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Counting Concierge: Why Nobody Agrees on the Size of the Field, and a Standard to Fix It
Estimates of how many concierge physicians practice in the U.S. range from 146 to many thousands, depending on who counted, when, and what they counted. This brief explains the gaps and proposes the CMT Census Standard.
Updated October 2026: evidence grades replaced with evidence types; funding disclosed on every source.
Start here: the questions this brief answers
Tap a question for the short answer, then jump to the evidence.
There is no official count of concierge physicians. Concierge medicine and direct primary care (DPC) are different models, and this brief counts concierge on its own. Building on a December 2025 Health Affairs study, CMT's working estimate, the CMT Concierge Estimate 2026, is about 3,000 to 6,000 concierge physicians in roughly 2,000 to 4,500 practice sites, with its method published here. MDVIP alone reports more than 1,400 affiliated physicians.
“For nearly two decades, everyone guessed how big this field is, including us. The guessing is over. In any industry, authority belongs to whoever shows their math. So we're showing ours.”
How many concierge physicians are there?
CMT's working estimate is about 3,000 to 6,000 concierge physicians in 2026, in roughly 2,000 to 4,500 practice sites, built from Health Affairs data with every step published. No official count exists.
Go to the full answer ↓Why do estimates differ so much?
Different definitions and methods. Some count physicians, some practices, some sites; some wrongly fold direct primary care into concierge; some include NPs and PAs; some are surveys, others web directories.
Go to the full answer ↓Is concierge medicine growing?
Membership medicine as a whole (concierge and DPC combined) grew about 83% in practice sites from 2018 to 2023 in the Health Affairs data. The study did not report concierge growth separately. MDVIP, the largest concierge network, reports 100 consecutive quarters of growth.
Go to the full answer ↓What figure should journalists cite?
The CMT Concierge Estimate 2026: about 3,000 to 6,000 concierge physicians, cited as an estimate with its method. Never cite the combined Health Affairs total as a concierge number.
Go to the full answer ↓What is the CMT Census Standard?
A set of definitions and reporting rules so every count says what it counts, how, and with what uncertainty. See Part 3.
Go to the full answer ↓Every estimate, side by side
Put every published estimate in one table and the confusion explains itself. The figures are not contradictory so much as answers to different questions.
| Source | Year of data | What was counted | Figure | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. GAO (GAO-05-929)1 | 2004 | Concierge physicians GAO could locate | 146 physicians | Population Data |
| Alexander et al., J Gen Intern Med2 | 2004 to 2005 | National survey of retainer physicians (characteristics, not a count) | Not a count | Practice Insight |
| Concierge Medicine Today, as cited by Becker's3 | c. 2024 | Physicians and practices providing concierge care (method not published) | 5,000 to 7,000 | Industry Research |
| CMT field estimate4 | 2026 | Concierge and membership-based practices (method not published) | 8,000 to 12,000 | Industry Research |
| Zhu et al., Health Affairs, concierge share5, | 2023 | Concierge practice sites: about 60% of 3,036 membership medicine sites (CMT calculation) | About 1,800 sites | Population Data |
| MDVIP press release7 | February 2026 | Physicians and members in one national concierge network | 1,400+ physicians; 430,000+ members | Industry Research |
Five reasons the numbers never match
A three-physician practice with two offices is one practice, two sites and three physicians. Mixing units can triple or cut a figure by two-thirds. CMT's Brief No. 4, Growth Math, covers this trap in detail.
Concierge medicine and DPC are different models: different fees, insurance billing, Medicare status and tax treatment. The Health Affairs counts combine them, roughly 60/40 by practice.6 Many headlines report the combined number as "concierge," which overstates the concierge field.
Advanced practice clinicians rose from 23% to 40% of the clinicians in these practices between 2018 and 2023.5 A physician count and a clinician count are no longer close.
A physician with 100 members and 1,500 traditional patients may or may not be counted. There is no shared rule.
CMT's widely cited estimates, “5,000 to 7,000” physicians and practices (as cited in 2024) and “8,000 to 12,000” concierge and membership-based practices (2026), are field estimates from CMT's reporting, and neither has been published with a method.3,
“Stop measuring concierge medicine by market share. Wrong metric. Measure it by who's copying it.” Michael Tetreault, Editor-in-Chief, Concierge Medicine Today
Source: CMT Media Desk.10 CMT's field estimate puts concierge and membership-based physicians at fewer than 2% of the roughly 1.1 million professionally active U.S. physicians.4 Industry Research
A counting standard anyone can audit
CMT proposes the following rules for every workforce figure it publishes, and invites researchers, associations and journalists to use them too.
| Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Name the unit | State whether the figure counts physicians, all clinicians, practices or sites. Never mix units in one number. |
| Name the models | Report concierge, DPC and hybrid separately, and the combined total only as a total. |
| Define a hybrid | A clinician counts as concierge or membership if at least half of their panel pays a periodic membership fee. Report clinicians under that threshold separately as hybrid. |
| Disclose the method | Source lists, inclusion rules, date range, and how duplicates were removed. |
| Show uncertainty | Give a range or margin of error, not a single point, when the method cannot capture everyone. |
| Date it | Every figure carries the year of the data, not the year of publication. |
| Version it | Revisions are numbered and explained. |
The 50% hybrid threshold is a CMT editorial convention proposed for consistency, not an industry or regulatory standard.
