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Make the Patient the Story: Media Interviews for Membership Practices
When a reporter calls about concierge medicine, many physicians end up defending the business model or describing their own burnout. Both lose. After 25 years of media work, CMT's Editor-in-Chief has a simple rule: your patients are the story.
Start here: the questions this brief answers
Tap a question for the short answer, then jump to the evidence.
Reporters are inundated with pitches and want relevance. In Muck Rack's 2025 survey of 1,515 journalists, 86% said they ignore pitches outside their beat. Its 2026 report found 70% most value clear relevance to their beat, 58% value access to relevant sources and 40% value original data. When you do get the interview, CMT's Branded is blunt: don't make it about your business model or how hard it is to be a doctor. Journalists represent an audience of prospective patients. Tell short, specific, permission-cleared stories about how you help patients, focus on solutions, discuss broader community health topics, and practice your answers before the microphone is on.
“No journalist I know wants to hear how hard your job is. They want to know how you'll help their audience. Make your patients the story, celebrate them, and the rest of the conversation takes care of itself.”
How do I get a reporter's attention?
Be relevant to their beat. In Muck Rack's 2025 survey, 86% of journalists said they ignore pitches outside their beat.
Go to the full answer ↓What should I talk about in an interview?
Your patients, with permission, and how you help them. Not your business model, and not physician burnout.
Go to the full answer ↓How do I prepare?
Know two or three short patient stories and three messages in advance, and practice out loud. Part 3 has a prep sheet.
Go to the full answer ↓Can I talk about specific patients?
Only with written HIPAA authorization, and never in a way that identifies a patient without it.
Go to the full answer ↓What reporters want from you
Most reporters receive more pitches than they can read. The ones they use are relevant, specific and come with a real person to interview.
In Muck Rack’s 2025 survey of 1,515 journalists, 86% said they will disregard pitches that aren’t relevant to their beat. Yet 84% said at least some of their stories are inspired by PR pitches.1 Industry Research
The 2026 edition, as summarized by the University of Minnesota, found 70% most value clear relevance to their beat, 58% value interview access to relevant sources, 40% value original data or research, and 69% prefer pitches under 200 words.2
Don't feed the animals at the zoo
Michael Tetreault has done media interviews for nearly 25 years, including with national outlets. In Branded, he describes watching a concierge physician on video turn an interview into an argument about how hard it is to be a doctor. True, he writes, but “akin to feeding the animals at the zoo.”3
His reasoning: a journalist’s audience is mostly prospective patients. They want to know how you’ll help them. When physicians voice their own struggles, “it can come across as out of touch, even if their feelings and challenges are entirely valid.”3
Your patients are the story. Celebrate them.
Paraphrasing Branded (2025).3
A one-page media prep sheet
| Prepare | Example |
|---|---|
| Two or three patient stories | Short, specific, permission-cleared: the Saturday callback, the hospital visit |
| Three messages | What patients get; who you serve; how it helps your community |
| Patient solutions | “Our members can reach us the same day and leave with a plan.” |
| A broader health topic | Flu season, heart health, managing a chronic condition |
| The hard question | Prepare a calm, brief answer to "Isn't this just for the wealthy?" (see Brief No. 26) |
| Practice | Say your answers out loud before the interview |
CMT original guidance adapting the media tips in Branded (2025).3 Evidence type: Practice Insight.
Branded’s advice on criticism, borrowed from author Jon Acuff: if feedback costs the critic something, it may be a gift. If it costs them nothing, move on. And keep it classy.3
Patient privacy on the record
HIPAA generally requires a patient’s written authorization before their information is used to promote your practice.4 Policy and Law With a reporter, that means: no identifiable patient details without signed authorization, and never confirming that someone is your patient. If a patient wants to speak to a reporter themselves, that’s their choice; you still need authorization before you discuss their care.
This brief is educational and is not legal advice. Consult your compliance adviser before any media interview involving patient stories.
Be ready before they call
- Write your three messages and two patient stories (with authorization) this week.
- Identify two local reporters who cover health and read their last five stories.
- Practice a two-minute interview with a colleague.
Local media is part of your community plan. Use the planner to decide which stories your community needs to hear.
Free. No sign-up. Your answers stay in your browser. Step 3 of CMT's Learn, Build, Lead tools. It helps you pick the patient segments that fit your practice, find where they are, plan conversations with local physicians, check that your message sounds like care rather than a pitch, and leave with a 90-day plan.
Be relevant
Pitch the right reporter, briefly.
Patients first
Your patients are the story.
Be prepared
Stories, messages, practice.
How this brief was built
This brief draws on Muck Rack's State of Journalism surveys for 2025 and 2026 (an industry source), HHS HIPAA marketing guidance, and CMT's Branded (2025), which reflects the Editor-in-Chief's experience with media interviews. The prep sheet is CMT original guidance.
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
- Whether earned media coverage drives enrollment in membership practices; no published data was found.
- How journalists covering health differ from journalists overall in Muck Rack's surveys.
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
- Muck Rack. State of Journalism 2025 (1,515 journalists, April 2025), press release via GlobeNewswire. June 10, 2025. www.globenewswire.comFunding: industry (Muck Rack, a public relations software company)
- University of Minnesota University Marketing Communications. Pitching journalists with Muck Rack's The State of Journalism 2026. April 13, 2026. umarcomm.umn.eduFunding: not stated (university blog summarizing an industry report)
- Tetreault M. Branded: The Concierge Medicine Doctor. Softcover edition. Concierge Medicine Today, LLC; 2025. Includes CMT online polls the publisher describes as not scientific.Funding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-published; no outside funder) CMT original
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. HIPAA Privacy Rule guidance: Marketing. Guidance dated 2002, revised 2003; last reviewed 2013. www.hhs.govFunding: federal (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publication)
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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