Fri. Apr 19th, 2024

Kudos to Rebekah Bernard, MD for writing this article in Medical Economics. She was responding to a recent report from the New England Journal of Medicine, which showed that female primary care physicians generate 10.9% less revenue from office visits compared to male physicians in the system.

You can look at her 6 ways physicians can close the gender pay gap when you read the whole piece but it was the part about DPC that you will love:

Here’s the good news: This is one type of gender pay difference that is easy to fix. Female physicians can either opt out of a broken health care system that rewards short visits and high billing codes and enter into a direct primary care (DPC) model, or they can invest some time learning how to work the system to their advantage. As a female family physician, I’ve done it both ways. Although I advocate for the former (DPC has been a life changer for me) I was also able to out-earn many of my male colleagues in traditional practice by learning how to outsmart the system.

Thank you Dr. Bernard! I love how she snuck the DPC part subtly in there.

DPC is a life changer for doctors. And though no studies have been done there have been no complaints (that I have heard) about gender pay differences. Why? Because you are your own boss. You pay you and you eat what you kill. I know that sounds weird or harsh but the freedom to work at your highest potential and make your business wildly successful is a great feeling.

In 2016, Dr. Bernard opened Gulf Coast Direct Primary Care, a new and growing type of health clinic that provides high-quality primary care for a low monthly fee. Dr. Bernard is the author of three books:  “Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare,” “How to Be a Rock Star Doctor” and “Physician Wellness: The Rock Star Doctor’s Guide,” co-written with psychologist Steven Cohen.  She is a national speaker on physician wellness and practice management.

4460cookie-checkDPC and the Gender Pay Gap
(Visited 40 times, 1 visits today)

By Douglas Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago MD is board certified in the specialty of Family Practice. He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Knee Saver and its knock-offs are worn by many major league baseball catchers. He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers. From 2001 – 2011, Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years. Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times. Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago has practiced family medicine for twenty-three years, first in Auburn, Maine and now in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months. Dr. Farrago still blogs every day on his website Authenticmedicine.com and lectures worldwide about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago’s has written three books on direct primary care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice. He retired from clinical medicine in October, 2020.

Comment Here and Join the Discussion