Feb. 28, 2017
Imagine yourself as a patient, free to schedule visits any time you wish. During those visits, you can expect to spend an average of 45 minutes, face to face with your doctor. You can also call your doctor anytime, even on nights and weekends. Now imagine yourself as that doctor. Today, the average family physician sees 35-40 patients a day, averaging only seven minutes with each. It's no surprise that many GPs today report feeling over worked, underpaid and even burned out. But not you. You enjoy an average of 45 minutes with each of your patients. You see, at most, five or six patients per day. Your patients can call you anytime, but surprising they rarely do. You love your job and your lifestyle. You know your patients and they know you. Your practice model enables huge health-care cost savings but your income still matches or exceeds that of your traditional family practice colleagues. So what's the catch? Is this a concierge practice limited to wealthy patients? A Utopian practice model existing only in theory? No, it's real, it's simple and its called, simply enough, Direct Primary Care (or DPC). Also, for those of you who aren't family physicians, stay tuned because this is a dynamic model, not limited to just family medicine. Dr. Staci Benson is an expert who knows her stuff about DPC practice. She's also a family physician with her own DPC practice. Her practice model (and financials) are completely transparent, so we'll take a look under the hood. Is the DPC model too good to be true? This is one of those episodes that may challenge your traditional thinking, your practice, and your future.
