One person at your practice, accountable for the practical next step.

What a concierge does

Rides, who is helping at home, equipment, where your instructions are, what happens next and who owns it. A concierge is the one accountable owner of the practical step in front of you. Every update from them says four things: what has happened, what is next, who owns it, and when you will hear from them again. “Requested” is not “arranged”, and “sent” is not “received”; a concierge says which one it is.

A concierge is not a nurse and not a line for symptoms. When you ask a medical question the answer is the same every time: “Your care team needs to answer that. I can help you reach them.” Your record’s own screens still tell you whom to call, and an emergency is still 911.

What they see, and what they never see

Nothing is shared until you agree, from your own record, and you can withdraw at any time. The agreement reads:

Share the practical side of your record with your practice's concierge.

They would see:

• Your name and the phone you sign in with
• Which joint and side, and which phase you are in
• Your surgeon, your surgery date and the facility
• The one next step your record asks of you
• The milestones and arrangements your concierge records with you

They would never see:

• Your Fit, Readiness and Recovery Scores and every answer behind them
• Your medications, medical history, images and reports
• Your daily check-ins, outcome questionnaires and research answers

A concierge helps with arrangements and with reaching the right person. They do not answer medical questions, read images or results, or decide whether a symptom can wait. For anything clinical the screen still says whom to call, and for an emergency it still says 911.

You can withdraw this any time. Your concierge's access ends at once; what they already recorded with you stays in your record. Every time a concierge opens your record, the read is written to the same access log a surgeon’s read is.

Who the concierge is

Your surgeon’s practice employs the concierge, invites them to JointVoyage by cell phone, and signs off their training. JointVoyage then certifies them: five short modules, a knowledge check that must be passed in full on privacy, the clinical boundary, handoffs and coverage, and three written scenarios read by an independent reviewer. The credential runs twelve months and can be checked by its number at jointvoyage.com/concierge/verify, where the holder has agreed to publish it. It is not a clinical license.

A concierge is named on your record only after you agree, the practice offers you to them, and they accept. Until all three have happened your record names the practice and no one else. A backup is named the same way. JointVoyage charges nothing for any of this; whether the practice does is the practice’s to say before support starts.

The curriculum, version 2026.1, covers:

• What a concierge does, and does not. You help a patient with arrangements and with reaching the right person. You are the one accountable owner of the practical next step.
• Privacy and the practical record. You see the practical side of one operation's record because the patient agreed to it: their name and phone, joint and side, phase, surgeon, date, facility, their one next step, and the milestones you record together.
• The clinical boundary and the safety screen. A symptom, a wound, a temperature, a medication question, a fall: these go to the practice's clinical line, today, by the patient. You do not decide whether something can wait.
• Handoffs that close. A handoff to the office has three separate states: sent, received, and done. Only the office can say it was received or done. Never mark it for them.
• Coverage, hours and honesty. You have hours. The patient knows them. Outside them your backup covers, or nobody does, and the screen says which. You never imply a 24-hour service.

The ten milestones

One support plan, twelve months long, ten conversations. The windows are the plan’s suggestions, not appointments; a patient who wants fewer is given fewer.

1. Meet your concierge — after your concierge accepts. Your goal, how you like to be reached, who to call for what, and the next step.
2. Understand your next step — around your consultation. Organize your questions and follow through on what was left unanswered.
3. Prepare at home — two to four weeks before surgery. Transport, who is helping at home, equipment, and where your instructions are.
4. Confirm arrangements — three to seven days before surgery. The practice's current arrival instructions and your practical arrangements, checked once more.
5. Settle in at home — two to three days after you are home. Finding your instructions, your support, and the clinical line if you need it.
6. Early recovery follow-through — one to two weeks after surgery. Did the appointments and arrangements happen? What still needs arranging?
7. Everyday progress — four to six weeks after surgery. Practical barriers, and the questions to bring to your clinical team.
8. Goal review — around three months. Revisit what you wanted back, and any questionnaire your record is asking for.
9. Stay connected — around six months. Anything still unresolved, and help arranging follow-up.
10. Review and transition — around twelve months. Your year in summary, how to reach your record, and the contact route from here on.

What is agreed before support starts

• Who your concierge is, who their backup is, and the hours they keep.
• The practice’s service number, and how quickly a message is answered. A target, stated in hours during staffed time; never an emergency promise and never around the clock.
• What the practice includes and what, if anything, it charges. JointVoyage sets no fee and takes none.
• The clinical line and the after-hours route, which belong to the practice and are shown on your record beside the concierge.
• That you can withdraw at any time, and what happens when you do.

What this is not

• It is not a message board to your surgeon. JointVoyage carries nothing between a patient and a surgeon except “reach out to your surgeon”; the concierge is the practice’s person, reached on the practice’s line.
• It is not monitoring. A concierge is not watching your check-ins; the record’s safety screen tells you whom to call, and the call is yours to make.
• It is not a guarantee of a staffed service. A practice that has not set one up shows no concierge on your record at all, rather than a promise it cannot keep.