You Do Not Need an MBA to Start a Successful Direct Primary Care Practice

Do I Need an MBA to Start a Direct Primary Care Practice?

Many doctors look at the direct primary care model and practice style wistfully. They see the benefits for both patients and doctors and they aspire to become a DPC doctor. However, they think that this is only achievable after becoming an MBA. But…

You DO NOT need an MBA to be successful as a DPC doctor - if you’re smart enough to finish medical school, gritty enough to complete residency, and compassionate enough to choose primary care, then you have ALL of the ingredients of a successful DPC doctor and business owner. #StartupDPC

Direct primary care is all about removing the middle men and the barriers between doctors and patients. What makes this DPC practice model so unique and so powerful is the doctor’s ability to get rid of the unnecessary steps and intermediaries between doctor and patient, delivering a streamlined and intuitive primary care service to patients.

So doctors, I know that it can be a scary leap to go from an employed physician with no training in branding, marketing, sales, web development, search engine optimization, and other essential skills for a successful DPC practice, but you don’t need to hire an MBA to do this. What you can do is read through the available resources in the DPC ecosystem, learn the new skills that you can, and hire individuals for the skills you don’t have, but you do not need to hire an MBA to manage the entire process.

For example, I needed help designing a logo, so I hired a logo designer to help me get this done. That logo designer gets paid a one-time fee, but does not get paid a percentage of my revenue ad infinitum.

If you’re ready to take the next step, pick up a copy of our book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice. Read more after the break.

You DO NOT need an MBA to be successful as a DPC doctor - if you’re smart enough to finish medical school, gritty enough to complete residency, and compassionate enough to choose primary care, then you have ALL of the ingredients of a successful DPC doctor and business owner #StartupDPC

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

Freeing Doctors from the Fee-for-Service Rat Race

Doctors Are Stuck in the Fee-for-Service Rat Race

So many doctors are stuck in the unsatisfying fee-for-service rat race and they need a hand getting out of that cycle. However, they don’t know which resources to use and they don’t know the best tools to help them make the transition from fee-for-service to Direct Primary Care.

I’m really proud of the Startup DPC book and the Startup DPC courses that we’ve put together on this site, and how they’ve helped so many doctors take the leap from an unfulfilling fee-for-service practice to an amazing direct primary care experience.

One such doctor just sent me a very kind email and it made my day:

I help fellow doctors start and grow successful direct primary care practices and I love it when I get feedback like this! https://t.co/YN8WUdDEgn #startupDPC #directprimarycare #familymedicine #medtwitter pic.twitter.com/JCxtG7RNFQ

— Paul Thomas, MD (@PlumHealthDPC) August 11, 2020

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

The Five Criteria You Need to Meet to Start a Successful Direct Primary Care Practice

The Five Criteria You Must Meet to Start a Successful Direct Primary Care Practice

In order to build a successful direct primary care practice, you must meet the following 5 criteria:

1. Solves a customer pain or addresses a need

   You have to ask yourself if you’re creating something valuable for your community

2. Provides a new service or reaches a new market

   Are you bringing something to your community that hasn’t existed before? Are you reaching an until-now underserved segment of the population? If yes to either (or both) of these questions, you’re off to a good start

3. Builds on an existing competitive advantage

   Are you a kind, caring, responsive, personable, and trustworthy doctor? If so, you’re going to do very well in the Direct Primary Care model.

4. Fits you!

   Are you passionate about this work? Can you work every day on this challenge of starting a direct primary care practice with enthusiasm and gusto? If so, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition.

5. Has potential to be profitable

   Have you considered the price points at which you’ll be profitable with 300 patients, 400 patients, or 500 patients? Have you crafted your business plan to help you succeed in this model? If so, you will be a great success in the DPC model.

