Tell Me You Want Direct Primary Care Without Telling Me
As I see the birthdays keep piling up on me, sometimes names escape me. I find myself describing a person to my wife like a novel: the short, hairy guy who lives by the preacher that left his wife…you know, he wore that hideous bright yellow shirt to the chili cookoff event…you remember, what’s his name? Sucks getting old. I recently read an article that made me feel the same way. It seemed to describe direct primary care, but never really called it by name. See what you think?
Forbes online posted this article last month by Mr. John Samuels, CEO of Wellworth, an advisory firm in New York City that helps families navigate the complex healthcare system. It seems that, given our complex and expensive healthcare system, Mr. Samuels’ company has performed well—Wellworth has doubled its revenue annually for the past three years. Also, interesting to note that before starting this company, Mr. Samuels was an administrator at several medical facilities. He shares in this article “simple habits” to lower healthcare costs. Let’s dive into it.
He first mentions several major reasons why healthcare costs keep going up:
- We rely too much on expensive ER care.
- We navigate the healthcare system poorly, getting sent from specialist to specialist.
- We let fear have control (we use Dr. Google too much).
Mr. Samuels then speaks the language of direct primary care, saying, “The goal isn’t cheap care. It’s low-cost healthcare with high-quality outcomes. Plan first. Panic never.” Bingo. Sounds like DPC to me.
He goes on to describe four ways to control costs in healthcare:
- Have a medical home base: “A durable relationship with a primary care physician is the cornerstone of cost-efficient care.” Hello, DPC calling.
- Navigate smarter: “Use your primary care physician first; use the ER only for BIG scary things. Use telemedicine too.” Another win for DPC with everything DPC docs can do for patients: same-day/next-day appointments; texting YOUR doc; video visits.
- Optimize meds and testing: “Use 90-day supply of medication and mail order if you can; get proper labs and tests” OR get your meds from your DPC doctor, which are dirt cheap and right in the office (talk about adherence when meds are handed right to the patient). Get labs in your DPC office for deep discounts. Get discounted imaging, too. Let your DPC docs manage those tests IF they are needed. All of these are common services offered by DPC.
- Have a plan in place if things go bad: “lower anxiety with a specific plan when medical issues arise,” Or consider having a DPC doc that you can see same-day/next-day, or text if you need. Have a trusted physician on speed dial. What an idea.
Finally, Mr. Samuels implores employers and business owners to consider these same changes to help their employees: low costs, no-fee primary care; access to a low-cost 90-day supply of medications; and education for employees to avoid ER visits. Lastly, he remarks they should consider using care navigators (hello DPC docs) to reduce unnecessary referrals. Genius. Why didn’t I think of those?
“The only sustainable path is healthcare built on smart navigation and primary care first,” says Mr. Samuels in closing. I concur and shout from the back row, DPC is the simplest way to achieve all those cost controls. Honestly, the only way forward is independent DPC physicians, which Mr. Samuels describes but never mentions. Wonder why that is?
