National Doctors’ Day: Why a Physician should choose DPC

At Proactive MD, we do DPC differently. Direct Primary care, or DPC, is a model that allows patients to pay for primary healthcare services directly to the physician or practice. Proactive MD goes beyond traditional DPC models by offering Advanced Primary Care defined by our Patient Promise: we are only and always about the patient, and we promise to always fight for their greatest good.

Our differentiators are services based on the concept of Care Beyond the Walls™–care begins before a patient enters the Health Center and continues long after they leave. We offer an onsite Patient Advocate who, as a licensed social worker, navigates the complicated healthcare system on behalf of our patients, offering behavioral health support, social resources, and trusted guidance.

We reached out to Dr. Philip Eskew, Physician, VP Clinical Development & General Counsel, to get his thoughts as a Physician as to why other Physicians should chose to work for DPC.

What is Direct Primary Care?

Direct primary care is a price transparent way to provide broad scope ongoing primary care to patients without any third-party communication barriers.

What are the benefits of DPC to patients?

Patients can have as many visits as needed to cover preventive care, chronic care, or new concerns. My patients can message me in our EMR portal, via text, or via email anytime. We go over all medication and lab options in a price-transparent way. Patients learn enough about their chronic conditions to play an active role in their own care.

What are the benefits of DPC to physicians?

Physicians have the time to actually do good work. We have the time to research complicated questions rather than reflexively referring to a specialist. Physicians get feedback about what went well and what did not go well directly from the patient–this is the kind of thing that is completely missing in the urgent care system and often missing in the traditional primary care system where patients are charged for follow-up visits and routinely avoid follow-up care.

Is Proactive MD a DPC provider? How is it similar and how is it different?

At Proactive MD we offer a direct primary care experience to all our patients. Often their employer is the one paying the monthly fee, but the patient experience is the same.

What advice would you give a physician looking to transition to a DPC practice model?

If you are a physician debating moving into a DPC practice setting then I would encourage you to speak with other DPC physicians about it. If you want time to think, and you enjoy answering challenging questions, then you will love being a DPC physician. Consider attending a DPC focused CME event like the DPC Summit. Read articles online. You can check out my website at www.dpcfrontier.com which is full of free information you will likely find useful.