refer you to the on-call Concierge Medicine doctor for urgent issues after-hours. Email and Portal messages are checked only during office hours and should not be used for emergencies. SMS text messaging with my physician regarding Protected Health Information (PHI) is strictly prohibited due to the risk of unauthorized disclosure.

Concierge Medicine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is proud to celebrate 25 years in operation in January 2025, originally opening as The Lewis and John Dare Center in January of 2000. It was named in honor of Lewis and John Dare, a father/son administrative team whose integrity and values formed the foundation of Virginia Mason Medical Center.

* When your concierge medicine physician is unavailable, another concierge medicine physician will respond to your call.

The Concierge Medicine program currently has a waitlist to accept new members. Please submit an inquiry form indicating which location and/or physician you are interested in, and we will contact you when an opening becomes available for your requested location and/or your preferred provider.