MDVIP is a national concierge medicine network that helps primary care doctors convert their practices to a membership model, capping each physician's patient load at around 600 people in exchange for an annual fee.[1] It is the largest and oldest network of its kind in the United States, with more than 1,100 affiliated physicians and over 400,000 members across 45 states and Washington, DC.[1]
If you have heard the name from your own doctor, seen it on a practice door, or read it in a health article, this guide explains what MDVIP actually is, what it costs in 2026, what its members and its studies report, and a part of the story most coverage skips: MDVIP has been owned by a succession of private-equity firms for two decades, and another sale is expected soon. MDVIP is one of the largest players in the concierge medicine space.
What MDVIP Actually Is
MDVIP is an affiliation network, which is different from owning the practice. Your doctor stays independent, keeps their own office, and continues to bill you.
MDVIP adds a membership program on top of the regular practice.[1] When a doctor joins, they typically shrink their patient panel from the 2,000 to 2,500 patients a traditional primary care physician typically carries down to around 300 or fewer patients. It is worth noting that MDVIP caps their panel size at 600, but many physicians service far fewer members.
What the fee buys is time and a defined wellness program. Members get an annual comprehensive exam with diagnostic screening that goes beyond a standard physical, longer appointments, same-day or next-day scheduling, and 24/7 access to their physician by phone.[1] MDVIP supplies the infrastructure behind that experience: the wellness protocols, a patient portal, a specialist referral network, and member perks like emergency medical-evacuation coverage.
A few terms worth defining, because they shape the rest of this guide:
Concierge medicine is any model where you pay a membership or retainer fee for enhanced access to a physician, usually on top of insurance. MDVIP is the best-known concierge brand.
Direct primary care (DPC) is a related membership model where you pay a flat monthly fee directly to the practice and the practice generally does not bill insurance at all. It typically runs $50 to $200 a month.
Panel size is the number of patients one doctor is responsible for. The smaller the panel, the more time per patient. MDVIP's roughly 600-patient cap is the core of its pitch, also worth noting they usually have less than 300 actual patients per doctor as 600 is a bit hard to service.
A 600-patient cap is a large improvement over the traditional 2,000-plus, but it is roughly double the panel of a typical independent concierge practice, where doctors often cap under 300.[1] That difference matters when you compare MDVIP to a standalone concierge doctor, and it is the kind of detail a neutral marketplace will tell you and a sales page will not.
How Much Does MDVIP Cost in 2026?
MDVIP does not publish one national price. The membership fee is set by each physician and varies by location, so the only way to see a specific doctor's fee is to look up that doctor.[1] Across the network, the fee generally runs $1,800 to $4,500 per year, depending on the location and the physician.[2]
A few cost details to plan around:
The fee is on top of insurance, not instead of it. You keep your regular health plan to cover sick visits, specialists, labs, imaging, and hospital care. The MDVIP fee pays for the wellness program and the enhanced access, which insurance does not reimburse.[1][2]
It is paid in installments. Most members pay quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.[2]
It may be HSA or FSA eligible. The wellness-program fee can sometimes be paid with a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and may be partly tax-deductible, but eligibility depends on your plan. Confirm with your benefits administrator before assuming it qualifies.[1]
Cancellation usually requires notice. Plans typically require written notice, often 30 days, to cancel.[2]
For context on where that sits in the wider market, MDVIP's $1,800 to $4,500 range lands in the entry-to-mid tier of concierge pricing. A full breakdown of what concierge costs at every level is in our guide to how much concierge medicine costs and whether it is worth it.
MDVIP Reviews: What Members and Studies Report
MDVIP reviews fall into two buckets: how members rate the experience, and what the published research shows. Both lean positive, with one caveat worth keeping in mind.
On satisfaction, a study in The Open Public Health Journal found that 97% of MDVIP members were satisfied with the relationship they had with their physician, compared with 58% of patients at a traditional community health center.[3] On outcomes, MDVIP points to a body of published studies on hospital use. Citing research in the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), the company reports that Medicare members in MDVIP-affiliated practices were hospitalized far less often than comparable patients, with one analysis finding a 79% reduction.[4]
The caveat is the one a marketplace should say plainly. Much of MDVIP's outcomes research is company-affiliated or company-cited, and satisfaction studies measure people who already chose to pay for the service, which selects for people inclined to be happy with it. The results are real and peer-reviewed, and they point in a consistent direction. They are also exactly the studies you would expect a well-run network to commission and promote. Read them as evidence that the model helps engaged patients, not as proof that it outperforms every alternative.
