“There’s a new kind of care in town…Direct Primary Care (DPC)!”
Now, there is an innovative solution for our community’s healthcare needs. The days of waiting two weeks for a doctor’s appointment, having limited time with a doctor, expensive procedures, and huge out-of-pocket costs due to ever-increasing insurance deductibles, are over! There’s a new kind of care in town called Direct Primary Care (DPC). Direct Primary Care is so popular that patients, physicians, employers, payers and policymakers across the US are embracing the model.
“…chances are, if you’re receiving care in a standard insurance practice, your paying way too much.”
Direct Primary Care is patient-centered medicine. Patients become members of a DPC practice by paying a low monthly fee for their primary care services. All visits are included in the membership fee, including urgent care. There are often enormous savings associated with being a “member” of a DPC clinic. For example, DPC physicians negotiate for drastically decreased lab prices on behalf of their members. DPC clinics can, also, carry medications in-house and sell them at discounted rates. Simple procedures that would cost tens to hundreds of dollars, like simple ear irrigation or a mole removal, can be done for extremely little to no cost for members. And this is really the tip of the iceberg in terms of money savings. In light of this, the chances are, if you’re receiving care in a standard fee-for-service or insurance practice, you’re paying way too much.
“An enormous value of DPC is the time the physician has available to spend on the most important aspect of their practice, YOU!”
DPC is more than just a money-saving option for healthcare. The defining element and value of Direct Primary Care is the enduring and trusting relationship built between a patient and their primary care provider. Empowering this relationship is the key to achieving superior health outcomes, lower costs, and an enhanced patient experience.
An enormous value of DPC is the time the physician has available to spend time on the most important aspect of their practice, YOU! Now, instead of 10-20 minutes with your doctor, you get an hour. Or, in the case of my clinic, first visits can last an hour and a half to sometimes 2 hours! It’s really up to the situation at hand. And that’s a VERY important value point, not to be overlooked. The physician and patient get to have a real relationship, where decisions are made together.
This is a far cry from the conventional healthcare experience of having only enough time with your doctor to list off some symptoms and get a prescription to suppress those symptoms.
Now, you have the opportunity to work together with your doctor to come up with plans and strategies that will really work for you. In this way, Direct Primary Care offers a chance to address the root causes of suffering and for healing to happen.
“…DPC could be the answer you and your family have been looking for.”
If you are seeking high quality care, in a relaxed environment; one free of co-pays, deductibles, pre-authorizations, and bureaucracy, Direct Primary Care could be the answer you and your family have been looking for.
Siskiyou Vital Medicine in Medford, Oregon, is Southern Oregon’s first Direct Primary Care clinic, and the nation’s first Naturopathic Direct Primary Care practice. For more information about how we help patients, or our unique DPC options, feel free to contact us.
In Health,
Blake Myers, ND