The Language of Concierge Medicine: How the Words We Use Have Shaped — and Revealed — the Evolution of the Model
Insights. Honest confessions. Hard-earned encouragements. Road maps drawn from real experience — not theory, not marketing copy, not ideology.
By Michael Tetreault, Editor-in-Chief | Concierge Medicine Today
"The past is beautiful because one never realizes an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past."
— Virginia Woolf
I read that quote and, like you, I become a little reflective.
There is something quietly powerful about pausing — at the start of a new year, a new season, or simply a new moment of clarity — and looking back before you look forward. Not out of nostalgia. Not to romanticize a past that was imperfect in its own ways. But because the physicians, thinkers, and leaders who walked this road before us left something behind worth finding.
Every year at this time, I think about the men and women who helped shape concierge and membership medicine into what it is today. Their practices were not perfect. The industry we share hasn't always got the lessons right. But the impulse behind all of it — to protect the relationship between physician and patient, to return humanity to medicine, to build something sustainable enough that good doctors can stay in the room — that impulse is worth honoring.
My old marketing professor used to say we all start the new year putting one pant leg into our jeans like everyone else. No one has a head start on a fresh beginning. And the sentiment "hope springs eternal" has always felt most alive at exactly this time of year, when possibilities feel genuinely open.
So before we plan. Before we build. Before we lead. Let's listen first.
Why the Past Belongs in This Conversation
To understand where concierge and membership medicine is going, it helps — it is, in fact, essential — to understand where it came from. Not the marketing version of that history. The honest one.
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The physicians who pioneered this space did not do so because it was fashionable. Many left behind larger incomes, institutional affiliations, and the professional comfort of doing what everyone else was doing. They made that choice because something fundamental had broken in the practice of American medicine — and they refused to keep pretending it hadn't.
The data on physician wellbeing in the United States gives that intuition difficult, measurable weight.
According to a national burnout study conducted in partnership by Stanford Medicine, the Mayo Clinic, and the American Medical Association — tracking physician burnout every three years since 2011 — approximately 45.2% of U.S. physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2023–2024. That figure, while lower than the peak of 62.8% recorded in 2021, remains stubbornly high. After adjusting for age, gender, relationship status, and work hours, physicians were 82.3% more likely to be experiencing burnout than the general U.S. working population. (Stanford Medicine, April 2025)
The reasons are well documented. Research published in the American Journal of Medicine found that total time working is less commonly cited as a contributor to burnout than time spent on non-clinical tasks — the administrative burden, the documentation requirements, the insurance negotiations, the electronic health record obligations that have turned some of the best clinicians in the country into, as one physician put it plainly, data managers and typists. (American Journal of Medicine, 2019)
And the Association of American Medical Colleges projects the United States will face a deficit of 86,000 physicians by 2036 — a shortage driven in no small part by the very conditions that are pushing good physicians out of the profession they trained a decade to enter. (Stanford Medicine, April 2025)
Concierge and membership medicine did not emerge from a branding exercise. It emerged from this.
“Concierge medicine isn’t exacerbating the physician shortage — it’s revealing it. And that’s a good thing. Every industry eventually faces a moment when disruption forces reflection and reinvention — this is healthcare’s moment. One longtime doctor told us, ‘The system didn’t break overnight. It’s been eroding for decades. Concierge medicine just held up a mirror.’ Critics may not like that, but that’s often what happens when new ideas challenge old assumptions. Change makes people uncomfortable — especially when it highlights what’s not working.” — Editor-in-Chief, Concierge Medicine Today
It is worth stating plainly — because the model is sometimes described in ways that obscure its origins. First-principles reasoning tells a clearer story: at its core, concierge and membership medicine is the organized response of relationship-driven physicians to a system that was making genuine patient care structurally unsustainable. It is not a rejection of medicine's obligations. It is an attempt to fulfill them.
That is the road these voices helped build. And it is worth remembering what they said as we continue walking it.
