Why the Direct Pay Model would work well for the poor population.

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One of the ideas which people perceive about Direct Primary Care is it’s only affordable for wealthier incomes.  This article, which was well written by Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA, debunks the reasoning behind it.  The link to the original article can be found at the bottom of the page.

So, if poor people have little to spend, why would the direct primary care model work for them? Simple; with direct pay models the actual health care costs can be kept much lower and therefore more affordable for these very patients. Plus, since direct pay models often have smaller patient panels, these patients may have more time with their physicians and staff to address the myriad of issues in their life that may be affecting their health.

Some direct pay models charge patients a monthly or yearly membership fee that covers all primary care office visits and even some basic or in-house labs. For example, at Qliance in Seattle, depending on the patients’ age, members pay a fee that ranges between $54 – $94 a month, which includes:

  • 7 -day a week access to the Qliance health care team
  • Same or next-day appointments for urgent care
  • 30-60 minute office visits
  • Phone appointments and e-visits
  • After hour phone access to a physician for urgent medical needs

Sure, direct primary care is great because it covers all primary care visits, but you may wonder how will poor patients pay for labs or specialty visits? It may surprise you to learn that the actual cost of most basic labs is actually very little. We negotiated with local labs to pay just above the actual cost of the tests and in exchange, we pay our lab bill in full monthly. Here is an example of how it would work for a patient with diabetes:

      Labs                      Actual Cost                 Patient Paid at time of visit

  •       HgAIC                   $8.72                           $10
  •       Lipid panel          $3.47                           $ 5
  •       CMP                       $4.21                           $ 5

 

What about the cost of specialty care, clearly this is much too expensive for poor people to afford, right? My response to that question is two-fold:

First, one of the main benefits of the direct primary care model is physicians have more time to spend with their patients to actually figure out what is wrong and treat problems appropriately; and therefore, they need to refer patients less often. As family physicians, I believe we are well trained to handle the myriad of problems that patients may present with, but we do not have enough time to adequately address them in a 10 minute office visit, so we often feel compelled to refer them to specialists. QIiance has demonstrated that when you have the time to spend with patient, specialist and ER visits, surgeries and hospitalizations are all significantly reduced

Media from Qliance
Media from Qliance

Second, even specialists are willing to reduce their fees when they are guaranteed payments in a more timely manner. Again, when we eliminate the insurance middleman, we significantly reduce the uncertainty and/or time it takes to pay for services. In reality, fees for sub-specialty visits, services, surgeries, etc. are set for insurance companies who routinely underpay by a significant amount, since they can negotiate much lower payments. Again, if we could eliminate the “insurance bureaucracy tax” by reducing administrative costs through the removal of the insurance middle man, specialists could charge patients much less for the actual services they provide.

 

The original article can be found here from The Direct Primary Care Journal 

A Different Kind of Plan

Marblehead’s Gold boosts Direct Primary Care plan – Itemlive.com

 

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A different Kind of Plan

 

MARBLEHEAD — Direct Primary Care is a concept based on the idea that physicians should be dedicated to their patients, and care for them based on their needs, not their insurance plan, says Dr. Jeffrey Gold.

The concept strives on building strong patient/physician relationships and eliminating third parties, such as insurance companies, for primary care.

Many believe it’s a solution to a lot of the problems we see in the primary health care system: waiting time, high costs, and not understanding treatments. Gold is one.

“Let’s get back to using health insurance for what insurance should be used for: the big things, the unexpected things, surgeries,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gold of Gold Direct Care in Marblehead, “not the day-to-day primary care which is expected and what people need.”

Instead, DPC offices charge a fixed monthly rate and provide patients with unlimited doctor visits and unlimited time during each visit. Doctors spend more time with patients and are able to provide a wider variety of care so that most procedures can be performed in the office, Gold says.

When a patient does need to be referred to a specialist, DPC doctors communicate extensively with the specialists in order to ensure the best care for the patient. “When I do refer out, I have a much better dialogue with the specialist,” said Gold.

“I have better referrals, because I’m not referring as many people out and I can communicate with the specialist because I have more time,” he said. “This results in better care for the patient, which is the ultimate goal and should be the ultimate goal.

“This is getting back to what medicine is supposed to be about, which is the patient and physician relationship,” said Gold. “The doctors in the program are trying to provide quality care but the current system doesn’t allow it.”

This method is an attempt to stray away from the traditional medical system, which Gold says has become more about “how many people you can see rather than the quality of the care.”

“Our goal is to help the patient,” he said. “It’s difficult when you’re in a room seeing 20 people a day. That’s not why I went to school for so long.”

Gold aims to have about 750 patients as opposed to the 2,500 he had when working in traditional medicine. The purpose, he said, is “for the patient to really have a lot of questions and be more engaged with their health. I have the opportunity to do that.

“It’s gratifying to spend time with people that you genuinely care about and make sure they are getting what that they need,” he said.

While DCP does not involve insurance directly, a membership does not take the place of insurance. It’s important to know that you still need insurance for emergency situations and surgeries.

“DCP is not insurance, it’s a service.” Gold said.

“All primary care services are included under that fee. I can still take care of someone who doesn’t have insurance but I would never encourage someone to not have insurance. We recommend a high deductible plan so that you’re covered in all aspects of your care.

“We’re trying to work with insurance companies to get the right plan for people. Get them higher quality care,” he said.

While eliminating insurance all together is not recommended, the idea behind DCP is to remove it at the primary care level.

“I work like a gym membership; people can use it or not use it but they’ve paid for the service,” he said.

“Patients pay “a monthly age-based fee that pretty much encompasses 99 percent of what I do in the office,” he said. Falling under the remaining one percent are things like blood work, routine women’s health screenings and even house calls, which Gold says range between $3-$30.

According to Gold, there are many added benefits of being a patient of a DPC office. Doctors have 24/7 availability. They give patients their cell phone number, giving them the option to call, text, email, FaceTime and skype.

“I can talk to a patient on the phone from the comfort of their own bed,” said Gold.

For Gold, it’s about changing the experience patients have with health care.

“Nobody wants to go to the doctor and we’re trying to change that,” he said “It’s up to us to try to fix this and make it better and the only way to do that is to think outside the box and make things simpler.

“It allows for people to have a say in what they’re getting and how they’re getting it,” he said “I hope we get to the place where people demand better and get better.”