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Direct Primary Care

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Why Does My Primary Care Office Refer Me to an Urgent Care?

 

Your average physician’s office cannot accommodate the needs of the 2000+ patients that they have per doctor in the normal day.  If the doctor is full or not in the office that day, they will often either recommend that you come in and see a non-physician practitioner or go to the local urgent care where you can walk-in anytime you need it.

At Direct Primary Care practices, like Balanced Physician Care, we do our best to be available to our members when you need it.  24/7, 365 days a year we can be sure to get back to you when you have an urgent need.  Our members email or call our after-hours phone number when they have an urgent concern and they hear back from their doctor directly within hours (and usually within minutes!).  When scheduling allows and the need requires an in-person assessment or treatment, their doctor directly schedules them to come in for what they need. 

​Amid COVID, this has been super helpful for our members.  When a member has a cold and doesn’t know what to do, we can discuss remotely what the best course of action is, refer them to rapid testing, or schedule a COVID test fairly quickly to help guide next steps.  

We keep our panel of patients to under 600 patients with 2 providers, unlike the national average in a regular Fee-For-Service practice of 1000s per provider.  This lets us be sure we can offer what we’re recommending to patients without long wait times on hold with a receptionist.  We call, email, or message our members back directly and we arrange their urgent visit when needed.  We can also handle many urgent requests remotely (i.e. that annoying UTI is back and you need the antibiotic again - you don’t have to have a visit!).  

To find out more about how direct our care works and how Balanced Physician Care practices it, give us a call at 904-930-4774

 

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Comprehensive Evaluation of Direct Primary Care (DPC)

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Society of Actuaries Report:

Primary Care is Foundational; DPC provides important new alternative

Improves patient-doctor relationship

Reduces ER visits and unnecessary care, lowers costs for employers

Improves physician satisfaction

The DPC Coalition and American Academy of Family Physicians spent two years in collaboration with Milliman and the Society of Actuaries on a comprehensive evaluation of Direct Primary Care (DPC) as a growing health care delivery and financing model.   The full report was published last week by the Society of Actuaries as a part of their ongoing research on health care cost trends. The Society of Actuaries report shows how the new and growing DPC financing and delivery model provides an alternative to traditional fee-for-service-based primary care, improving the patient-doctor relationship, reducing the fragmentation of patient care, as well as personal and professional satisfaction for PCPs. 

This important research shines new actuarially sound light on how DPC generates system wide reductions in unnecessary health care utilization such as hospitalization, emergency department usage, radiology and certain diagnostics, and specialist care, leading to broad-based health care cost savings. “Primary care physicians (PCPs) are the front line of health care,” the report concludes.  “How often a patient accesses primary care, and the quality of that care, can have significant impacts on downstream costs and patient health outcomes.”  However, the study concludes, “while PCPs are almost universally acknowledged as essential to achieving the health care Triple Aim of providing high-quality care, at lower cost,” the current state of primary care as being in crisis characterized by physician burnout, large patient panels, and low pay for PCPs relative to other physician specialties with increased administrative burden and longer work hours. Key data points:

Virtual Care and Telehealth are at the core of DPC service offerings:

  • 99% of all DPC practices surveyed were doing virtual consults via text/phone as a part of the membership fee (two years prior to COVID-19).  

  • 88% said they provided “telemedicine” benefits (meaning expanded video or additional digital communications assets).

Enrollment in DPC is associated with a reduction in overall member demand for health care services outside primary care:

  • DPC members had 19.90% lower claim costs for employers on an unadjusted basis and 12.64% lower claim costs on a risk-adjusted basis during the two-year period. 

  • DPC members experienced approximately 40% fewer ER visits that those in traditional plans.

  • DPC members experienced a 53.6% reduction in ER claims cost.

  • DPC members experienced 25.54% lower hospital admissions on an unadjusted basis. While this figure may have statistically variance, it validates previous research trends showing a reduction in the use of hospitalization and more complex specialty care by DPC members.

DPC is Affordable Primary Care:

  • The average adult monthly DPC Fee is $73.92. (DPC fees are paid on a monthly subscription basis).

  • Concierge patients enrolled in an MDVIP membership pay an annual membership fee ranging from $1,650 to $2,200; MDVIP also bills third-party payers for all services provided to members.

  • The median age for DPC patient was 31.8 years old, v. 36.1 for traditional insured (PPO).  The survey finds the member mix did not vary materially between the DPC option and traditional option.

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*article is courtesy of DPC Coalition

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The “NetFlix and CostCo” of Primary Care

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How would you benefit if your relationship with your doctor was described as “Netflix meets Costco?”

Direct Primary Care, or DPC, is a new way of providing primary care that is making good on its promise to help people stay healthier and spend less on healthcare. Dr. Kirby Farnsworth, owner of Simply Direct Health, shares the story of what attracted him to choose DPC over traditional primary care models, how he can provide many medications at or near cost, and why referring physicians love it just as much as patients.

