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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 ;). As everyone knows, the cost of medical care continues to rise (except at Direct Primary Care practices!). A major portion of patient expenses often come from prescription medications. Consumer reports published an article highlighting this very thing. There are many reasons for the increasing drug costs (excessive markups, physician unawareness of pricing, cost shifting from employers to patients, etc), but at Direct Doctors we pay special attention to this part of our patients finances.
At Direct Doctors, like many other Direct Primary Care practices around the country, we work hard to make ourselves accessible to our patients. While we can’t guarantee 24/7 access, we do ensure our patients can reach us on our cell phones, can text us, and can even email us when they need to ask a question or run something by us - and by us, I mean one of the doctors! We also make sure patients can be seen when it is convenient for them and not 3 months from now.
A common question from our patients in their 60s and up is, “How could your practice at Direct Doctors actually make sense with my medicare?” It is a smart question. It’s important to understand how medicare works when you have a doctor, like Dr. Henseler, who does not bill medicare (aka a doctor who is “opted out” of medicare). At Direct Doctors, patients in the age group of 65 and above will pay a membership fee to have convenient access to their physician. They will be able to reach their primary care doctor when and how it works for them. They will avoid long wait times at the office or on the phone. And, they will have a meaningful relationship with a doctor who knows them well and spends the needed time listening to their needs. It’s that time of year again! No I’m not referring to pumpkins, leaves changing color, cool weather or football. It’s time to renew or change your health insurance plan. Open enrollment on the health exchanges start November 1, 2018 (and ends December 15th). Whether you purchase your insurance through the state, government, employer or directly from the vendors, this can be a daunting process. There are often many choices, with slight differences that are difficult to decipher. Beyond that, because price transparency is such an issue in healthcare, it is often hard to plan or budget for future costs when there is no way to find out how much these services actually cost! Below, I’ve tried to outline a couple tips while going through this process.
Last year we visited the Smith Family, a typical working family of three looking to reduce their healthcare expenses through a membership with our Direct Primary Care practice, Direct Doctors. We looked at how they were able to save $1350 during their first year as members of Direct Doctors just by switching to a higher-deductible, lower-premium health insurance and joining the practice for their primary care.
Have you ever gone to your primary care doctor hoping you could get some helpful advice on weight loss or changing the way you eat, only to feel rushed through the office and out the door quickly? Have you ever considered paying for a program like Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem or one of the “Medical” weight loss clinics only to realize they can be quite expensive? What if you could get the help you needed without any additional expenses beyond seeing your PCP?
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force gives a “B” rating (“recommends”) to “Diet & Physical Activity Counseling for patients with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors” - meaning, it is recommended to “refer adults who are overweight or obese...for intensive behavioral counseling interventions to promote a healthful diet and physical activity for CVD prevention.” They give a “C” rating (“recommended for some”) regarding “behavioral counseling for adults without obesity who do not have known cardiovascular disease risk.” We hope over the past few years we’ve made a good case about why Direct Primary Care practices like Direct Doctors are good for patients. But, we felt it worth mentioning...DPC is great for Docs too!
If you’re a patient looking for a doctor, you may say, “Why do I care if this is better for doctors?” Well, you should care and I will explain why! Do you know that nearly 50% of primary care physicians are experiencing “burnout” - meaning they feel overwhelmed, overworked, or underappreciated in their jobs? What does burnout lead to? It means your doctor might be retiring early, his care might be sub-par, or he might be cutting back on his hours. A common complaint from patients is, “Why do I have to see so many specialists?” As Direct Primary Care doctors, our answer is, “You don’t.”
As Family Physicians at Direct Doctors, we have the training to assist your care in all areas of your health - from Diabetes to Asthma, from Allergies to Sports injuries, from basic Gynecologic issues to infections. Many patients show up to their first visit with us and show us their list of specialist doctors. We work with patients to whittle that list down to the essentials. Improve your health by looking at the foods you eat. Food sensitivities can cause fatigue, brain fog, inflammation and pain. Many of these can be mistaken for symptoms of chronic disease. At Direct Doctors we talk to our patients about food sensitivities and help identify them if they exist. Dr. Turshen explains more above.
