Don’t Underestimate Direct Primary Care

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If you Google Direct Primary Care and Netflix you will find such quotes as:

DPC is like Netflix: you get access to nearly unlimited care for one low monthly price.

Just like Netflix, Direct Primary Care only charges one monthly fee and gives you virtual access to your doctor 24/7

Enter the Direct Primary Care model, a revolutionary approach to modern medicine that can be likened to “Netflix for healthcare.”

 Welcome to the realm of Direct Primary Care (DPC). It’s like your favorite Netflix subscription but for healthcare!

There are tons more of these quotes. It seems we DPC Docs like this comparison. I actually think it is a pretty good one. Now look at the image above. That wasn’t the first time Netflix was underestimated. Remember this one:

Does this mean DPC is Netflix? In my humble opinion, no. While I think we have some similarities in bringing a great product for a monthly fee, that is where the comparison stops. We are NOT one big company. We are thousands of independent Netflixes doing a great job. Are we a threat to the status quo of our broken healthcare system? Not yet. But that wasn’t my goal. I just wanted to give great care to my patients and have control over my life (as well as the other benefits of DPC). And I am not sure it is your goal either. Maybe someday doctors will all start breaking away from their employers and do direct care and this Albanian army will take over the world. That would be awesome but it will take many, many more years. Unfortunately, we will see many more greedy entrepreneurs hijacking the DPC name and claiming their DINO is the same thing. They will get tons of VC money, pitch that they are the new Netflix for healthcare, and put out a terrible product that will taint DPC. It has already happened and failed. No matter. It will happen again. I just hope my fellow DPC docs don’t fall for this and try to “get in on the action”. You will lose part of yourself, find out you sold some of your soul, and in the end realize you were just a pawn in the end.

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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.