The Persona(lities) of DPC Doctors?

Let me begin by saying that this is a broad generalization but an observation that I have made, which may or may not be completely accurate but can serve in some way as a potential way of thinking about who you relate to.  It helped me think about where my own weaknesses and opportunities were and why I was drawn immediately to certain physicians and why others really intrigued me but I couldn’t relate as quickly.

The goal of this post is simple: to potentially ask yourself who you are, who is similar to you to brainstorm ideas that you are actively trying to do, who is different from you to learn from based on their own strengths, and to ultimately be as successful as you can in your practice.

The Entrepreneurial Novice:  These individuals are typically right out of residency, having been exposed to DPC early either during medical school or in residency.  They seem to come with a huge palate for entrepreneurship, disruption, and not having wanted to be in a traditional model at all.  They seem to excel with social media, marketing, and really drawing patients in with their personality and style.  However, in some ways, to navigate the subtleties of the health care system, they don’t always have the experience of the challenges of prior authorizations or the local reputation when it comes to quick referrals as they may not have themselves established as much.  In navigating their patient care, this is an opportunity to ensure that they are known for their clinical work.  One may wonder whether they are missing out on some things due to the lack of experience of high volume as a “right of passage” but there are very successful physicians in this bracket that I have seen.  There seems to be a newer subgroup emerging that isn’t necessarily Entrepreneurial but want to work for/in a DPC practice as opposed to owning/leading a business, which will help grow the DPC movement overall.  This group wants nothing to do with corporate health care or bureaucracy, and are very comfortable being solo in their practice and “doing it all.”  Their strengths are marketing, technology, and passion for the profession of medicine while balancing work-life.

The Energized Defiant: These individuals are typically 3-10 years out of residency and have worked in the traditional model long enough to have established themselves in their local communities.  They have seen 20-30 patients per hour and have been at or faced the brink of burnout.  While they may not overtly have a distaste for hospital systems, they seem to believe that hospital systems have a place for specialty and acute care, but that primary care needs a different solution.  They have a strong understanding of billing and coding as a necessity in certain things and are understanding of the bureaucracy, but they find ways to bend the rules.  Often these individuals struggle to enter the DPC world because of financial reasons if they have young families, and are worried about their long-term strategy.  Compared to The Entrepreneurial Novice who is going directly from residency and doesn’t feel the difference financially as much, The Energized Defiants are hit hard.  Their opportunities include really delving into their financial planning as they look for stability and learning from the other groups on how to manage finances while doing DPC.  They may benefit from learning how to market their best because they are beginning to be conditioned by previous employers to not have the freedom of expression of their personalities.

The Experienced Rebel: These individuals are typically 10-20 years out of residency and have seen a lot of of the changes in healthcare and have perhaps been burned several times.  They have grown angry at times with the healthcare system and have seen their colleagues suffer.  They may have been business owners at one point or are business owners, and carry large panels.  With possibly more mature families, finances could be a consideration but potentially have anticipated for this change or instability of the health care system.  Their financial prowess tends to be strong, and are usually very well-established in the community and have a reputation.  They may struggle with the transition from the mindset of a traditional model to the DPC model and may have the opportunity to think about adapting more technology in their practices to reduce their overhead, which may have been high in their current workflows.  They may have very strong feelings against the traditional healthcare system, and while they have plenty of experience with billing and coding, they seem to have gained a strong distaste/disdain for health insurance in general.  This seems to be different with the first two categories that don’t have such negative thoughts on health insurance.  These individuals are less willing to explore options that integrate insurance into their business models.  

The Enlightened Skeptic: These individuals are typically 15-25 years out of residency and are at the last phases of their medical career.  They may have experienced burnout, and thoughts of leaving their careers with the guilt of how to not abandon their patients in the process.  The world they knew was traditional health care models and DPC appears to be the best way to spend the last quarter of their career doing meaningful work without the moral injury they have faced.  They are warriors in many ways, having firsthand experienced all the changes and have continued to succeed.  Financially, they tend to be more mature and aren’t afraid to take risks as much.  They tend to be extremely skeptical of the health care system as it has failed many of their patients and have very strong feelings against the insurance world and maybe even government-funded health plans.  They tend not to want to partner with any of the insurance-incorporated solutions because DPC is their freedom to transition their career to do as they please after having been chained to their previous models most of their career.  They see DPC as a great solution but worry that history may repeat itself with their own life experience having seen the cycles of the health care system.  Opportunities for them are primarily on minimizing overhead, thinking minimalistic and incorporating as much technology as possible to try and make their lives easier, though there may be some hesitation due to wanting to incorporate loyal and long-term team members into their practice models.

I hope readers found it not only helpful but perhaps somewhat entertaining.  Which group do you think you fall under?