While the concierge-care trend has been slow to take off in smaller medical markets like Santa Fe, thousands of doctors in the U.S. offer specialized subscription-based services, including around 950 who offer the care through MDVIP — the largest network of concierge providers in the nation.

Bret Jorgensen, the chairman and CEO of MDVIP, said the network grew out of physicians trying to find an alternative to “turnstile” care. Too frequently, he said, modern medicine requires doctors to shuffle through a huge patient load, with time only to assess symptoms and offer referrals and medications.