Concierge nursing: discussing the case for a new nursing care model

The United States' population is aging, and those aged 65 years or older are plagued by multiple co-morbidities that require strong community-based care to avoid emergency department visits (ED) or hospitalisations. The dominance of business-centric healthcare systems and health insurance structures combined with inadequate community-care paradigms are creating care gaps that force patients to rely on the acute care system. Concierge nursing, an innovative nurse-driven solution for acute care overutilisation and systemic cost conservation, has the potential to transform care delivery and improve clinical outcomes.

Drawing on peer reviewed evidence supporting the benefits of the concierge medicine model and validating the role corporately employed nurse navigators play in decreasing ED visits or acute care utilisation, this manuscript discusses the potential advantages of a novel concierge nursing model of care.

Nurses, with their robust clinical knowledge and skills, are poised to innovatively address barriers and restrictions to care imposed by large, corporate health systems, insurance companies, and an inadequate primary care model. Using an entrepreneurial approach, nurses can create solutions that improve care delivery and outcomes. Concierge nursing may circumvent existing barriers to providing the quality of evidence-based care that patients need. Research is needed on implementing a concierge nursing care model under discussion to study its clinical and financial effects.