Patients frequently have prolonged waits to get new appointments, follow up appointments, or sick visit appointments with their internal medicine, i.e. internist, in Overland Park and the greater Kansas City area. Forbes in 2017 reported an average wait time of 24 days to schedule appointments and many internists in Overland Park have waits of greater than 6 months for an initial visit. When patients feel and ill and have to see the physician immediately, they are frequently confronted with the choice of walking into an emergency room or an urgent care clinic, facilities not usually staffed by physicians. Furthermore, telephone access to physicians are often intercepted by office staff which can reduce the accuracy and quality of medical advice.
Concierge medical care is an attempt to improve these issues. Better direct communication with the physician, same day appointments, and prolonged visits ameliorate the issues with traditional practices. The traditional internal medicine practice has approximately 2000 patients, whereas concierge practices in the Kansas City area typically include 250-500 patients. This allows for the more personalized care and even house-calls by some physicians.