These are crucial points for the direct primary care doctor who is starting a DPC practice.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

Paul Thomas MD at the Direct Primary Care Summit 2020

This weekend I had an amazing experience participating in the direct primary care (DPC) Summit 2020 with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). It was a virtual only Summit, but it was still a great time. To be sure, a virtual conference is different, but I was still able to interact with colleagues and help my fellow conference goers in their journey of starting and growing their direct primary care practice. Here’s a photo from the DPC Summit 2019, and one of my presentations therein:

Paul Thomas MD presents at the DPC Summit 2019, pictured here!

AAFP DPC Summit 2020 Student and Resident Track

On Friday night, I was a panelist with Dr. Kenneth Qiu, Dr. Delicia Haynes, and Dr. Kirby Farnsworth as we discussed how we started a direct primary care practice. This content was geared towards students and residents who would like to start a direct primary care practice directly after completing their residency training. Dr. Qiu did a masterful job coordinating this content and moderating three panels in a row.

Dr. Paul Thomas at the DPC Summit 2020 with Dr. Delicia Haynes and Dr. Kirby Farnsworth.

How to build out the direct primary care practice of your dreams!

On Saturday, I gave a standalone presentation on how to build the practice of your dreams, specifically discussing how to build a physical office in which you can practice medicine on your own terms for the benefit of your patients in your community.

I only had 45 minutes allotted to discuss this in-depth and wide-ranging topic, so I had to pare down all of the information I wanted to share to get it under this time limitation. However, if you want to see my full thoughts on this subject, I’ve created a course that guides you through the process of leasing a space, sub-leasing a space, building out an office, working with contractors, working with architects, etc… so that you can build the perfect direct primary care office for yourself and for your patients.

The response to this lecture was tremendous! So many doctors were engaged with the material and they had a ton of questions. I couldn’t answer them all during the event, so I’ll answer a few more here.

How do you find sublets or places to sublease?

To find a place to sublease, the best thing to do is to look around your local market. You need to talk to doctors and different real estate agents and sometimes landlords to find places that are subleasing. If you can lease a small office with a bathroom, that is an ideal situation. But if this space isn’t available in your real estate market, you may have to look around for a sublease. Perhaps a cardiologist in town has an unused exam room that you could sublease. If this is the case, do not violate Stark laws by referring all of your cardiovascular patients to this cardiologist.

When you lease a space, do you pay for the entire build out cost?

Yes, we have done this for our spaces at Plum Health so far. Sometimes, when you sign a lease with a landlord, you can negotiate for tenant allowance or tenant improvement funds. This might be $5 to $20 per square foot or something like that. For example, if you lease out a 500 square foot office and as a part of the 10 year lease agreement you get $10 per square foot of tenant improvement money, you would have $5,000 to invest into the space. I haven’t come across many leases where this is an option, and many entrepreneurs typically invest into building out their own spaces.

The market in my area seems to be saturated with FFS and Urgent Care Options. Should I go to the next town over?

This was a longer question that I paraphrased above. Here’s the full question:

There are no DPC anywhere where I am located. There are many urgent care centers popping up along with FFS primary care offices that have been around for years. Should I stay away from those areas and open in a rural town that has no primary care?

One of the most important things to do when you start a direct primary care practice is to differentiate yourself from the existing market and to meet a previously unmet need in your community with that differentiated product. You could say that our Detroit market had enough options for patients, but we saw it differently. We created a business and a brand at Plum Health DPC that stands out from the rest and that consistently attracts new people who want to become our patients because of our differentiated offerings.

To answer your question directly, if you believe that you can differentiate yourself from the rest of the options in your community, go for it! Be bold and start your DPC practice and meet that previously unmet need. If you don’t think you can compete, go to the next town over.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

Which EKG Machine do you use at your Direct Primary Care Office?

The Best EKG Machine for Your Direct Primary Care Practice

We use a Burdick - ELI 230 EKG Machine at the office and it works great. It’s portable and easy to move from our storage area/supply area to the exam room. The wireless leads are nice as well as there are fewer cords to get tangled up. The cost is $1,700 and replacement electrodes are inexpensive on AndaMeds or Amazon.

