THE ADVANTAGES OF DIRECT PRIMARY CARE
THE ADVANTAGES OF A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE AS OPPOSED TO A TRADITIONAL INSURANCE-BASED PRACTICE
Direct Primary Care (DPC), though having been around for several years, is now growing in popularity as patients realize that both the financial considerations and the access to care considerations are often severely challenged in an insurance-based system. Some of the ways that DPC practices offer better service than traditional large corporate offices are:
A DPC practice is truly meant to provide primary care. I will be your primary source of medical care. There will be an attempt to understand and treat (if possible) every known medical problem/situation that you have had in the past, have currently, or may have in the future. Those of us who have been around for many years have a lot of accumulated experience that will help to cover most things needing care. In my experience, the most likely reason I have referred a patient to specialty care is not for lack of a diagnosis, but because the specialist did a procedure (i.e., colonoscopy, cardiac catheterization, bronchoscopy) that I have not been trained to do. In this DPC practice, I will be able to be conversant in most things primary care. If you want specifics on what I may or may not be able to do for you, please ask before you sign up.
A DPC practice is truly meant to improve access to care. The work flow in most offices takes messages from patients and routes them to someone who may be a "triage nurse" or some other person whose role is to transmit that information to the provider secondarily. In this DPC practice, I will be the one to respond to your email or text or phone call. This response will be quick and accurate, making a determination to just offer advice or to come to your home to do a home visit. Unfortunately, I can't be on call for all 168 hours during the week, but I will take your communications from 8 AM until 8 PM on a daily basis (including weekends). We won't be able to do home visits on weekends, but can still give advice virtually during that time period.
You may ask, "How can you respond quickly to all the potential calls or texts or emails that you will get during the day?" I'm glad you asked. Many insurance-based practices doing fee-for-service care load their providers with a tremendous number of patients that they are responsible for (in some practices that I have been affiliated with, 3000 patients per provider was not uncommon). With this number, it is very difficult to do more than stay in your office all day and see 20-25 patients in a fee-for-service paradigm. However, if you limit the number of patients in your practice to a much lower number (say, 300-500 patients), you have the time to answer all of the communications and do all of the home visits that are needed.
A DPC practice is truly meant to be financially affordable. If you have medical insurance, you are not only responsible for your insurance premium, but also for any extra charges not covered by insurance. In this DPC practice, pricing is a monthly charge (and payable every 6 months) for ALL services that I am able to provide. This includes all conversations, the initial comprehensive physical exam, all home visits, all lab that I offer "in-house," and all procedures that I offer "in-house." The only exception to that last sentence would be if one chooses our Mini-Plan, any home visit is an additional $85. But whether you choose the Mini-Plan or the Maxi-Plan, the other 3 provisions (conversations, in-house lab, and in-house procedures) still are provided without cost to you. If you choose the Virtual-Only Plan, conversations with me are the only thing covered. I am able to lessen costs in some areas because there will be no "middle man" eating up your health care dollars. So you can truly budget using a DPC practice.
A SUMMARY OF THE UNIQUE ASPECTS OF THIS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE
Primary care, specifically direct primary care (DPC)
Communication is virtual (email, text, phone, FaceTime/other platform)
Communication is with Dr. Kilpatrick only and is with quick turn-around
In-person visits, when necessary, are in your home, not in my "office"
The cost for Mini-Plan, Maxi-Plan, or Virtual-Only Plan is by the month and is for 1 person, 2 persons, or for 3 or more persons
The only additional charge other than the monthly costs are for in-home visits in the Mini-Plan ($85/visit, if needed)(Maxi-Plan in-home visits are no charge)(The Virtual-Only Plan does not provide in-home visits)
Billing for services is every 6 months (you pay for 6 months of services at a time)
We do not accept medical insurance, but you may carry it at your discretion
Everyone gets a free in-home complete physical exam when they sign up (does not apply to Virtual-Only Plan)
In-house labs (when needed) are free (does not apply to Virtual-Only Plan)
In-house procedures (when needed) are free (does not apply to Virtual-Only Plan)
READ WHAT MARYAL CONCEPCION, MD (FAMILY MEDICINE) HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR
