If you’re looking for a more personalized alternative to traditional primary care, you may have come across two increasingly popular options: concierge medicine and direct primary care (DPC).
Both models aim to improve the patient experience by giving physicians more time with their patients, reducing rushed appointments, and making medical care easier to access. But concierge medicine and direct primary care are not necessarily the same.
Understanding the differences can help you decide which approach better fits your healthcare needs.
At Infinity Care in Westport, Connecticut, we provide concierge primary care designed around personalized, accessible, relationship-based medicine for adults throughout Fairfield County. Infinity Care does not bill health insurance, allowing the practice to focus on the physician-patient relationship rather than the constraints of insurance-based care.
What Is Concierge Medicine?
Concierge medicine is a membership-based model of primary care in which patients pay an annual or recurring membership fee for enhanced access to their physician and a more personalized healthcare experience.
Traditional primary care physicians may care for thousands of patients. Concierge practices generally maintain much smaller patient panels, allowing physicians to spend more time with each individual and develop a deeper understanding of their health history, lifestyle, risk factors, and long-term goals.
Depending on the practice, concierge medicine may include benefits such as:
- Longer, more comprehensive appointments
- Same-day or next-day availability
- Direct communication with your physician
- Greater availability by phone, text, or telehealth
- More time devoted to prevention and wellness
- Personalized health planning
- Coordination with specialists
- Assistance navigating complex medical issues
- Enhanced continuity of care
Insurance arrangements vary among concierge practices. Some concierge physicians bill health insurance for covered medical services in addition to charging a membership fee, while others operate independently of insurance.
Infinity Care does not bill insurance. Instead, the practice uses a membership-based model designed to provide patients with highly personalized care and direct access to their physician without structuring visits around insurance reimbursement.
Patients can still maintain and use their health insurance for care outside Infinity Care, including specialist visits, hospitalizations, emergency care, imaging, medications, laboratory testing, and other covered healthcare services, subject to the terms of their individual insurance plans.
What Is Direct Primary Care?
Direct primary care, commonly called DPC, is also a membership-based approach to primary care.
Patients typically pay a monthly or annual fee directly to the medical practice in exchange for a defined range of primary care services.
A major feature of the DPC model is that practices generally do not bill health insurance for primary care services. Instead, the membership fee covers the services specified by the practice.
Patients may still maintain health insurance for healthcare needs outside the DPC practice, such as hospitalizations, emergency care, specialist visits, imaging, medications, and other services.
Like concierge medicine, DPC often emphasizes easier physician access, longer appointments, and smaller patient panels than conventional primary care.
Concierge Medicine vs. Direct Primary Care: Key Differences
There can be significant overlap between concierge medicine and direct primary care. In fact, a concierge practice may share certain features with DPC—including choosing not to bill insurance.
The exact services and philosophy of an individual practice are therefore often more important than the label itself.
| Concierge Medicine | Direct Primary Care | |
|---|---|---|
| Membership fee | Typically annual or recurring | Typically monthly or annual |
| Insurance billing | Varies by practice; some bill insurance and others do not | Generally does not bill insurance for primary care |
| Primary focus | Personalized care, enhanced access, continuity, prevention, and care coordination | Direct access to primary care for a recurring fee |
| Appointment length | Typically longer than traditional primary care | Typically longer than traditional primary care |
| Patient panel | Generally smaller | Generally smaller |
| Direct physician access | Often a central feature | Often available |
| Preventive care | Frequently highly personalized and comprehensive | Typically included within primary care |
| Specialist coordination | Often an important component | Varies by practice |
At Infinity Care, patients receive the enhanced access and highly individualized approach associated with concierge medicine, while the practice does not bill insurance.
What Do Concierge Medicine and Direct Primary Care Have in Common?
The two models developed in response to many of the same challenges in traditional healthcare.
In a conventional primary care setting, physicians often have large patient panels and limited appointment times. This can make it difficult to explore concerns in depth, focus extensively on prevention, or communicate with a physician between visits.
Both concierge medicine and direct primary care attempt to change that dynamic.
Instead of focusing on a high volume of brief visits, these models emphasize a stronger physician-patient relationship and greater accessibility.
For many patients, the appeal is simple: more time with their doctor and fewer barriers to getting care.
Does Infinity Care Accept or Bill Health Insurance?
Infinity Care does not bill health insurance for the care provided by the practice.
