How does Direct Primary Care (DPC) work?
DPC patients pay a monthly fee (like a gym membership) directly to their Primary Care Physician. Their Primary Care Physician provides all primary care for that monthly fee. DPC bypasses the third party that currently pays for primary care. Patients are encouraged to maintain insurance to cover what insurance was meant to pay for: major, expensive medical problems that may or may not happen to you.
Why pay your doctor directly?
We believe using “insurance” to pay for your family doctor no longer works well. Under current government and insurance regulations, primary care doctors need more and more staff to manage increasingly complex claims processing. Government regulations also require complicated computer systems. To cover these costs, since insurance contracts dictate a set price per service, the volume of patients pushed through “the system” gets higher and higher. This has led to less time with your doctor and higher out of pocket expenses for primary care. When insurance is paying the bill: patients pay more than they should, wait too long for appointments, wait too long in the waiting room and spend too little face to face time with their doctor.
How does Direct Primary Care benefit patients?
DPC benefits patients by providing a wide range of medical services in unhurried visits, without long wait times, at an affordable price.
At Pennington Primary Care you can expect:
all primary care services covered, including care management and care coordination
seven day a week access to a physician by text, phone or email
same day/next (business) day appointments for urgent matters
extended office visits
minor in office procedures at no additional costs (including but not limited to laceration repair, skin abscess drainage, EKGs, step scree, ear wax removal and urinalysis)
in house dispensing of select generic medications at a significant discount compared to most retail prices (and sometimes less than insurance prices)
negotiated cash prices for labs and imaging
“e-consults” with top specialists around the country
virtual visits and house calls when warranted and appropriate
Is Direct Primary Care right for you?
If Direct Primary Care sounds like what you’ve been looking for, Pennington Primary Care is now enrolling new patients. Please call us at 803-328-6733 for more information.