The CMT Concierge Estimate 2026
CMT's working estimate: about 3,000 to 6,000 concierge physicians in the U.S. in 2026, practicing in roughly 2,000 to 4,500 practice sites. The best single figure is about 4,000 to 4,500 physicians, roughly 0.3% to 0.6% of the about 1.1 million professionally active U.S. physicians.4 It is the first CMT workforce figure published with its method, under the Census Standard in Part 3.
| Step | Figure | Basis | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Concierge practice sites, 2023 | About 1,820 | CMT analysis: 60% of the 3,036 membership medicine sites in Health Affairs were concierge5, | Population Data |
| 2. Concierge physicians, 2023 | About 2,500 | CMT analysis: physicians were 59.7% of 7,021 clinicians (about 4,190)11; CMT applied the 60% concierge share, an assumption because the study did not split clinicians by model | Population Data |
| 3. Growth to 2026 | ×1.19 to ×1.44 | CMT assumption: growth slowing to 6% a year (low) or continuing at the 2018 to 2023 pace of about 13% a year (high) | Industry Research |
| 4. Undercount adjustment | ×1.0 to ×1.75 | CMT judgment: the study's authors describe their count as an undercount; the upper factor allows for hybrids and practices that do not advertise | Industry Research |
| Result | About 3,000 to 6,350 physicians; 2,170 to 4,600 sites | Rounded to 3,000 to 6,000 physicians and 2,000 to 4,500 sites | Industry Research |
Checks against other figures: MDVIP alone reports more than 1,400 affiliated physicians, about a quarter to a half of the range, which is plausible for the largest network.7 CMT's earlier “5,000 to 7,000” figure overlaps the upper half of the range. CMT's “8,000 to 12,000 practices” field estimate is best read as covering all membership medicine, including DPC and hybrid practices with a membership tier, not concierge alone.4 The weakest step is step 2; physician-per-practice data from a CMT census would tighten the range.
Other concierge figures a reader can check
These count different things, so they should not be added together.
The specialty mix in CMT's poll describes the physicians who answered, not all concierge physicians. As the Editor-in-Chief put it: “Ten years ago, concierge medicine was mostly a primary care story. Today, cardiologists, endocrinologists, OB-GYNs, gastroenterologists, and even oncologists are adopting the model.”10
These figures describe direct primary care (DPC), not concierge medicine. DPC usually operates outside insurance billing at lower monthly fees. They are shown here, separately, for context only and should not be read as concierge data.
Cite precisely
“Concierge Medicine Today estimates about 3,000 to 6,000 concierge physicians in the U.S. in 2026.” Never call the combined concierge-and-DPC total a concierge count.
Know your local market
National counts tell you little about your zip code. Map competitors within your drive radius.
Raise the bar
Ask any source, including CMT, "What exactly did you count?" before repeating a number.
How this brief was built
CMT compiled published estimates of the concierge medicine workforce from federal reports, peer-reviewed studies and media citations, recording for each what was counted, the year and the method. CMT's own historical estimate is included and labeled by evidence type the same way as other sources. Market-revenue projections from commercial research firms are excluded because their methods are not public. Concierge and direct primary care are treated as different models throughout; combined figures are labeled as membership medicine, and DPC-only counts appear only in a separate, labeled box. CMT field estimates and an MDVIP press release are labeled Industry Research. The CMT Concierge Estimate 2026 in Part 4 is CMT analysis: steps based on Health Affairs data are labeled Population Data, and CMT assumptions and judgments are labeled Industry Research.
How to read the evidence types
Every key finding is labeled by evidence type. Labels describe the type of evidence, not its value. Each type answers different questions. Funding is disclosed on every source.
Randomized trials and systematic reviews.Best for cause and effect.
Large observational studies and government data.Best for trends at scale.
Surveys, smaller studies and expert consensus.Best for real-world experience.
Company-sponsored or company-reported data that is not peer-reviewed.Best for early signals and operating data.
Statutes, regulation and official guidance.Best for what is required.
What we don't know
- The number of physicians practicing concierge medicine alone, separate from NPs and PAs; the Health Affairs study reported only the concierge share of practices.
