What is Direct Primary Care?
Do you accept insurance?
Do I still need insurance?
Can you charge my HSA/FSA?
What kind of services are provided?
What is NOT included?
What if I need care on weekends or after office hours?
What if I am having an emergency?
- Direct primary care (DPC) is a new way of health care delivery that aims for high quality and cost effective care directly to the patient, based on a strong and focused doctor-patient relationship without the barriers set forth by a third party insurance. DPC practices charge patients a flat periodic fee, under terms of a contract, in exchange for access to a broad range of primary care services. This model serves to replace the traditional system of third party insurance coverage for primary care services. "The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) supports the physician and patient choice to, respectively, provide and receive healthcare in any ethical healthcare delivery system model, including the DPC practice-setting."
- The DPC contract between a patient and his/her/their physician, provides for recurring monthly fee to practices which allows the physician and office staff to focus on the needs of the patient and improving their health outcomes over coding and billing under insurance rules and policies. Patients benefit from having a DPC practice because the contract fee covers the cost of many primary care services furnished in the practice. Imagine subscribing to Netflix or Disney+. You don't know how much you are going to watch but rest assured that you can watch as much as you want at a low monthly fee. This is a simple analogy to explain how DPC works as a newer model of primary health care delivery.
Do you accept insurance?
- No but we see patients with or without insurance. With direct primary care, our goal is to foster the relationship between you and your doctor and not involve any middleman; in this industry, it is insurances.
Do I still need insurance?
- It is recommended that you have insurance coverage for catastrophic events like surgeries, trauma, cancer and hospitalizations. You probably will benefit also if you have chronic diseases that needs subspecialty care. You can think about health insurance like how car insurances work. You only need to use it when you get into a collision or major repairs but not for routine car maintenance like oil changes, tire rotation checks and changing the wiper blades. Many patients who enroll in a DPC practice opt for a high deductible plan (wrap around insurance) and since we do not charge your insurance, this can save you a lot from these deductibles in medical bills each year.
- You can also use your insurance for medications, labs and imaging studies as these can be directly billed to your insurance by the centers that do them.
Can you charge my HSA/FSA?
- Please check with your plan administrator.
What kind of services are provided?
- Please see our services page.
What is NOT included?
- Our doctors do not prescribe controlled substances for chronic pain, anxiety and adult ADHD. Work-related injuries and DOT physicals are also not included. We do not provide inpatient or prenatal care but we coordinate care with local specialists and hospitalists, when appropriate.
What if I need care on weekends or after office hours?
- If you have an urgent after-hours concern that you believe cannot wait for regular business hours, we will be available by phone to help you or meet your urgent needs. We will not be available for routine needs or matters that can wait for our regular office hours. We are dedicated to your care and to a healthy, strong doctor-patient relationship.
What if I am having an emergency?
- As with any medical emergency, please dial 911.
