WMTW 8 ABC recently did a story about a group of physicians in Maine who have formed the New England Direct Primary Care Alliance. The NEDPCA is an experiment and a movement to redefine and improve the modern doctor-patient experience. It’s actually been around for at least 7 years.

The New England Direct Primary Care Alliance (NEDPCA) was founded by a group of physicians across New England who share the same goal: to spread the word about Direct Primary Care (DPC), an innovative method of health care delivery that has been gaining popularity across the country as a grassroots effort to address many of the problems in our nation’s health care system today. It is our goal to educate the general public, other physicians, physicians-in-training, medical students, employers, and lawmakers about the benefits that DPC can provide.

Alison Lee of Leeward Health in Portland, Maine was one of the first physicians to join the New England Direct Primary Care Alliance, and she sees it as an experiment and a movement to redefine and improve the modern doctor-patient experience. In her old job as a primary care physician in a traditional medical office, Lee was burned out from seeing 25 patients a day.

It’s all about volume, it’s all about productivity, how many patients a day can you see. That’s not what I signed up for, right? When I decided I wanted to become a doctor, I wanted to have a relationship with my patients, continuity of care.

Presently, the NEDPCA has about 20 physician-members, but as the word spreads about DPC the numbers will certainly grow. If you are looking for a DPC physician in the New England area, the NEDPCA provides a helpful directory.

In case you are not from New England and you are wondering what “wicked good” means, “wicked” is a synonym for “very” or “extremely.” Use that next time you visit New England!