What Is "Membership Medicine" Anyways?

You’ve probably considered membership to Netflix or Hulu Plus at some point, but have you ever considered membership to a doctor’s office? Probably not, but membership medicine is a growing trend in medical care. While it may not sound as fun as watching your favorite TV show to your heart’s content, a doctor’s office membership would probably be better for your heart in the long run. Let me explain why.

Membership medicine refers to the concept of purchasing a fixed set of services over a specified time period. At The Doc Shoppe people can pay a monthly fee that includes all the services that we provide. Almost every visit, lab test and procedure we can do at The Doc Shoppe is included in the fixed monthly fee. (There are a few exceptions so see our Price List page.) This is quite similar to being a member of Netflix, a YMCA or AAA. Even though all their services are available to you,  you may or may not choose to use them in a particular month, but you have the ability to access them as needed.

At The Doc Shoppe we bill members on the 5th of the month following their month of membership.* One of the advantages of a membership payment plan is that you have an easily budgeted option for your primary health care needs for the year. Additionally, it is inexpensive (less than your monthly cell phone charges in most cases). It includes so many in-office services. It allows you to benefit from reduced prices for services outside the office that we negotiate for you. There are no co-pays or deductibles at The Doc Shoppe. You don't have to delay contacting or seeing your doctor because of cost. In most cases you can be seen in 24-48 hours of requesting an appointment. You have access to your doctor through phone, texting and email. After hours and home visit options are available as well (for a small additional charge).

Many people throughout the country are now opting for this type of arrangement with their family physician. We think it provides you with better quality of care at a lower price. Let us know what you think.

*We do not want people to consider us insurance (we are not) that they pay for ahead of time. Being a member of The Doc Shoppe does not exempt anyone from not having insurance under the ACA. So, we still strongly urge our members to have health insurance of some kind (most find high deductible health insurance plans, or HDIP, to work well with a Doc Shoppe membership) or else consider a Christian healthcare cost sharing arrangement. Both of these satisfy the ACA requirements.