Direct primary care is a modern version of the old-time patient physician relationship. Specifically, the physician provides the patient with medical care without any insurance or government involvement. The physician sets a fixed fee for medical care and the patient pays this charge directly to the physician. In exchange, the physician provides more personalized and attentive medical care thourgh preferred services, such as extended office visits and direct access with modern technology.
Care is generally provided at the physician’s office, but can include home visits and assisted living or nursing home rounds under special circumstances. The number of patients in direct primary care practices tends to be small, usually limited to between 400 and 600 patients. This smaller number ensures a much more personalized and higher level of professional care.
Direct primary care is not insurance. It does not cover any medical services or supplies outside the physician’s scope of practice (ie: sub-specialty care, hospitalization services, imaging studies, outside labwork, prescriptions, etc.).
The modern movement towards direct primary care integrates the advances of medical science with the qualities that made the old-fashioned family doctor so beloved. This hybrid approach is ideal for many different groups of people, including:
Busy working professionals, small business owners and their employees as well as active families find the convenience, affordability and accessibility attractive in their daily routines. Once they discover the benefits of direct primary care, they rarely go back to the traditional model.
Direct primary care is an emerging system of medical service that can have vastly superior outcomes when compared to the traditional model largely practiced today. Analysis of several key factors displays the comparative strength of the DPC model over the traditional system.
Fragmented Care: Medical care is often delivered exclusively by multiple subspecialists. A similar phenomenon, however, occurs in a primary care office as well, where the patient is often seen by a provider who is not the patient's physician. Frequently a mid-level provider such as a physician assistant or nurse practitioner provides fill-in care. This problem of multiple medical professionals is further compounded after hours and on the weekends when yet another provider sees the patient in an urgent care clinic or the emergency room setting.
Impersonal: Traditional offices tend to be larger, more crowded and often less personal. Larger staff sizes make close professional relationships with patients more difficult.
Production Oriented: Reimbursement to the physician is primarily based on the number of patients seen. Time spent with the provider is therefore often limited, and patients may feel like "just a number."
Third Party Interference: Insurance and the government often modify care that is provided by the physician, which frequently is not in the patient's best interest.
Inconvenience: Crowded office schedules often limit appointment time options, frequently making waits to see the doctor days to weeks away. The doctor's office is typically the only place to see the provider, with after-hours and weekend care delivered at another location, often involving hours in a crowded waiting room to see yet another provider.
Reactionary Care: Traditional offices are typically so crowded and busy that there is little time for wellness visits and preventative counseling, which has been shown in many studies to decrease illness and extend life.
Hidden Charges: Unlike most businesses, the traditional medical model generally does not publish charges and fees. This is largely due to the third-party payer (insurance) system. As a result of this lack of transparency, many patients who pay for treatment out-of-pocket are reluctant to seek medical care.
Longitudinal Care: Medical care is delivered by one provider in a variety of settings including, but not limited to, the office, home, workplace or assisted-living facility. This care covers evening, nighttime and weekend hours for urgent and emergent matters. If a medical problem is deemed too complex, the direct primary care physician consults and coordinates care with the appropriate subspecialist.
Personal: Direct primary care practices tend to be quite small, generally limited to between 400 to 600 patients. Staff size is small, and patients are known on a first name basis.
Patient Oriented: Due to the small size and the direct payment structure of these practices, physicians have plenty of time to spend with each patient. This ultimately saves the patient money by reducing unnecessary medications, subspecialist appointments, ER visits and hospital stays.
Autonomy: Direct primary care practices provide medical care that is not modified or dictated by insurance companies or government entities. Third party interference is therefore not an issue.
Convenience: Medical care is provided at a time and place that is convenient for the patient. Some care can be delivered by webcam, email or phone, saving the patient even more time and money.
Preventative Care: Direct primary care encourages wellness visits due to the nature of the prepaid membership fee. Patients are more apt to seek preventative care since this fee has already been paid, ultimately decreasing unnecessary illness and other medical problems.
Transparency: Membership fees are clearly posted, and there are no hidden charges. This encourages physician-patient interaction on a more regular basis, saving money and promoting health.
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Pioneer Direct Primary Care
Address
208 Booth Road, Suite C
Ormond Beach, Florida 32174
Phone
(386) 259–0670
Fax
(386) 267–6111
Email
info@pioneerdpc.com