The Voices: Third-Party Verified
What follows is a curated selection of insights from physicians, researchers, and healthcare thinkers — all sourced and verified from third-party publications, academic institutions, and named interviews. Each voice has been attributed to its original documented source.
Read them slowly. Reflect on your favorite. I think one will resonate more than another. And remember, they were not written quickly -- but overtime.
On the Physician-Patient Relationship as the Foundation of Everything
"I think we learn from medicine everywhere that it is, at its heart, a human endeavor, requiring good science but also a limitless curiosity and interest in your fellow human being, and that the physician-patient relationship is key; all else follows from it." — Abraham Verghese, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine. Interview with John McMurtrie, San Francisco Gate, March 14, 2010. (azquotes.com)
"The nature of medicine is really relational, not transactional." — Abraham Verghese, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine. Quoted in ASCO Daily News, 2024. (dailynews.ascopubs.org)
"Physician satisfaction is clearly tied to being connected with the patient. For most of us, that's why we came to medicine. We didn't come to sit in front of a screen." — Abraham Verghese, MD. Interview with AMA President Steven J. Stack, MD. American Medical Association, 2016. (ama-assn.org)
"We desperately need physicians to feel happy in what they do." — Abraham Verghese, MD. American Medical Association, 2016. (ama-assn.org)
"It is no longer about being the best doctor in the world. It is about being the best doctor for the world — for patients, and for the local community." ~ Michael Tetreault, Editor-in-Chief, Concierge Medicine Today
On What Medicine Is — and What It Is Not
"The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease." — Sir William Osler, FRS, FRCP. Widely attributed. (MDLinx, mdlinx.com)
"The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head. Often the best part of your work will have nothing to do with potions and powders, but with the exercise of an influence of the strong upon the weak, of the righteous upon the wicked, of the wise upon the foolish." — Sir William Osler, FRS, FRCP. Aequanimitas, 1914. (MDLinx, mdlinx.com)
"Cure sometimes, treat often, and comfort always." — Hippocrates. (MDLinx, mdlinx.com)
"Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity." — Hippocrates. (MDLinx, mdlinx.com)
"When we treat the disease, we heal the body. When we treat patients' fears, we heal their minds. When we treat the person, we heal the soul." — Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS. ASCO Post, March 25, 2021. (ascopost.com)
On the Irreplaceable Value of Long-Term Relationships in Care
"Regular, ongoing care as opposed to heroic, emergency care is the greatest source of value in modern medicine." — Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. The New Yorker Festival, as reported by Becker's Hospital Review and CNBC, October 2017. (beckershospitalreview.com; cnbc.com)
"As economists have often pointed out, we pay doctors for quantity, not quality. As they point out less often, we also pay them as individuals, rather than as members of a team working together for their patients. Both practices have made for serious problems." — Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. (BrainyQuote, brainyquote.com)
"No one teaches you how to think about money in medical school or residency. Yet, from the moment you start practicing, you must think about it." — Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. (BrainyQuote, brainyquote.com)
On Presence, Ritual, and What Patients Are Really Asking For
"When a human being is suffering, they are more than a constellation of symptoms or molecular mechanisms gone awry. There is a subtext to any illness and it is pretty much, 'Daddy, Mommy, please help me. Please tell me it's going to be all right.' There is a subtext of wanting reassurance, of wanting to feel they are in the presence of people who care for them." — Abraham Verghese, MD. Corewell Health / Spectrum Health Beat, 2019. (healthbeat.corewellhealth.org)
"The ritual of one individual coming to another and telling them things that they would not tell their preacher or rabbi, and then, incredibly, on top of that, disrobing and allowing touch — I would submit to you that that is a ritual of exceeding importance. And if you short-change that ritual... you have bypassed the opportunity to seal the patient-physician relationship." — Abraham Verghese, MD. As reported by CNN, May 2025; Harvard Commencement Address. (CNN, us.cnn.com)