The Best Spirometer for Your Direct Primary Care Practice

I like the Care Fusion Spirometer, the Micro I version. It works really well and gives a nice read out of the patient’s pulmonary function. This machine is about $700.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

AAFP Direct Primary Care Summit 2020 Preview with Dr. Paul Thomas

AAFP DPC Summit 2020

The AAFP DPC Summit is going virtual - I know it’s not ideal, but we’ll make the most of it. I’m very excited to be participating this year and I’ll be giving two different talks. The first will be a panel on Friday night with the students and residents, discussing how we started our practice straight out of residency. The second will be a presentation on Saturday at 11:30 am on how to build out your own beautiful office space for your practice - how to leverage the funds, how to work with an architect, how to negotiate a lease, and how to build a beautiful space for your patients and your community. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

-Dr. Paul Thomas

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our book and our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog, in our book, and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

Paul Thomas MD and Startup DPC Featured on Physician Estate

This week, Paul Thomas MD and Startup DPC was featured on Physician Estate. Here’s the full interview:

Direct Primary Care vs Traditional Fee-for-Service Medicine

Direct Primary Care Practice vs. Traditional Fee-for-Service. We wanted to know more about DPC practice and how it is different from fee-for-service from the perspective of an experienced DPC doctor. We were lucky enough to have a Q&A interview with Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC. Dr. Paul Thomas is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Corktown Detroit. His practice is Plum Health DPC, a Direct Primary Care service that is the first of its kind in Detroit and Wayne County.

In this Q&A blog post interview, he will share about his practice, challenges and milestones in his journey, and tips for physicians who are planning to start their own DPC practice. Are you a physician interested in starting your own DPC practice? This blog post might be helpful for you!

On Background

1. Please tell us a bit about your personal story, growing up, and medical training.

• I started volunteering in Detroit for homeless and uninsured folks in 2017. I really love taking care of people, but the further and further I got into my training, the less and less time I spend with my patients. Until I get to the end of my residency, I’m spending 10 or 15 minute per patient, and spending a lot more time charting, writing things in the medical record. I thought this was really unsustainable, I felt burned out–I didn’t want to do that anymore. 

• So I wrote a business plan in the last year of my residency, and I launched my practice, Plum Health DPC. And 4 years later, I’ve been doing really well with the practice–we’ve grown, we’ve hired 2 more doctors and we had a second location. 

2. What made you develop interest in Direct Primary Care? Motivating factors? Did you pursue any formal education/training that focuses on Direct Primary Care? If so, what was it?

• I developed an interest in Direct Primary Care because I felt like it was the only way out of a dysfunctional, industrial complex. I didn’t have any formal training in this, I wrote a business plan, I worked with a friend who started a suit company, of all things to write a business plan.

• I went on a road trip, visited a few mentors across the country who helped me formulate my plans and refine my business plan and make it so that I could develop a thriving practice here in Detroit, Michigan.

About Plum Health – A Direct Primary Care Platform

3. What is Plum Health? As a platform that specializes in Direct Primary Care practice, what is its unique value proposition? Tell us the story behind its creation. 

• In Plum Health, we believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone, so we really do our best to lower the cost in Detroit and beyond. We contract with a local imaging vendor, a medication wholesale supplier, etc. to lower the costs of all those things. 

• So if you come in for a lab draw, you might get a TSH for $6, that’s what it costs here. But if you go to a hospital, it might cost you $125. So we really try to reduce the cost of healthcare for people. 

• Our unique value proposition is that we have time for our patients. Because our patients pay a monthly membership to be a part of our practice, we have this nice recurring revenue from our patients. We then get to spend more time with them as an individual–we have 1-hour appointments, and we can really listen to them and take care of them and all their concerns.  

4. Generally, how do you help educate physicians in the US who are interested in starting their own Direct Primary Care practice? Do you provide any services, courses, coaching, etc?

