The Direct Care Difference

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If you're new to the concept, this post will review what it means to be a Direct Care practice.  Most accept that the Direct Care model of medical care delivery began with Garrison Bliss MD at Qliance in Washington State while others believe pioneers like Brian Forrest MD of Access Healthcare Direct receive a lot of credit too.  Regardless of the exact details of its roots, the concept has remained simple and grown exponentially.

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is the most common Direct Care practice.  Rather than billing insurance like the Fee For Service model (FFS), DPC doctors bill patients directly as a monthly membership fee.  This allows a predictable stream of income for the practice and gives doctors the opportunity to reduce the number of patients per physician, leading to much higher access for patients to their doctor.  Most practices offer cell and email access directly to the physician.  Many also offer discounts on labs, medications, and assistance in accessing more affordable imaging and specialty care.  

The major goals of DPC are affordable, transparent cost for direct access and care through a physician who is not over-burdened by patient volume and insurance-dictated administrative responsibilities.  Removing the burdens related to insurance billing (staff & related benefits, billers, data-miners, etc.) reduces the overhead costs required to run a practice.  This is what allows doctors to have fewer patients on their panels (i.e. 300-600 rather than 1000s) and therefore spend more time per patient (including in-person, remote care, researching difficult medical concerns, etc.). 

In reducing the administrative burdens faced by physicians in the FFS world, Direct Care doctors regain the control of direct care of patients, their own scheduling needs, and remove the sense that their rushing through their days checking boxes and referring patients out.  If you're intrigued by the possibility of reigniting your flame for practicing medicine and patient care, I urge you to keep exploring how I've established and run my DPC in the simplest of ways.

Keep reigniting your flame for medicine:
- Be the Doctor You've Always Wanted To Be...