Only 9% of Family Doctors Doing Direct Primary Care?

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I had never known the percentages of family docs doing DPC until my talk at the DPC Summit. The President-elect of the AAFP bragged about it before she “introduced” me for my talk. Then I saw this article Surveys show more family physicians practicing direct primary care — and enjoying it:

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) polled a random sample of 20,000 active members for its 2023 Practice Profile survey. Of the 558 who completed the survey, 9% said they were operating a DPC practice, which was a significant jump from 2021 (5%) and 2022 (3%). An additional 2% of those who responded to the 2023 survey said they were in the process of transitioning to a DPC practice.

Ok, so much like everything else the AAFP does, this number is total bullsh%t. It is a perfect example of a terrible survey with confounding variables. It is just propaganda for the AAFP.

First, only 558 doctors answered their survey. And that was out of 20,000 active members! They had a 3% success rate in answering their survey? Impressive. Second, of the 558 who answered, 50 said they were doing DPC. And that may be the most impressive information to glean from this. Why? DPC docs love to brag about what they are doing and my hunch, and this is only a hunch, is that they would have answered the AAFP questions. Since we believe there are about 2000 DPC practices (there are probably more but the true number is still unknown) then that means only 2.5% of DPC docs are AAFP members.

Is 2.5% way too much? Yes.

In conclusion, let’s work harder at getting that 2.5% down to zero and convert the rest of you over to the DPC Alliance. Don’t waste your money on the AAFP that really only cares about insurance-based practices. Pretending that they like DPC is disingenuous. The only time you hear from them is at the Summit and an occasional tweet from Shawn Martin, the executive vice president and CEO of the AAFP, who NEVER shows up at the DPC Summit even when it was in Kansas City which is where he lives. The image above is from his X account and when he says “join us” he means others on his team. He’s too busy for us.

About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling 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 Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.