Direct Primary Care Doesn't Skim off the Top

Patients who join Direct Primary Care practices, like Direct Doctors, often express wonderment at how we are able to spend more time with our patients, never make them feel rushed, never make them wait, and get back to them quickly with answers to their questions.  Here’s how we make this happen and why your typical primary care office cannot.

At Direct Primary Care practices across the country, doctors are breaking down the traditional barriers that are put up between patient and doctor.  At Direct Doctors, while we are not concierge, our business model is simple.  Patients pay a monthly fee directly to their doctor.  The doctor pays overhead expenses to run the practice and then pays him/herself the rest.  In this model, patients pay doctors directly and doctors can cut out the multitude of middlemen skimming off the top while expertly blocking access to your doctor ;).

At most traditional PCP’s offices, the staff consists of (scroll through quickly if you know this!):

• a receptionist to answer your calls (or put you on hold!),
• a medical assistant to bring you into the room and check your blood pressure,
• a nurse to call you back when you have a burning medical question for your doctor,
• an office manager to organize the day-to-day runnings of the ship,  
• a billing specialist to be sure the practice is collecting money appropriately from insurance companies,

• a note-analyzing specialist to be sure the doctors’ notes look right for insurance claims to pay the practice back for the visit,
• and, a compliance officer who helps remind the doctor which screening tests are due, who needs a lab, etc so that the practices “numbers” look good (i.e. everyone’s cholesterol has been checked that year, which helps the practice earn more money from insurance contracts).  
• This does not begin to review the large number of corporate staff, human resources folks, etc. who would be behind the scenes (and being paid by the money the physician brings in) at a corporate-affiliated or large group practice.

At Direct Doctors, the staff consists of:

• Drs. Jim & Lauren Hedde, Dr. Mark Turshen, Dr. Sara Delaporta, Dr. Ashley Lakin, Dr. Laura Henseler and Dr. Erin Kunkel ​

See where I’m going with this?  At Direct Doctor, our doctors make the decisions about what tests you need based on who you are as a person/patient, our doctors see you directly when you arrive (and decide whether you have to come in in the first place), our doctors text you back when you have a question, and our doctors take your blood pressure themselves!  We are able to do this because we have forgone payment by the insurance giants and instead chosen to let our patients become members in our practice directly for a fairly nominal monthly fee which is affordable to many families.  

To find out more about becoming a Direct Doctors’ patient, check us out at www.directdoctors.org.

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