"To me, the most sacred moment in my day is the moment when I'm walking in to see a patient. I try to remind myself that this is the moment when I leave everything else behind." — Abraham Verghese, MD. Corewell Health / Spectrum Health Beat. (healthbeat.corewellhealth.org)
On Courage, Discipline, and Building Something That Lasts
"People take care of other people. Electronic medical records don't take care of patients." — Abraham Verghese, MD. Stanford School of Medicine Commencement Address, June 2014. Stanford Medicine News. (med.stanford.edu)
"We learned what it meant to heal when we could not cure. We realized how much our presence and caring mattered. A cure wasn't within our reach, but we were making a profound difference by indicating to the patient that we would be there, that we were not running away." — Abraham Verghese, MD. ASH Clinical News, as reported by CNN, May 2025. (us.cnn.com)
"In American life, the family doctor — the general practitioner — performs a service which we rely upon and which we trust as a nation." — President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dedication of the National Institute of Health building, October 31, 1940. American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation / Center for the History of Family Medicine. (aafpfoundation.org)
"Overwhelmingly, the leading finding was that physicians are most fulfilled professionally when they feel they did good work at the end of the day to help their patients lead healthier, happier lives — and were supported in that work by the health system, rather than interfered with and obstructed in it." — Steven J. Stack, MD, AMA President. Citing a 2013 AMA/RAND Corporation study. American Medical Association, 2016. (ama-assn.org)
Learn. Build. Lead.
CMT exists within a simple but serious framework: Learn → Build → Lead.
Physicians who engage with this platform are, more often than not, at one of three inflection points. They are learning — trying to gain clarity about whether a different practice model is right for them, their patients, and their families. They are building — designing the systems, the culture, and the patient experience that will define their practice for years. Or they are leading — having built something sustainable, they are extending that leadership into their communities, their colleagues, and the broader conversation about what healthcare can look like.
The voices in this collection speak to all three stages. The Osler quote on medicine as a calling speaks to the learner finding their footing. The Gawande observation on how we pay physicians speaks to the builder designing a more sustainable structure. The Verghese commitment to presence and ritual speaks to the leader who refuses to let technology replace the relationship.
Every physician in this space and others, at every stage, has something to teach the ones behind them and in front of them. That is why this record matters. That is why we keep it.
A Note on Why Your Work Matters
My mentor said something recently I tell just about every Physician I meet...
He said "You've done hard work before and you'll do hard work again. But you know what? You didn't sign up for easy... you signed up for worthwhile."
I believe that. And, I believe that FOR you.
I do this work as a healthcare writer, public relations advocate with the media and communicator because I want to leave healthcare better than how it found me and my family. I want to encourage more Physicians to be better leaders right where they are. I want them to know patients (like me) value them more than they could possibly know. I want physicians to understand their words have weight with people. I don't want them to feel forgotten. And, I'm probably the last Canadian on the planet to believe Concierge Medicine is pretty neat. So yeah, I truly believe that this little space and all that it is and can be... is the standard by which others are measuring their patient-physician relationship against -- even whether they admit it or not.
And I am proud of what so many of you have built. The practices, the relationships, the standards you have held even when it was costly to hold them. I do not take lightly the trust physicians place in a publication like this one.
My wife Kelly, my three kids, my parents, my friends — they are all part of your story.
So let me simply say: thank you.
And finally, to every physician who showed up willing to learn or clicked on a story over the years, to every consultant who gave their best thinking to a room full of skeptics -- and to every patient who chose something different and gave a physician the chance to practice medicine the way they believed it should be practiced -- thank you.
The road you helped build is one worth taking. The past you helped create is now the foundation someone else is standing on.
Let that dream others had before you now expand.
