Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

I find it amazing when I see journals like these and realize that DPC doctors have NONE of these problems. So, let’s look at the list in the image and laugh together, shall we?

  • Paperwork and administrative burdens (nope)
  • Physician burnout and autonomy (nope)
  • Saving for retirement (you can save so much more being on your own)
  • Increased competition (you only need 600 patients)
  • Getting paid (we get paid every month)
  • EHR usability (SOAP notes in a friendly EHR. That’s easy.)
  • Hiring excellent staff (one person is all you need)
  • Transitioning to value-based care (we are value-based care without the nasty bureaucratic after taste).

Medical Economics is a journal created for doctors in the system. They used to have Rob Lamberts, MD do a DPC section but I haven’t seen one in a long time. Maybe they get hate mail about Direct Primary Care, who knows?But DPC does have some challenges, like every business. I will name some:

  • Finding a partner if you want to expand
  • Getting business to join
  • Filling your practice
  • Dealing with difficult patients

Can you name some other ones so we can rank them and put that information out?

What do you think are the biggest DPC challenges?

6140cookie-checkAre Any of These Your Top Challenges?
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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.

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