• I’m so glad you asked this. I’ve written 2 books about this. The first is called Direct Primary Care–it focuses on how Direct Primary Care serves people in the greater healthcare ecosystem, how you can lower the cost of healthcare for everyone (medications, labs, imaging, etc.) We also discuss how we’ve done this in an equitable and sustainable way in our hometown of Detroit, Michigan. 

• For the book How to Start Your Direct Primary Care Practice, we’ve had so much success here in Detroit. Because I’ve been a speaker at the American Academy of Family Physicians Direct Primary Care Conference and the Nuts and Bolts Conference in Florida, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and asked how we were successful, how we did this. To answer that, I wrote a book–it’s called Start Up DPC, how to start and grow your Direct Primary Care practice. I wrote in step-by-step how to start your Direct Primary Care practice. I’ve got a ton of great feedback on this book! We’ve had a lot of people reach out and say how impactful the book has been for them, and we’ve helped other doctors launch their own practices.

• I’ve been doing consulting throughout this, so people pay me some money each hour that I consult with them, and I’ve also taken everything I’ve learned and put it into some courses on my website https://startupdpc.com. I really walk doctors step-by-step through how to start and grow their practices, and I go beyond just the words, I show you how to do it physically. I show you how to do it online and how to leverage your Facebook page and other social media channels to grow your business etc.

Challenges and Milestones in Starting A Direct Primary Care Practice

5. What are some of the mistakes you made when you were still starting out with your Direct Primary Care practice? If you had to redo the whole journey, what would you do differently?

• The biggest mistake was I was thinking too small, I should have hired a medical assistant sooner. I thought I could do everything by myself, and I could–I could draw blood, count all the lab samples and the meds, I can answer all the phone calls, and I did that for about 450 patients, and I hired a medical assistant. And as soon as I did that, it freed up so much of my time to market the practice and help me grow my business.

• So if I had to redo the whole journey, I would have hired someone sooner. As a business owner you want to control everything, but sometimes you have to delegate and relinquish that control so you can focus on your strengths to help you grow your business. 

6. Share a few very milestones you achieved in your Direct Primary Care journey.

• One of those big milestones was hiring a medical assistant, another doctor to help me lower the cost of healthcare in Detroit. I’m very happy to share it with my partner who is Dr. Raquel Orlich.

• Another milestone for me is getting to 500 patients, and 200 patients for Dr. Raquel, and now she’s over 250 patients. These are the milestones that we celebrate because we’re actively learning the cost for healthcare in our community, we’re helping patients, we’re liberating doctors from the dysfunctional fee-for-service medical industrial complex system. 

7. How do you see Direct Primary Care evolving over the next 5-10 years? How does the political climate and ever so polar political opinions affect the evolution of DPC? 

• I only see Direct Primary Care growing over time because people hate having to deal with their insurance for their basic healthcare needs. It puts up so many barriers between people and our doctors. Direct Primary Care doctors are problem solvers. We go above and beyond to solve problems for our patients and make our healthcare journey easier. So when you have doctors actively working on behalf of patients, it’s only going to grow because patients see value in that kind of work that doctors provide. 

• As for the political climate, or let’s say medicare for all passes, which does not apply for Donald Trump, or presidential candidate Joe Biden at this time, neither of these political parties want to see medicare for all at this point. But let’s say even if it does pass 20 years from now, the United States government will not be able to outlaw elective procedures. Americans will always be able to opt for paying above and beyond for health insurance, etc. 

• In a nutshell, I don’t foresee paying above and beyond your health insurance for better healthcare experiences through Direct Primary Care or concierge medicine. I don’t ever see that being outlawed in the US.

Direct Primary Care vs. Traditional Fee-for-Service

*This section is for patients and doctors that are not yet aware of DPC

8. In a nutshell, what do you think is the major difference of Direct Primary Care practice vs. Traditional fee-for service? 

• The number of patients. Fee-for-service doctors have 2,500 patients a year, and they have to see 1% of their panel each day. So they have to see at least 25 patient visits a day. In our model, we only need 500 patients to have a robust, thriving practice. We make about the same amount of money as a fee-for-service doctor. 

