Beyond Med vs. Other Self-Pay and Membership Networks: How to Choose

This page compares them honestly, including where another option fits your practice better than we do.

The short answer

If your practice has unfilled capacity in an elective or wellness service and you want to reach self-pay patients without paying for that volume upfront, Beyond Med is worth a look: there is no enrollment or monthly fee, you agree member pricing instead of paying for advertising, and members pay your practice directly. If your practice is mainly dental, a broad discount benefit company that sells dental bundles through employers and brokers may fit better, because the Beyond Med program currently does not include dental services. If you want reach across many specialties and want to set your own price per visit, a self-pay marketplace may fit better. If you would rather own the whole relationship yourself, an in-house membership program on practice software, or going fully direct-pay with no third party at all, are both legitimate choices with a real tradeoff attached. None of these is a universal right answer. Beyond Med does not guarantee patient volume, and neither does any other option here.

At a glance

How Beyond Med differs from Careington and New Benefits

Careington and New Benefits are long-established discount benefit companies that sell broad bundles of discounts, including dental, through employers and brokers. Their discounts largely run on networks that they lease or rent from other companies.

The difference that matters to a practice is whose network you are joining. When a discount program leases or rents a network that another company operates, a practice is recruited by that network operator, and the discount program is one of several brands its patients might arrive through. Beyond Med builds its own network instead: it recruits participating practices directly, in response to member interests, employer priorities and provider nominations. Whichever option you consider, ask two questions before you sign: who actually operates the network you are joining, and how many of its members use the services you offer. They are the same questions we would want you to ask us.

Self-pay marketplaces: broader reach, but you compete on your own price

A self-pay marketplace lets providers list services at a rate they set themselves, and patients search, compare and book, often paying through the platform. Marketplaces can draw patients searching for in-person and telehealth care across many specialties, well beyond any single employer group. Many of these platforms lean heavily on telehealth, while Beyond Med builds full networks of in-office practices. Fees and terms vary, so read each marketplace's provider terms.

The tradeoff is the mechanism itself. A marketplace is a comparison surface: you set your own price, and patients choose between providers largely on that price. There is no pre-agreed member price tying your practice to a defined member base, which gives you more pricing freedom but also means you compete on price with every other listed provider in your specialty. If your edge is price competitiveness, a marketplace can work well. If you would rather be a listed option inside an existing membership, a directory model like Beyond Med's may fit better.

Running your own membership program instead of joining any network

The direct primary care model shows the mechanism clearly: a patient pays the practice a flat periodic fee directly, with no network or discount program involved. The underlying idea, an in-house recurring self-pay membership, is something some elective and wellness practices run themselves on practice-management software with membership billing.

This is the option with the most control and the highest bar. You set the price and keep the revenue, with no discount handed to anyone. You also own every step of getting a patient to sign up: the marketing, the offer and the retention. A software subscription is a fixed monthly cost whether or not it produces a single new member. This route suits a practice with an existing following and the marketing capacity to fill its own membership, more than a newer practice trying to find its first self-pay patients.

Going fully direct-pay, no network, no membership, no software

The simplest option is also a real one: keep every dollar of your standard rate, give away no discount, join nothing. This works when a practice already has strong referral flow, an established reputation or a marketing budget doing the job on its own.

It stops being the right answer when a practice has unfilled capacity and no inexpensive way to fill it. The member discount applies when a Beyond Med member books a participating service. When that member found you through the network and the slot would otherwise have sat empty, the discount costs you nothing you would have kept anyway.

Choose Beyond Med if

You have unfilled capacity in an elective or wellness service, you want to join a network whose operator recruited you directly, and you would rather trade a member discount on visits that happen than pay a fixed cost, whether that is a software subscription or paid advertising, to fill the same slots.

Choose a broad discount benefit company if

Your practice is mainly dental, and you want to be reachable through broad discount benefit bundles that employers and brokers already sell, on a network that another company may operate.

Choose a self-pay marketplace if

You want reach across many specialties, you are comfortable competing on your own listed price, and you do not need an existing member base to convert a patient.

Choose an in-house membership program if

You already have a following and the marketing capacity to fill your own membership, and you would rather keep control of the price you set than share any of it with a third party.