Remember, "It is no longer about being the best doctor in the world. It is about being the best doctor for the world — for patients, and for the local community." ~ Michael Tetreault, Editor-in-Chief, Concierge Medicine Today
FOR YOU, FOR DOCTORS,
~Michael
A full archive of more than 111 quotations, insights, and historical perspectives from concierge and membership medicine's most influential voices — curated over nearly two decades by Concierge Medicine Today — is available at Concierge Medicine Today's Leadership Hub and CMTs Knowledge Center.
Sources & Citations
All quotes and data points in this article are attributed to verified, named, third-party sources. No statistics, quotes, studies, or citations were fabricated.
Physician Burnout Data
Shanafelt, T. et al. National Physician Burnout Study Series, 2023–2024. Stanford Medicine / Mayo Clinic / American Medical Association. Published April 2025. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/04/doctor-burnout-rates-what-they-mean.html
American Medical Association. "Burnout Is a Health Crisis for Doctors — and Patients." https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/burnout-health-crisis-doctors-and-patients
American Journal of Medicine. "Physician Stress and Burnout." 2019. https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(19)30757-0/fulltext
Abraham Verghese, MD — Stanford University School of Medicine
Interview with John McMurtrie. San Francisco Gate, March 14, 2010. Via AZQuotes: https://www.azquotes.com/author/15059-Abraham_Verghese
"This study shows that the nature of medicine is really relational, not transactional." ASCO Daily News, 2024. https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/championing-human-experience-cancer-care-dr-abraham-verghese-art-doctor-patient
Interview with AMA President Steven J. Stack, MD. American Medical Association, January 2016. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/physician-patient-relationship/dr-abraham-verghese-looks-patient-physician
Corewell Health / Spectrum Health Beat. https://healthbeat.corewellhealth.org/dr-abraham-verghese-on-healing-and-empathy/
Stanford School of Medicine Commencement Address, June 2014. Stanford Medicine News.https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/06/respect-the-rituals-of-medicine--verghese-tells-graduating-stude.html
Harvard Commencement Address, 2025. As reported by CNN, May 2025. https://us.cnn.com/2025/05/26/us/harvard-commencement-speaker-abraham-verghese
ASH Clinical News, as reported by CNN, May 2025. https://us.cnn.com/2025/05/26/us/harvard-commencement-speaker-abraham-verghese
Atul Gawande, MD, MPH — Harvard / Brigham and Women's Hospital
The New Yorker Festival, October 2017. Via Becker's Hospital Review: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/dr-atul-gawande-on-the-importance-of-primary-care-physicians.html
The New Yorker Festival, October 2017. Via CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/10/atul-gawande-says-getting-physicals-could-save-your-life.html
BrainyQuote. https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/atul-gawande-quotes
Sir William Osler, FRS, FRCP
Aequanimitas, 1914. Via MDLinx: https://www.mdlinx.com/article/10-quotes-every-enlightened-physician-should-live-by/lfc-3587
Hippocrates
Via MDLinx: https://www.mdlinx.com/article/10-quotes-every-enlightened-physician-should-live-by/lfc-3587
Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS
"Physician-Patient Relationship: Sacred and Sacrosanct." ASCO Post, March 25, 2021. https://ascopost.com/issues/march-25-2021/physician-patient-relationship-sacred-and-sacrosanct/
Steven J. Stack, MD — AMA President
Citing 2013 AMA/RAND Corporation study findings. American Medical Association, 2016. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/physician-patient-relationship/dr-abraham-verghese-looks-patient-physician
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Dedication of the National Institute of Health building, October 31, 1940. American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation / Center for the History of Family Medicine. https://www.aafpfoundation.org/content/dam/foundation/documents/who-we-are/cfhm/factsonfile/1940-1975Quotes.pdf
Editorial Disclaimer: This article is published by Concierge Medicine Today for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical, legal, financial, or accounting advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct independent due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any practice or business decisions. Concierge Medicine Today is an independent publication and is not affiliated with any vendor, advocacy organization, or healthcare system.