• That being said, I have 5 times fewer patients and 5 times more time for each of those patients. It makes a huge difference.  

9. Why should a patient consider enrolling in a Direct Primary Care practice over the traditional fee-for-service?

• You are going to have 5 times more time with your doctor, you’re going to have your doctor’s mobile number and email address, you’re going to be able to reach out to them whenever you need them and not the other way around. 

• We’re not fitting you into our schedule, we’re making time for you anytime you need us. 

10. If you are explaining about Direct Primary Care to a layman who doesn’t have a medical background, what would be your 2-minute explanation to make him/her understand Direct Primary Care practice?

• We really believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone. You should sign up for Direct Primary Care practice if you want to have your doctor’s mobile number and text them anytime you need them. Basically if you want to have a better healthcare experience. 

• My patients have my undivided attention for 20-30 minutes to an hour if they need it. I help them with their medications, etc. We take care of everything. If you want that kind of service for yourself and for your family, we’re happy to help you. We do that to all our patients, we deliver high quality, high value services. 

Favorites

11. Favorite book that talks about Direct Primary Care; and favorite book in general about any topic

• My favorites are the 2 books that I’ve written. Startup DPC and Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System are available on Amazon. Pick those up, you’ll really understand my ethos, and the ethos of the Direct Primary Care movement. People have a lot of great things to say about them. 

• My favorite book in general about business is Crush It by Gary Vander Truck. If you want to know how to market your business, your Direct Primary Care practice, you can learn a lot from reading Gary V. 

12. As someone who is an advocate of Direct Primary Care practice, what are your favorite resources for Direct Primary Care?

• I would say my website https://startupdpc.com. I really took the time to compile all the resources in the ecosystem and give it to you in a palpable, easy-to-understand, easy-to-digest format. 

13. Favorite bloggers that have the same passion as you when it comes to Direct Primary Care

• I blog a lot about this subject, I haven’t seen anyone “out blog” me, so check out our blog at https://startupdpc.com/blog. See for yourself.  

14. Favorite quote

• “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Tips for Physicians Who Are Planning to Start Their Own Direct Primary Care Practice

15. Many physicians find it challenging to start their own Direct Primary Care practice. As someone who’s been in the Direct Primary Care business for quite some time now, what do you think physicians should first do when they are starting out? Any tips and/or strategies you highly recommend?

• I really recommend you read my books because I put them all in there. 

• My biggest tip is that doctors think that when they start their Direct Primary Care practice, it’s for everyone. You ask them who’s your ideal customer and they say “everybody”. But it’s not true. You really have to hammer down and hone in on who your ideal customer is. If you don’t, you’re going to try to serve everyone, and your business is going to fail.

Paul Thomas MD has written two books on Direct Primary Care - both can be found on Amazon, here: Startup DPC and Direct Primary Care.

When Starting a DPC Practice, You must be decisive

It’s not the decisions, it’s the decisiveness

When starting your direct primary care practice, it’s not the decisions, it’s the decisiveness. Make a decision and move on! Listen to my most recent podcast interview, here:

• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tsoe-excerpt-dr-paul-thomas-on-decisiveness-in-business/id668653849?i=1000480912133

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/D3duco2lboja2abqjihb6kgmnce

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmuh6XnX_b0

• Stitcher: https://app.stitcher.com/splayer/f/87139/74080652

• iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-sage-advice-podcast-27588757/episode/tsoe-excerpt-dr-paul-thomas-65958260/

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4c2maI8p2wk0A5HXsai68L

• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sagena-47293133/tsoe-excerpt-dr-paul-thomas-1

• PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/sage-advice-podcast/tsoe-excerpt-dr-paul-thomas-on-decisiveness-in-business

• Castbox: https://castbox.fm/episode/TSOE-Excerpt---Dr.-Paul-Thomas-on-decisiveness-in-business-id107073-id281653209

• Direct download: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sagena/TSOE_-_Paul_Thomas_on_Decisiveness_in_business.mp3

• Permalink: http://sageadvicepodcast.com/tsoe-thomas

Should You Offer One-Off Visits?