The most common member complaints track the cost structure rather than the care. Patients who leave or decline MDVIP usually cite the annual fee on top of insurance, the lack of upfront price transparency, and the fact that switching means either paying or finding a new doctor when their physician converts. Those are model-level trade-offs, not service failures, and they are the same trade-offs that apply to concierge medicine generally.
Who Built MDVIP
Two internists in Boca Raton, Florida, Dr. Edward Goldman and Dr. Robert Colton, founded MDVIP in 2000.[5][6] Goldman, who had run a family practice in south Florida for 25 years, became the company's chief executive, and the pair funded the early company with seed money from their own pockets and from friends and investors.[6] The first membership sold for $1,500 a year, in exchange for a smaller patient panel and more individual attention.[5]
The idea was straightforward and, at the time, unproven: build the first national network of primary care physicians offering concierge-style service, so that individual doctors could convert to membership medicine without building the brand, the protocols, and the patient platform themselves. That network model is what separated MDVIP from one-off concierge practices and what made it acquirable. Within a few years it was generating millions in annual revenue and drawing the attention of much larger buyers.[6]
The Private-Equity Story Behind MDVIP
Here is the part of the MDVIP story that rarely makes the patient-facing pages. For most of its history, MDVIP has been owned not by its doctors but by a chain of financial buyers, and it has changed hands roughly every four to seven years.[7][8][9]
The ownership timeline:
Years | Owner | Note |
|---|---|---|
2000 | Founded by Goldman and Colton | First fee $1,500/year[5] |
2004 | Summit Partners (minority) | Growth-equity firm takes first stake[7] |
2009 | Procter & Gamble | Consumer-goods giant acquires MDVIP[7] |
2014 | Summit Partners | Buys MDVIP back from Procter & Gamble[7] |
2017 | Leonard Green & Partners | Acquires majority from Summit[8] |
2021 to present | Goldman Sachs Asset Management + Charlesbank Capital Partners | Acquire majority from Leonard Green; co-control[9] |
Private equity (PE) refers to investment firms that buy companies, hold them for several years while trying to grow profit, and then sell them for more than they paid. The current owners, the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and the Boston-based firm Charlesbank Capital Partners, jointly acquired majority ownership of MDVIP in 2021.[9] By 2026 they are in year five of a hold that, for firms like these, usually ends in a sale within five to seven years.
That makes a new MDVIP sale one of the more anticipated events on the concierge calendar. Whoever buys MDVIP next sets the price reference point for every concierge transaction that follows, because MDVIP is the category's longest-running and most-studied example of the model working as a business. For patients, an ownership change is worth watching for a practical reason too: new owners can adjust fees, the wellness program, and the network's strategy over time.
The deeper takeaway is about the category, not the company. When Procter & Gamble, then three separate private-equity firms in succession, are willing to pay for the same concierge network, it tells you membership medicine stopped being a Manhattan novelty and became a durable, investable business. We covered that broader shift in the growth of private equity in concierge medicine.
Is MDVIP Worth It, and What Are the Alternatives?
MDVIP works well for a specific person: someone who likes their current primary care doctor, that doctor is converting to MDVIP, and they value the longer visits and 24/7 access enough to pay $1,800 to $4,500 a year for it. In that case, paying to keep your doctor and gain access is a reasonable trade.
It is worth comparing against two alternatives before you commit:
An independent concierge practice. Many standalone concierge doctors cap their panels under 300, lower than MDVIP's 600, and publish their pricing upfront. You give up the national brand and perks, and you often get more time and more transparency. NCH Concierge Medicine in Naples, Florida, is one example of the independent model in MDVIP's home state.
Direct primary care. If your main goal is access and time rather than a wellness-program brand, a DPC practice at $50 to $200 a month can deliver longer visits and direct physician access for less, though you typically keep separate insurance for emergencies and specialists. The full comparison is in our concierge vs direct primary care guide.
The right answer depends on whether you are paying to keep a specific doctor or shopping for the most time and transparency per dollar. MDVIP is strong on the first. Independent concierge and DPC practices often win on the second.
How to Compare MDVIP to Practices Near You
MDVIP's pricing is set doctor by doctor and is not listed in one place, which makes apples-to-apples comparison hard. A directory built for the concierge and DPC market solves that. On NextMD you can search by city, see the independent concierge and DPC practices in your area, compare their monthly or annual pricing side by side, and view each physician's credentials before you decide. Every practice listed is physician-led, with at least one MD or DO. You can browse practices in Boca Raton and across the country, or search any zip code at nextmd.ai/search.