- Concierge growth on its own, since published growth figures combine concierge and DPC.
- How many hybrid practices (part concierge, part traditional) exist, since they are hard to identify from directories.
- Attrition: how many practices close or revert each year.
How to cite this brief
External review: this brief has not yet been reviewed by an outside expert. When review is complete, the reviewer is credited by name above with any conflicts of interest, and the version number is updated. Reviewers check accuracy and fairness; CMT is responsible for the final content.
Corrections policy: when an error is identified, CMT corrects it in the open and updates the version number above. Send corrections to the editor through conciergemedicinetoday.net.
Related CMT Research Briefs
References
- U.S. Government Accountability Office. Physician Services: Concierge Care Characteristics and Considerations for Medicare (GAO-05-929). August 2005. www.gao.govFunding: federal (GAO; study required by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003)
- Alexander GC, Kurlander J, Wynia MK. Physicians in retainer ("concierge") practice: a national survey of physician, patient, and practice characteristics. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2005;20(12):1079-1083. pure.johnshopkins.eduFunding: mixed: professional society (AMA Institute for Ethics), foundation (Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program) and academic (MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics)
- Becker's Hospital Review. Research points to concerns amid growing concierge medicine trend. June 2024. www.beckershospitalreview.comFunding: not stated (news report)
- Concierge Medicine Today. CMT field estimate, 2026: 8,000 to 12,000 concierge and membership-based practices in the U.S., and fewer than 2% of professionally active U.S. physicians (KFF physician count with CMT estimates). Published on the CMT Media Desk. Method not published. conciergemedicinetoday.netFunding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-conducted; no outside funder) CMT original
- Zhu JM, Marsh T, Huntington A, Polsky D, Song Z. Growth in number of practices and clinicians participating in concierge and direct primary care, 2018-23. Health Affairs. December 2025. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00656. www.healthaffairs.orgFunding: mixed: federal (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, R01HS029467) and foundation (Commonwealth Fund; NIHCM Foundation)
- Physicians Practice. Concierge and direct primary care are booming, but corporatization and access questions are close behind. January 21, 2026. www.physicianspractice.comFunding: not stated (news report)
- MDVIP. MDVIP celebrates its momentum: 100 consecutive quarters of growth milestone and new Boca Raton HQ (press release). February 4, 2026. mdvip.comFunding: industry (MDVIP press release)
- Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Fee-based primary care is rapidly rising in U.S., hastening doctor shortages for the public. December 2025. carey.jhu.eduFunding: not stated (university news release)
- Rossheim J. The concierge catch: better access for a few patients disrupts care for many. KFF Health News, republished by WUSF. July 2024. www.wusf.orgFunding: not stated (news report)
- Concierge Medicine Today. Media Desk: quotes from the Editor-in-Chief, FAQs and data. Accessed October 2026. conciergemedicinetoday.netFunding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-published; no outside funder) CMT original
- Harrop C. Snapshot: reactions and responses to the growth in concierge and direct primary care (summary of Zhu et al., Health Affairs). MGMA. December 30, 2025. www.mgma.comFunding: not stated (MGMA summary; the underlying Health Affairs study was funded by AHRQ, the Commonwealth Fund and the NIHCM Foundation)
- Concierge Medicine Today, LLC. Physician reader poll of 300 concierge physicians: specialty (published on the CMT Media Desk, 2024). Open online poll; self-selected; not representative. conciergemedicinetoday.netFunding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-conducted; no outside funder) CMT original
- Atlas.md. There are now over 2,700 DPC practices as the market heads toward $90 billion (citing the DPC Frontier Mapper, late November 2025). December 2025. blog.atlas.mdFunding: not stated (company blog by Atlas.md citing the DPC Frontier Mapper)
- Hint Health. Hint Health releases 2026 Direct Primary Care Trends Report (platform data from 2,700+ DPC clinicians and 1.4 million members). Press release via Cision. April 23, 2026. digital-release.nwahomepage.comFunding: industry (Hint Health; company-reported platform data)
Educational and informational only. This CMT Research Brief does not constitute medical, legal, tax, financial, accounting or other professional advice, and it does not create a professional relationship of any kind. Statements about laws, regulations, tax rules and payer policies are general, may not reflect the rules in your state, and can change after publication. Consult a qualified attorney, accountant, tax adviser, compliance professional or licensed clinician before acting on anything here.
Independence. Concierge Medicine Today is an independent publication. It does not accept payment for favorable coverage, and it does not favor one practice model over another. Company names and products are mentioned for context only and are not endorsements. Funding is disclosed for every source in the reference list.
Accuracy. CMT verifies figures against their original or best available sources at the time of publication. Where a figure is an estimate, an inference or a company-reported number, the brief says so. This content is not without possible error or omission.
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