This question comes up a ton - should you offer one-off visits to those patients interested in an urgent care-type relationship with your clinic?

Here’s a question I came across recently:

So, I'm stepping up to the edge of the pool getting ready to take the plunge, but still struggling with the details.

As has probably gone through the head of virtually everyone who has gone DPC, I'm not sure how well it work in my community.  That said, I'm about to give it a shot and see how it goes.

One thing I've contemplated is whether or not to offer "A la carte" type pricing for people who don't want to actually purchase a monthly membership.  When I've mentioned this to folks doing DPC, I mostly get the advice of "Don't do it.  Too much headache."

I've been warned that it will attract drug-seekers and otherwise annoying/abusive patients.  I've also been warned that it will result in patients expecting to then have the same level of access monthly paying members..i.e. calling for refills, follow up questions, etc. without wanting to pay, making accusations of abandonment if you don't play along, etc.

My biggest worry is that with this option available there may be patients who would otherwise be willing to pay a monthly membership but choose not to due to the al la carte "fee for service" availability.

That said, I feel like I could offer "one off" clinic visits for say $120 or so and still be the cheapest option in my area for people who only go to the doctor when they are sick and thus wouldn't want to join a DPC.  Hard to imagine turning this money away.

Thought I'd through this out to the group and get input on this from folks who have maybe gone down this path previously.

Here’s my response:

At Plum Health, we really try to avoid any one-off type arrangements. When I do offer one-off visits, I charge $200 per visit if they are walking in off the street. For context, our membership is $49/month for adults 18 - 40 years of age. We charge a high rate for the one-off visits so that we don't cheapen the value of the membership for our existing, loyal customers. 

Additionally, if the patient is paying $200 for a visit, why not enroll in the membership for $49 per month? That would give you at least 4 months of great service for the same price. We want to funnel prospective patients into the membership.

I talk about this topic in great detail, as well as many other topics in my most recent book, found here: https://www.startupdpc.com/books

Best of luck!

- Paul 
--
Paul Thomas, MD

Physician with Plum Health DPC

http://www.plumhealthdpc.com/

Finally, we’ve been getting some great feedback from our book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice. Thanks for all the shout outs and support!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

We’re getting some awesome pics from our fans!! The Startup DPC book has been a huge hit among doctors looking to free themselves from treadmill medicine #startupdpc #DirectPrimaryCare #familymedicine #healthcare https://t.co/YN8WUdm2RN pic.twitter.com/E3AQVCv4Kd

— Paul Thomas, MD (@PlumHealthDPC) June 30, 2020

What is Direct Primary Care? Q & A with Physician Estate

This is Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC and Startup DPC. I received a long list of questions about Direct Primary Care from Physician Estate and I'll do my best to answer all of them here!

The Background of Paul Thomas, MD and Plum Health DPC

1. Please tell us a bit about your personal story, growing up, and medical training.

I really answer this fully in my first book, Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System. But briefly, I started my journey in medicine by volunteering at a local free clinic. I loved working with patients. But, by the end of my residency, I found that I had less and less time with my patients. I needed to find a way to practice medicine on my own terms and for the benefit of my patients.

I also talk about this in my TEDXDetroit talk, here:

2. What made you develop interest in Direct Primary Care? Motivating factors? Did you pursue any formal education/training that focuses on Direct Primary Care? If so, what was it?

By the end of my residency, I was spending less time with my patients, and I didn’t want to participate in or perpetuate the dysfunctional health insurance system of healthcare delivery. So, I wrote a business plan and started my own direct primary care practice, Plum Health DPC in Detroit Michigan.

About Plum Health - A Direct Primary Care Platform

3. What is Plum Health? As a platform that specializes in Direct Primary Care practice, what is its unique value proposition? Tell us the story behind its creation.

