Direct Primary Care is a model for healthcare that removes the insurance companies as middle men between you and your doctor. Direct Primary Care patients typically pay an affordable monthly membership fee in exchange for nearly unlimited access directly to their doctor. In traditional family medicine and primary care offices, doctors MUST force their patients to come into the office in order to get paid by the insurance company. Patients often have to pay copays PLUS coinsurance for every office visit, extra charges for tests and procedures, and highly inflated lab prices. They then have to pay marked up retail prices on their medications at the pharmacy. If their deductible hasn't been met, all these expenses come out of pocket! Direct Primary Care patients typically enjoy unlimited office visits, telemed visits, phone calls, and texts directly with their doctor. There are no copays, coinsurance, or deductibles, no confusing lab or procedure bills, and most medications can be dispensed directly by the doctor at wholesale cost, potentially saving hundreds of dollars per year. In addition, traditional insurance-based doctors carry 2,000-3,000 patients and see 25-30 patients daily. This means patients must wait in waiting rooms, sometimes for an hour or more, only to see their doctor for 6-8 minutes. Direct Primary Care doctors carry only 400-600 patients, see 5-6 patients daily, and can spend 30 minutes to an hour with each patient, fully addressing their concerns. Patients of traditional practices often have to wait weeks to see their doctor, which means more urgent care or emergency department visits. Direct Primary Care patients seldom wait at all for their appointments, and most appointments can be made same day or next day.