FAQ
What is MDVIP?
MDVIP is the largest national concierge medicine network in the United States. It partners with independent primary care doctors who shrink their patient panels to around 600 and offer members an annual wellness exam, longer appointments, same-day scheduling, and 24/7 physician access in exchange for an annual membership fee. The doctor stays independent and keeps billing your insurance for regular care. Worth noting most doctors have 300 or fewer patients on their panels.
How much does MDVIP cost?
MDVIP membership generally costs between $1,800 and $4,500 per year, depending on the physician and location. The fee is paid on top of your regular health insurance, can be paid quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, and may be eligible for HSA or FSA funds depending on your plan. MDVIP does not publish a single national price, so you have to look up an individual doctor to see their exact fee.
Is MDVIP worth it?
It depends on your situation. MDVIP makes the most sense if you want to keep a specific doctor who is converting to the model and you value longer visits and 24/7 access. Members report high satisfaction in published studies. If your priority is the most time and price transparency per dollar, an independent concierge practice with a smaller panel or a direct primary care practice may deliver more for less.
Who owns MDVIP?
As of 2026, MDVIP is majority-owned by the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Charlesbank Capital Partners, which acquired it in 2021. Before that it was owned by Leonard Green & Partners, Summit Partners, and Procter & Gamble at different points. It was founded in 2000 by two Boca Raton doctors, Edward Goldman and Robert Colton.
What is the difference between MDVIP and concierge medicine?
MDVIP is a brand of concierge medicine, not a separate category. Concierge medicine is the general model of paying a membership fee for enhanced access to a doctor. MDVIP is the largest network that organizes independent doctors under one concierge brand, with shared wellness protocols and a roughly 600-patient panel cap. Many concierge doctors operate independently instead, often with smaller panels and published pricing.
Does insurance cover the MDVIP fee?
No. The MDVIP membership fee is not covered by insurance, because it pays for the wellness program and enhanced access rather than for billable medical care. You keep your regular insurance to cover visits, labs, specialists, and hospital care. The membership fee itself may be partly reimbursable through an HSA or FSA, depending on your plan.
NextMD helps you find and compare concierge and direct primary care practices across the United States, including independent alternatives to national networks like MDVIP. Browse by city, compare pricing, and view doctor credentials at nextmd.ai/search.
Sources
MDVIP. (2026). Membership Overview and Patient FAQ. Company description of the affiliation model, ~600-patient panel cap, wellness program, access benefits, network scale, and payment and HSA/FSA notes. mdvip.com/patients/membership-overview
PartnerMD. (2025). Comparing Concierge Medicine: PartnerMD vs. MDVIP. States MDVIP membership runs $1,800 to $4,500 per year depending on location and physician, with quarterly/semi-annual/annual payment and a 30-day cancellation notice. partnermd.com
Klemes, A., et al. (2015). The Impact of a Personalized Preventive Care Model vs. the Community Health Center Model on Patient Satisfaction. The Open Public Health Journal, Vol. 8. Finds 97% of MDVIP members satisfied with the physician relationship versus 58% of community health center patients (p<0.05). openpublichealthjournal.com
MDVIP. (2026). A Primary Care Model with Better Health Outcomes for Patients. Summarizes published research, including an American Journal of Managed Care study reporting Medicare patients in MDVIP-affiliated practices were hospitalized 79% less than peers. mdvip.com/patients/health-outcomes
Pounds, S. (2001). Doctor Offers VIP Service for $1,500 Annual Fee. The Ledger. Reports Dr. Robert Colton and investors started MDVIP in 2001 with a $1,500 annual fee and a reduced patient panel. theledger.com
Sun Sentinel. (2005). Very Important Patient. Identifies Dr. Ed Goldman (president) and co-founder Dr. Robert Colton of Boca Raton as MDVIP's founders, funded with their own and friends' seed money. sun-sentinel.com
Summit Partners. (2021). Companies: MDVIP. States Summit first invested in 2004, held a minority interest until Procter & Gamble's acquisition in 2009, and acquired MDVIP from P&G in 2014. summitpartners.com
Leonard Green & Partners. (2017). Leonard Green & Partners Acquires Majority Ownership of MDVIP from Summit Partners. November 2017 acquisition of a majority interest, with Summit retaining a minority stake. leonardgreen.com
MDVIP / Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Charlesbank Capital Partners. (2021). Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Charlesbank Capital Partners Acquire Majority Ownership of MDVIP. Announced August 2021, closed October 2021; the two firms acquired majority ownership from Leonard Green & Partners and Summit Partners. prnewswire.com