Our unique value proposition is the amount of time and the amount of value that we can give to each of our patients. In a fee-for-service system that emphasizes speed and allows doctors and patients to have less time with one another, Plum Health DPC stands out in it’s ability to cultivate the physician-patient relationship.

4. Generally, how do you help educate physicians in the US who are interested in starting their own Direct Primary Care practice? Do you provide any services, courses, coaching, etc? Challenges and Milestones in Your Direct Primary Care Practice

I’ve been a speaker at the AAFP DPC Summit and at the D4PC Foundation Nuts and Bolts Conference. Because of these prominent speaking opportunities, I’ve been sought out by other doctors to help them start and grow their DPC practices. I’ve consulted with individuals and I have some courses and resources on this website to help my aspiring DPC colleagues. I’ve also written the book Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice, which has helped hundreds of doctors in their direct primary care journey.

5. What are some of the mistakes you made when you were still starting out with your Direct Primary Care practice? If you had to redo the whole journey, what would you do differently?

Early on, I made the mistake of doing everything myself. I should have hired a medical assistant sooner and I should have hired a second doctor sooner. Hiring other people has helped me serve more people in our community with excellent primary care services.

6. Share a few special milestones you achieved in your Direct Primary Care journey.

There are many milestones that we’ve reached along the way. During my journey, I’ve hired people, I’ve built out a larger office in my community dedicated to lowering the cost of health care, and we’ve grown our medical practice to serve more people.

7. How do you see Direct Primary Care evolving over the next 5-10 years? How does the political climate and ever so polar political opinions affect the evolution of DPC?

Direct primary care will continue to grow and thrive as long as direct primary care doctors continue to go above and beyond for their patients. This looks like solving difficult problems for your patients every day.

Direct Primary Care vs. Traditional Fee-for-Service

This section is for patients and doctors that are not yet aware of DPC

8. In a nutshell, what do you think is the major difference of Direct Primary Care practice vs. Traditional fee-for service?

The biggest difference is the time that doctors and patients have together. The next biggest difference is that the doctor is actively trying to solve problems for their patients and lower the cost of health care for their patients.

9. Why should a patient consider enrolling in a Direct Primary Care practice over the traditional fee-for-service?

People choose Plum Health and direct primary care services like Plum Health because they have more time with their doctors and easy access to their physicians via texts, phone, calls, and emails. They also have $0 copays for visits, and they can save 50% to 90% on labs, medications, and imaging services.

10. If you are explaining about Direct Primary Care to a layman who doesn’t have a medical background, what would be your 2-minute explanation to make him/her understand Direct Primary Care practice?

I would tell them something like this (our winning pitch at the Detroit Demo Day, where we won $50,000 for the buildout of our new, larger office in Corktown, Detroit):

What are your Favorite Direct primary Care REsources?

11. Favorite book that talks about Direct Primary Care; and favorite book in general about any topic

Well, my favorite book about direct primary care is my newest book - Startup DPC. One of my favorite books in general is CRUSH IT! by Gary Vaynerchuck.

12. As someone who is an advocate of Direct Primary Care practice, what are your favorite resources for Direct Primary Care?

13. Favorite bloggers that have the same passion as you when it comes to Direct Primary Care 14. Favorite quote

Tips for Physicians Who Are Planning to Start Their Own Direct Primary Care Practice

15. Many physicians find it challenging to start their own Direct Primary Care practice. As someone who’s been in the Direct Primary Care business for quite some time now, what do you think physicians should first do when they are starting out? Any tips and/or strategies you highly recommend?

On Investments

16. Tell us a bit about your investment strategies. Do you invest your savings? If so, what are your favorite asset classes? Do you max out on your retirement accounts? Since you own your practice, do you utilize solo 401k?

Final Thoughts on Direct Primary Care Practice

17. This is an open ended question. Please feel free to share your closing thoughts.

18. For physicians who are looking for great resources on Direct Primary Care - What is the best way for them to get in touch with you?