Infinity Care is a membership-based concierge medical practice. This structure allows Dr. Kofler to maintain a limited patient panel, offer longer appointments and enhanced accessibility, and devote more time to prevention, care coordination, and each patient’s individual health goals.
However, an Infinity Care membership is not a substitute for health insurance.
Patients should maintain health insurance for medical services outside the practice, which may include specialist care, hospitalizations, emergency services, diagnostic imaging, laboratory testing, prescription medications, procedures, and other healthcare expenses.
When outside services are needed, Infinity Care can help coordinate care with specialists and other healthcare providers.
Why Patients Choose Concierge Primary Care
Patients seek concierge medicine for many different reasons.
Some want easier access to their physician when they become sick. Others have multiple medical conditions and want a doctor who has the time to understand the complete picture rather than treating each problem separately.
Many patients simply want to be more proactive about their health.
A concierge primary care relationship can allow more time to discuss questions such as:
What health risks should I be thinking about now?
Are my screenings and vaccinations up to date?
How can I reduce my future cardiovascular or metabolic risk?
Are all of my medications still necessary?
How do recommendations from several specialists fit together?
What can I do now to stay healthier as I age?
These conversations can be difficult to fit into a short traditional primary care appointment.
Is Concierge Medicine Worth It in Fairfield County, CT?
For patients in Westport and throughout Fairfield County, the decision often comes down to what they value most in their primary care relationship.
Traditional primary care may be a good fit for patients who are satisfied with their physician’s accessibility, appointment availability, and time spent during visits.
Concierge medicine may appeal to patients seeking a more continuous relationship with their physician, longer appointments, easier communication, and additional time devoted to prevention and care coordination.
The value of membership depends on each patient’s health needs, expectations, financial priorities, and how much they value having a physician who can dedicate more time to understanding their overall health.
At Infinity Care, the goal is not simply to make appointments more convenient. It is to build a long-term primary care relationship centered on access, trust, and individualized medical care.
Concierge Medicine in Westport, CT: The Infinity Care Approach
Infinity Care is a concierge primary care practice in Westport, Connecticut, serving adults in Fairfield County.
The practice was founded by Lyuba Kofler, MD, a board-certified Family Medicine physician, with the goal of creating the kind of physician-patient relationship that is increasingly difficult to achieve in high-volume healthcare.
Infinity Care intentionally maintains a limited patient panel so that care can remain personal, accessible, and thorough.
Membership is designed around an ongoing relationship with a physician who knows you—not simply access to an appointment when something goes wrong.
Patients receive longer visits, same-day or next-day access when appropriate, direct physician communication, telehealth and office-based care, a strong emphasis on prevention and wellness, and assistance coordinating care with specialists.
And because Infinity Care does not bill insurance, the practice can structure care around the individual patient rather than around the traditional insurance reimbursement model.
The goal is to look beyond individual symptoms and understand the whole person, including medical history, family history, lifestyle, risk factors, priorities, and long-term health goals.
Concierge Medicine vs. Direct Primary Care: Which Model Fits Your Needs?
Neither term alone tells you everything about a medical practice.
If you are comparing concierge medicine and direct primary care, consider asking:
- How large is the physician’s patient panel?
- How quickly can I usually get an appointment?
- How long are appointments?
- Can I communicate directly with my physician?
- What happens when I need medical advice after normal office hours?
- Does the practice bill health insurance?
- What exactly does the membership fee include?
- How does the physician coordinate care with specialists?
- How much emphasis is placed on prevention and long-term health?
- Will I consistently see the same physician?
Ultimately, the most important distinction may not be the label attached to the practice. It is the type of relationship and level of care you receive from your physician.
Looking for a Concierge Doctor in Westport, Connecticut?
If you are searching for a concierge doctor in Westport, CT, or exploring alternatives to traditional primary care in Fairfield County, Infinity Care offers a more personalized approach.
With a limited patient panel, longer visits, enhanced physician access, comprehensive preventive care, individualized care coordination, and a membership model that does not bill insurance, Infinity Care is designed to give patients something increasingly valuable in medicine: time, access, and a physician who truly knows them.
Experience a Different Approach to Primary Care
If you would like to learn whether Infinity Care is the right fit for you, schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Lyuba Kofler.
Discover primary care built around a lasting physician-patient relationship.
It’s an opportunity to meet Dr. Kofler, ask questions about the practice, and discuss what you’re looking for in your primary care relationship.