A Day in the Life of DPC
If you’ve landed on this page looking at Direct Primary Care and wanting to see if it’s right for your and/or your family, this post is for you!
I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by the reality of my DPC practice, I’ve already vowed to “never go back!” to a traditional fee-for-service practice again.
But what about patients? Are they happy with their experience? Is it worth adopting this unorthodox practice style? What are your risks? How will you benefit? Is it right for young families with kids? What about if you have Medicare? What if you have “good insurance”? Let’s look at some real patient experiences from my first month of practice and observe DPC in action. I think these examples will give you answers you seek and help you in your decision-making.
*Disclaimer: The names of all patients have been altered to protect patient identity. The doctor, of course, is me.
Older patients are concerned about what hospital I’m affiliated with now that I’ve left employment at one of the Big Three in our community. They want to know if I can still treat them, refer them, admit them, take care of them after hospitalization or ER visits. Let this first example show you the overwhelming answer is YES!
George is a 68 year old man that is well known to me. He doctored with me at my last practice and we have weathered chronic and acute illnesses & the death of his spouse over the past 8-9 years. Even though he has Medicare and good supplemental insurance, George decided to give my new practice a try because he likes me being his doctor and didn’t want to change. In the first week of my new practice, he decided to make an appointment for shortness of breath.
I ran blood tests that cost only $20 and found George had an acute condition warranting outpatient hospital infusion services. Because we have a local community hospital that is closer to his home (but was not the old one where I was previously employed) we decided treatment would be best done close. So, I called up to outpatient services at the hospital and faxed over orders. The next day, he was getting IV therapy. Simultaneously, I called his old specialist and arranged close follow up for the next 2 weeks. I got his old records and scanned them into his chart so everything was together. I faxed my records to the specialist. I called George myself to follow up in 24 and 72 hours and again at one week. George responded beautifully to quick diagnosis and treatment of his condition and now has a game plan for chronic management with the specialist. He was amazed at how quickly I was able to arrange everything between 2 hospital systems! All of this solidified his choice to stay with me and he is happier than ever he decided to follow me into DPC where I’m not owned by one hospital or another.
Jamie saw me for routine management of diabetes on Tuesday. By Saturday, he was having symptoms consistent with strep throat, which had been going around the office. I arranged an impromptu appointment at the office in the afternoon. When he got there, I was able to run the strep test and dispense 10 days of penicillin for a total price of $5. When was the last time your family got service like that in the urgent care???
Courtney is a young stay at home mom. Her babies were having all kinds of trouble and her old pediatrician was giving advice that didn’t seem to either help or jive with her philosophy of parenting. She knew I was once a stay at home mother and decided to join the new practice with the kids in tow. It took a couple of meetings, and we’re still working out the bugs, but with some food eliminations and alternate choices, guidance on baby eat/sleep patterns and how to change them, as well as just some love and encouragement given to a wonderful devoted mom and wife, Courtney’s life with the kids has improved! Without the support of text and e-mail, she would have never had her immediate concerns taken care of in a traditional office. 15 minute office visits would have never sufficed. DPC has been the answer for this young family and it can be the answer for yours as well!
Lest you think your DPC doctor’s hands are somehow tied by leaving a traditional practice, I hope these examples demonstrate that the opposite is actually true! I have more time, more resources and more devotion to my patients than ever before. Feel free to call us with any additional questions or make an appointment for a free consultation!
To your good health,
Dr. Lydia