Choose to stay fully direct-pay if

Your schedule is already full at your standard rate. In that case every option on this page, including Beyond Med, adds cost or effort for volume you did not need.

These are not mutually exclusive

Nothing about joining Beyond Med stops a practice from also running its own membership program, listing on a marketplace or keeping its existing referral relationships. Participation in Beyond Med is nonexclusive, and it sits alongside the other channels rather than replacing any of them.

Key Takeaways

• Beyond Med, other discount benefit companies, self-pay marketplaces, in-house membership programs and going fully direct-pay are five distinct mechanisms, not five versions of the same thing. The right one depends on your capacity, your services and how much control you want over price.
• Many discount benefit companies lease or rent networks that other companies operate. Beyond Med builds its own network of participating practices and centers on elective and wellness care.
• A self-pay marketplace lets you set your own rate, but you compete on that price, and patients often pay through the platform.
• An in-house membership program gives you full control and full revenue, at the cost of a fixed subscription and doing your own patient acquisition.
• None of these options is exclusive, and none guarantees patient volume.

Key Terms Glossary

Discount benefit program. A benefit, often sold through employers and brokers, that gives members agreed prices at participating providers. Members pay providers directly. It is not insurance.

Network operator. The company that recruits and contracts with the participating providers. A discount program may operate its own network or use one another company operates.

Self-pay marketplace. A platform where providers list services at self-set prices and patients search and book, with no negotiated member discount involved.

In-house membership program. A recurring payment arrangement a practice runs itself, typically monthly, in exchange for defined services or pricing, with no third-party network involved.

Direct-pay. A patient paying a practice's standard price directly, with no insurance claim, network discount or membership fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Beyond Med different from Careington or New Benefits?

All three give members agreed prices at participating providers, and members pay the provider directly. The difference is whose network it is. Careington and New Benefits largely lease or rent networks that other companies operate. Beyond Med builds its own network, recruiting participating practices directly across elective and wellness care such as weight management, fertility, chiropractic and med spa services.

Should I join Beyond Med or list on a self-pay marketplace instead?

It depends on what you are optimizing for. Beyond Med lists your practice to members who generally join through their employers, at member pricing you agree in advance. A marketplace gives you broader reach at a price you set yourself, and you compete with other listed providers on price. Because Beyond Med is nonexclusive, you can also do both.

Is running my own membership program better than joining a network like Beyond Med?

Better is the wrong frame. An in-house membership program gives you full control of price and all of the revenue, but you pay a fixed software cost and have to generate your own sign-ups. Joining Beyond Med carries no enrollment or monthly fee and costs you a member discount only on visits that happen. A practice with strong marketing capacity may benefit more from its own program, and a practice that needs help filling capacity may benefit more from a network.

Should I just stay fully direct-pay and skip all of this?

If your schedule is already full at your standard rate, yes. Every option on this page only creates value when it fills a slot that would otherwise sit empty.

Can I join Beyond Med and also run my own membership program or list on a marketplace?

Yes. Participation in Beyond Med is nonexclusive, and many practices run more than one self-pay channel at once.

Does joining Beyond Med replace the need for paid advertising?

Not necessarily. Beyond Med members already hold a paid membership to use the provider network, so those who search the directory are usually looking to book, and your practice may also be featured in member and employer communications. Beyond Med does not guarantee patient volume, so many practices keep some other marketing running alongside it.

Which option costs the least upfront?

Beyond Med has no enrollment or monthly fee in its standard agreement, and marketplace fees vary by platform. An in-house membership program carries a software subscription whether or not it produces new members. Review each option's current terms before deciding.

What is the real difference between a discount program and a membership model?

A discount program, like Beyond Med, is a third party that connects its members to your practice at agreed member pricing. A membership model, whether the direct primary care approach or an in-house program on practice software, is a recurring arrangement you build and market yourself, with no third party and no existing member base to draw from.

Next step

Read how Beyond Med works for providers and what joining costs a practice, check who Beyond Med is and is not right for, then see how to join, step by step. The provider agreement is on the Beyond Med provider page. Questions? Email info@beyondmedplans.com or call 1-844-267-6192.

Beyond Med is not insurance. It provides discounts at participating providers and does not make payments to providers. Members pay providers directly.