Direct Primary Care Pros and Cons - A Guide For Patients and Doctors

As a response to the failing American healthcare system, DPC takes control from third parties that nurtured profits and neglected the relationship between doctors and patients.

For providers who had both Direct Primary Care and traditional medical practice, the former is an innovation. With doctors and patients bypassing insurance providers to provide primary healthcare services, providers can focus on healing and treatment rather than unnecessary paperwork.

Under the DPC model, patients pay you a fixed membership fee in exchange for a specific range of healthcare services. The fee may also include significant discounts on non-specialist laboratory services and medications.

Disadvantages of Direct Primary Care for Patients

• They still need insurance: DPC only covers primary care services, and your membership fee may not cover anything beyond, such as hospital stays and ER visits.
• Membership fees may not be tax-deductible: There is no clear policy on whether DPC membership fees fall under 'qualified medical expense'.

As a provider, if you are considering switching your practice to Direct Primary Care, you might find these helpful in setting up your practice and gathering patients in your panel.

Direct Primary Care Pros and Cons for Providers

Suppose you are considering DPC as your primary model. In that case, we are here to provide you with a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of Direct Primary Care for doctors so that you can evaluate the merits of this healthcare model compared to the traditional fee to a service model.

Advantages of Direct Primary Care for Providers

• Decide how many patients you want to have: You can provide exceptional healthcare because you are not forced to see too many patients per day.
• No insurance paperwork: This way, you can focus all your attention on your patient and become a more effective doctor.
• Professional satisfaction: Knowing that you are transforming the lives of your patients by providing the best medical care, you will have the professional satisfaction that you might not get from seeing a patient for only five to 10 minutes at a time.

Disadvantages of Direct Primary Care for Providers

• You will have to market your practice: If you already have a good reputation in your area, this will not be as challenging because you already have a market base. Regardless of your reputation, we encourage you to invest in marketing activities to drive patients to your practice.
• Potential low income at the beginning: Like any business, you may have to wait a while before your practice gains traction. Until you build a solid customer base, you will have to focus your efforts at first on patient acquisition.

Problems with Direct Primary Care

• There is a low DPC awareness level:

  The DPC movement has a hard yet significant task on its hands: to dismantle the decades-long efforts of third parties that alienated Americans from exceptional health care.

  Fortunately, we are succeeding in spreading awareness. As a result, states are now legislating laws recognizing Direct Primary Care as legitimate healthcare that is not tied to an insurance provider.

• It intensifies physician shortage:

  To place the burden on doctors who want to make patients – not paperwork – the focus of their profession is wrong. The only way to stop the shortage is by creating more physicians.

• It could sometimes feel restrictive:

  A patient who travels a lot may not access their DPC provider for physical appointments, but they can still maintain phone and video communication with their provider.

Among many reasons, this is why 90% of DPC patients are satisfied with their healthcare than 67% in the traditional practice.

DPC practices also outline the terms and inclusions of the membership in their contracts, empowering patients to sign with a provider whose terms work best for their unique situation.

Now that you have examined the Direct Primary Care pros and cons, the DPC model is superior to its traditional counterpart. It simplifies an overcomplicated system, benefitting you as well as your patients.

If you are too tired of the status quo, take part in the DPC movement. You can list your practice for free with us to maximize your reach and begin your journey as a DPC provider.