Voyage ATL out of Atlanta, GA recently reported on Christa Springston, MD, physician and owner of HeathSprings Direct in Tyrone, GA. In the article, Dr. Springston addressed how the concept of the practice came about. Before starting HealthSprings Direct, Dr. Springston had the opportunity to experience and hone many different types of medical care. She had worked as a hospital medicine doctor (hospitalist), intensive care unit physician (intensivist), occupational medicine provider, acute and urgent care physician and primary outpatient Internal Medicine provider. She then concluded that there had to be a better way to care for patients.
HealthSprings Direct was born in 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic opened my eyes to the benefits of telemedicine and need for more flexibility for myself, my family and my patients. Increasingly disenchanted with insurance companies’ red tape interfering with my relationships and connections to patients, the Direct Primary Care model of practice seemed a natural progression.
Reflecting on the transition to DPC, Dr. Springston talked about two of the biggest challenges in operating her practice, which other DPC physicians can easily relate to.
One of biggest challenges was starting a small business with ZERO business education or background. Sometimes I wonder if they don’t include that in medical training intentionally to keep you in “the system”. Payroll, taxes, licensing, building codes were all taken care of by someone else before, and now it was on me to learn, implement and maintain everything. The other thing that was challenging was learning and honing the skills of medical assistant, pharmacist, laboratory technician, office manager, administrative assistant, financial coordinator, and I.T. expert that comes with starting a solo medical practice. By doing these jobs, and relying a lot on automation and an online patient portal, I am able to keep the overhead costs down and relay those savings to my patients. Overall, the biggest hurdle is explaining the amazing benefits of Direct Primary Care to people who are not accustomed to working outside of the traditional (read: broken) fee-for-service insurance model for healthcare. It’s almost like a security blanket that is costing a lot more money than people realize without providing the quality medical care they deserve.
As the practice has grown, Elizabeth Jaggers, MD and Niki Owens, practice manager, have joined the team at HealthSprings DPC.
DPC News always appreciate hearing about the updates and shared experiences of DPC physicians across the country.