In this episode from the podcast, Dr. Steven Knope brings up-to-speed on Concierge Medicine. We discuss how to open and operate a concierge medical clinic.

Concierge medicine, retainer medicine, direct medicine and boutique medicine are all terms used to describe a new form of medical service in which patients contract directly with their doctor for medical services. By removing the third-party payer, your physician acts as your advocate, with no interference or conflict of interest from outside parties.

Internist Steven D. Knope, M.D., a pioneer in creating patient-centered care for optimal health and wellness, is the first physician to offer this comprehensive, personal approach in Tucson.

Dr. Knope’s concierge patients pay a one-time annual retainer fee ($6,000 for individuals; $10,000 for couples) that includes everything from “true health care optimization to ICU care for medical catastrophes” to house calls, 24/7 access, same-day appointments, and hospital admittance by the physician. They also receive a two-hour physical, nutritional analysis with an onstaff dietician, and fitness analysis with a personal trainer in his in-office gym.

Dr. Knope is a board-certified internist and sports medicine expert. He completed his premedical studies at Columbia University and graduated with honors in internal medicine from Cornell University Medical College in 1988. He completed his residency training at UCLA, where he was awarded the first Sherman Melinkoff Teacher of the Year Award. He has served as Chief of Medicine, Chairman of the Department of Medicine, and Director of the ICU in the Carondelet system in Tucson, Arizona. He is a pioneer in the field of concierge medicine, opening one of the first concierge practices in America in December 2000. He authored the first book on concierge medicine entitled, Concierge Medicine; A New System to Get the Best Healthcare (Praeger, 2008).

Knope has received local and national media attention for his work as an uncompromising patient advocate and opponent of the HMO industry. He has been covered in the Arizona Daily Star, Moneymagazine and The Wall Street Journal. In his fight against a local HMO, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and inventor of the cardiac defibrillator, Dr. Bernard Lown, praised Knope as “courageous” and “deeply principled.”