Minnesota DPC Docs in the News
Evan Ramstad of The Minnesota Star Tribune recently wrote an article about DPC in Minnesota. One of the practices he highlighted was True North Direct Primary Care founded by Dr. Laura Slings and her husband and office manager, Steve Slings. Before starting True North, Dr. Slings felt many obstacles, one being money, in the traditional system of treating patients.
Money would be in between us as a patient and doctor. They (the patients) had issues they wanted to talk about with me at their physical, but yet they didn’t know how much their bill was going to be afterwards.
The article goes on to note that approximately 3,000 doctors have opened DPCs. In a country of 1.1 million physicians, it is still a small percentage of doctors but it is a trend that is continuing to grow each year.
It’s happening because both doctors and patients are tired, upset and confused by sprawling care provider networks and the gigantic insurance firms that police and pay them. Doctors are burned out seeing patients in an assembly-line fashion and being pressured to “code” their interactions in ways that draw more revenue from patient and insurer.
Patients want more interaction with their doctors and a better idea of what they will have to pay.
The article pointed out that for doctors the economics of a DPC practice are promising. While exact financial calculations for patients may be individualized and a bit more complex, it will pay off for patients who wind up visiting the doctor two or three times in a year on top of a physical, especially if they have a high dedcutible.
Of course, as the article concludes, there are more than just financial benefits patients. Some people may feel it’s worthwhile to have more time and quicker access with a doctor.
