What is Direct Pediatric Care?
Direct Pediatric Care (DPC) is a pediatric medical model in which doctors partner with parents to provide comprehensive medical care for their children directly, eliminating the barriers to access, time, and quality that exist in conventional, corporate healthcare. While it sounds radical, it’s simply the way medicine used to be, and the way we believe it should be.
When pediatricians care directly for patients, the doctor-patient relationship is enhanced, physicians are liberated from cumbersome insurance requirements and restraints, and they can devote their time to practicing nimble, evidence-based medicine utilizing modern technology rather than charting, billing, and being forced to see high numbers of patients daily while never getting to truly know any of them.
DPC is a subscription membership model practice that does not participate in medical insurance plans. The result is improved care, enhanced patient and family experiences, reduced healthcare costs, and improved physician job fulfillment. The monthly membership subscription paid directly to the pediatrician’s office covers all traditional office-based costs. There’s no surprise fees. No co-pays. Pediatricians can again focus on patients—not insurance company regulations.
How does this help patients? Imagine cutting edge medicine for children — but time to actually allow doctors to get to know their patients and their family. Time for parents to ask all their questions. Home visits? After hours visits? Reaching the pediatrician on their personal cell phone at night to save a trip to the ER? Yes, it’s all possible, and all included in the DPC model.
Patients of a DPC practice enjoy an unprecedented level of direct access to their pediatrician. Families develop a deeper, collaborative relationship with their doctor, have time to address both medical and parenting concerns, and have predictable and transparent medical costs without copays. As a DPC patient, your doctor will know you, your child, and your family. DPC doctors partner with families to create the healthiest, best lives for their children.
When your pediatrician is paid directly by you, the doctor becomes your healthcare partner and no longer works for the insurance company. That’s right – a DPC doctor does not participate in medical insurance. This means all the insurance associated regulatory burdens, reams of paperwork, co-pays, and confusing medical bills disappear. You get unlimited access to your pediatrician for your monthly subscription.
Without insurance requirements, the DPC model greatly decreases practice overhead. Each doctor can reduce the number of patients cared for by at least 80% (from 2,500 to 200-400 per year). This means the doctor can offer enhanced services, direct access to your doctor (in-person, email, texts, video, and phone), extended visit times (up to an hour or more as needed), home visits, and highly personalized and comprehensive care coordination. A DPC doctor is literally at your fingertips.
Direct care practices (adult and pediatric) have existed for over 10 years with estimates of over 1,700 current practices. The results: direct care practices have extremely high patient satisfaction scores, decrease overall health care costs, and achieve the highest in quality evaluations. Does this model have a future? Amazon (among many others) seems to think so. They recently spent $3.9 billion to purchase an adult focused subscription-type practice network.
Subscription-based medical services are increasing just like they are in many other aspects of your life (music, entertainment, gym membership, etc.). Subscription services offer convenience, unparalleled access, and transparent pricing for everything you need.
In the DPC model, health insurance is used just like your other types of insurances – for unforeseen situations that may occur. Every child needs a pediatrician – it is not an unforeseen need. And the price is right. The average membership costs about $5 per day. That’s right – about the same as you pay for a Starbucks coffee or a glass of wine. And for your membership you get services not found in a traditional pediatric office (review table below).
Ask yourself: does your insurance company truly care about your children’s development? Their challenges and successes? The nuances of medical decision making for them? What quality of care are you getting for that co-pay and deductible? When you look at all those co-pays and deductibles, is your insurance actually saving you money? A DPC doctor’s goal is to do what is best for their patients – not what is best for the insurance company, not what is best for a big hospital or health system, but what is best for their patients. Add a pediatrician to your extended family!
