What’s Your Vision for Employers?

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Today we ask: what’s your vision for employers for your DPC clinic? Do you want lots of new patients, adding new docs or NPs? Do you plan on adding new locations? What’s your vision? Large employers are not easy to handle and can be risky for small DPC clinics. Let’s talk about it.

AI Summary:

Main points:

  • Decide your vision first: stay a small solo practice, add another doctor/NP/PA, or grow into multiple sites.
  • That vision should drive whether you pursue employers at all, and which ones.
  • Large employers (hundreds of employees) are a poor fit for most 1–2 doctor clinics. They usually want bigger groups with multiple locations and more physician options. Landing them also means dealing with benefits advisors, PBMs, TPAs, and health plans—more work and more risk.
  • Small employers (roughly 10–30 employees) are often a better match. They need DPC too, are easier to work with, involve less insurance-plan conflict, and are the “bread and butter” for many DPC practices.
  • He references a DPC News article by Dr. Kenny Q making the same point about large employers vs. small clinics, and recommends following DPC News.

Takeaway: Don’t chase large employer contracts just because they look like big growth. Match employer strategy to the size and structure you actually want. Small businesses can be a more realistic and lower-risk path.

About Shane Purcell, MD

Dr. Purcell is board certified family physician working in Anderson, SC. He received his medical degree from Mercer University in Macon, GA and completed family medicine residency at AnMed Health in Anderson, SC. After completing his residency, Dr. Purcell worked in a private group practice for 3 years before opening his own cash-only primary care clinic in 2005. As he built his cash-only clinic, he was also working part-time in a local urgent care facility. In 2008, he purchased a dormant medical clinic on the “wrong side of the tracks” and opened an urgent care and primary care clinic. After gaining his freedom from third-party captives, Dr. Purcell and a colleague formed the first direct primary care clinic in Anderson County in 2015. In 2019, he transitioned to full-time direct primary care and sold his urgent care. The direct primary care model has brought about a restoration of a relationship with patients broken by third-party middlemen. Now, he can offer more access and more of his time to patients. Dr. Purcell firmly believes that the direct primary care model is the last hope for health care in America. Dr. Purcell is an active member of several medical organizations including the DPC Alliance, Free Market Medical Association, and American Academy of Family Physicians. He is the former Chair of the Direct Primary Care Member Interest Group for the AAFP and a founding member of the DPC Alliance and the Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association. He was elected to the Advisory Committee for the DPC Alliance in the Fall of 2018 and completed his term in 2021. Dr. Purcell is the author of Magic, Pixie Dust, and Miracles: A Guide to Direct Primary Care and Employers which shares how to connect DPC with employers of all sizes. He has spoken about this topic and DPC in general at the DPC Summit, DPC Nuts and Bolts conference, Hint Summit, AAFP FMX, Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association, TedexFurman, and DPC Alliance Mastermind sessions. He continues to speak to residents and student groups about DPC as well.