As Family Physicians, we are trained to see patients of all ages, from newborns to seniors. Currently, our youngest patient is two weeks old, our oldest patient is 100 and this is part of what makes our job so exciting! At Direct Doctors, we pride ourselves on being able to provide full scope primary care services to all of our patients, and especially to our elderly population. This means that we can often decrease the amount of specialists that patients have to see because we have time to spend with them, and therefore can better organize and coordinate their care. From blood pressure issues to thyroid problems to musculoskeletal issues and beyond, we can assist patients with most medical issues that will arise throughout the year without having them see other practitioners. We also do many procedures for folks who need them (joint injections, skin biopsies, pap smears, vaccines, etc) at no extra cost, other than the monthly fee.
Trade your static stretching to foam rolling. Static stretching with cold muscles can sometimes cause potential injuries, while foam rolling can actually activate your muscles to provide somewhat of a warm up before your exercise . Dr. Turshen explains more above.
As Family Doctors at Direct Doctors, we often have patients who are confused about whether we can be their child’s doctor too. As Family Physicians, trained in Family Medicine, we are able to take care of kids too! All of our physicians were trained in the Brown Family Medicine program and therefore spent some time learning Pediatrics at Hasbro as well as at Memorial Hospital.
Family Doctors, in general, tend to be more focused on “outpatient medicine.” This means that for adults and children, our training is much more focused on things that happen to you outside of the hospital, and a bit less focused on hospital-related issues (as compared to Internal Medicine adult doctors and Pediatric doctors who spend more time training inside the hospital on “inpatient medicine” during their residency). Therefore, we are well equipped to see your children in our office for well child checkups, vaccinations, sick visits, chronic illness care, and everything in between! We all know it's hard to get motivated to exercise in the colder months, but there is some good news. A new study shows that you might not need to exercise for quite as long as previously thought to realize a lot of the health benefits exercising brings. Dr. Hedde explains above.
To see how we practice primary care differently, check us out at www.directdoctors.org Great question… and one of the most common questions we get when explaining our practice to potential patients. Many people, when they hear about paying a monthly fee to see a doctor, automatically think of concierge medicine. Unfortunately, there is a negative stereotype about concierge medicine (that it’s only for the rich), that then gets transferred to the Direct Primary Care model.
There are many similarities. Both models employ an out of pocket monthly fee for better access to a doctor, longer visits, a better relationship with a physician, etc. There have also been studies showing a reduction in health care costs, largely due to a decrease in hospitalizations and other expensive visits, for both concierge medicine and Direct Primary Care. However, there are two major differences: “Growing up, my general practitioner saw my family at our house...but, that isn’t something I thought any doctors still did today.” At our Direct Primary Care practice, Direct Doctors, we hear this all the time. “Will you really come do a housecall if I am sick?” “Are you sure you I can call you anytime if I have a question?” The answer, as always at Direct Doctors, is yes - yes we are available, yes we will visit you at home! While your typical primary care doctor does not offer home visits and is often very hard to reach directly even during normal business hours, at Direct Doctors, we are always available to our patients and we wouldn’t change a thing.
In this weeks video blog above, Dr. Hedde talks about the recommendations for screen times and the recent updates from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Make sure you talk with your pediatrician to find out the appropriate amount of screen time for your child's age group and for some recommendations of age appropriate shows
About a month ago, I wrote a blog on the benefits that employers can gain from offering a membership to a direct primary care practice to their employees. Today, I'd like to highlight the benefits seen directly by the employees. When health care benefits through employers started in the 1940’s, they were meant to help attract and retain good workers (and because of a law that provided large tax deductions to those employers). Back when health care costs were low and many employees remained at the same company for their entire career, this worked quite well. As costs began to rise, however, these “benefits” have actually become a source of financial stagnation for many employees.
We all try to focus on a healthy lifestyle that includes eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. Often, a part of our health that is forgotten is our mental health. Learn more about meditation in our weekly video blog above and reach out to us for some tips and advice to make sure your mental health is in its best shape!
To see how we practice primary care differently visit us at www.directdoctors.org Pediatrics? Check. Adult Medicine? Check. Women’s Health? Check. Sports Medicine? Check. As Family Physicians, Family Medicine Doctors, or Family Docs, we do it all - well almost! All doctors at Direct Doctors trained in Family Medicine at Brown where we learned all of the above. We take care of patients from newborn to geriatric and everyone in between. A Family Doctor can give immunizations to your baby, discuss your 4 year old’s cough, refill your antidepressant medication, inject your spouse’s knee after an injury, and do a check up for your grandmother.
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AuthorLauren Hedde, DO; James Hedde, DO and Mark Turshen, MD are Family Physicians and Co- Founders of Direct Doctors, Inc. a Direct Primary Care Practice. Archives
December 2023
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