This conversation is brought to you by P3 Inbound

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Open Enrollment

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Open enrollment season is right around the corner and you may be making some important decisions for you, your family, or even your business. Here are some tips to think about when purchasing health insurance.

Whether you purchase your insurance through the state, government, employer or directly from vendors, this can be a daunting process. There are often many choices, with slight differences that are difficult to decipher. Beyond that, because price transparency is such an issue in healthcare, it is often hard to plan or budget for future costs when there is no way to find out how much these services actually cost! Below, I’ve tried to outline a couple tips while going through this process.  

Nothing is free!!:   Many patients get a large portion of their health insurance paid for by a third party (employer, government, etc). This creates the notion that health care is cheap or free in certain situations. Please remember that although you may not pay much in monthly premiums or out of pocket costs for your insurance, your employer is likely paying an exorbitant amount for health care services you may not even use. This cost has gone up considerably in the last few years

Know your family:  Unfortunately, because this can be so complicated, many patients simply select the most inclusive insurance options, which are also the most expensive. Sit down and review what medical services you and your family have used over the past few years. What medications do you require monthly, if any? Do you see specialists, and why? Do you know of any bigger health expenses that may come up next year (like planning for a child or an elective surgery)?  Or do you just really need a good primary care physician who has time to address all of your medical needs? (Hint: the answer for almost everyone is yes!)
 
Understand premiums and deductibles:   Just to review, a premium is the amount that you (or a third party) pay monthly for the privilege of being insured. The deductible is the total amount of out of pocket costs you and your family can incur during the year on top of the monthly premium you already pay. The lower your monthly premiums, the higher your out of pocket costs may be… though you still might save money this way! For instance, for a young family of 4 buying insurance from BCBS, the monthly premium for a $2,800 deductible plan is about $500 more a month than the $12,000 deductible plan… that’s $6,000 extra in monthly premiums over the course of the year!!! Why would anyone pay that much extra when good primary care can cover 85-90% of issues that will ever come up?  Even the $2,800 deductible plan listed above leaves a family paying out of pocket for much of their costs in a year. Those costs are often inflated because of insurance and the amount is completely unknown to the patient prior to utilizing the service (try to think of another purchase you make where you do not know the cost prior to buying?!?).
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Consider Medical Cost Sharing or Healthshare:  Healthcare Sharing, or Groups, are non-profit organizations of like-minded individuals that pool their money together every month to help each other with serious medical costs. They are NOT considered insurance. They work great with Direct Primary Care.The majority are Christian based ministries except for Sedera Health (sedera.com). The Christian based Ministry groups usually require members to adhere to moral and ethical principles that result in lower healthcare costs; such as not smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol, no extra marital sex, and no illicit drugs. Since these plans are not insurance, they can restrict or refuse Approval, i.e. exclude for pre-existing conditions. Sedera Health is different. It does not require you to adhere to moral or ethical principals and is not a Christian based. These health sharing plans can provide catastrophic healthcare protection (like health insurance should be doing) for significantly lower monthly costs.
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So, if you have a relatively healthy family, ask yourself why you (or your employer) pay so much more in premiums for, what should be, cheap and comprehensive primary care services. And wouldn’t you want an affordable, budgetable, transparent monthly fee that will cover most everything that will come up during a given year including keeping you out of an expensive urgent care and or even worse, the emergency room.

 

  •  If you do have some chronic medical concerns, think about the specialists you are seeing and the different medications you're on.  Is YOUR Primary Care Doctor putting all the pieces together?

 

  • Is you current doctors taking your finances into consideration when prescribing and ordering expensive medications/tests without thinking about it?

 

  • Is you current doctor part of a hospital system and only recommending specialists "in the system"?

 

  • Does your doctor expedite changes in your treatment plan and save you trips to the office?
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If the answer is a No to the questions above or you're just unsure, it’s probably worth making a 15-20 minute, Meet & Greet appointment here at Balanced Physician Care so we can discuss how our practice will work with your medical and insurance needs. The best part is, the consultation is free!  (Schedule your visit here or give us a call at 904-930-4774
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115 Professional Drive Suite 104

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

904-930-4774

www.BalancedPhysicianCare.com

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Why QuikTrip Employees Never See a Medical Bill

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Employers are often resigned to accept healthcare spending increases year after year, but via a local partnership with Texas Health Resources, Care ATC, and an innovative approach to health insurance, QuikTrip is bucking the trend.

In order to better provide for their employees and their families and save money along the way, QuikTrip processes and pays their own health insurance claims, effectively serving as their own insurance company.

There are several advantages for employers to make this move. They are able to easily access their employees claims information and design the health plan accordingly. They also have discounted direct contracts with hospital systems, including Texas Health Resources in North Texas (QuikTrip’s largest market in terms of stores), reducing costs along the way.

After connecting through a consultant, QuikTrip and THR entered a partnership to provide care. “The quality of our providers, our footprint and the size, and the results that we have demonstrated” were all factors, says THR Vice President of Strategic Growth Jay Beck.

“The ability of the employer to have better connectivity with the provider from the end user,” was essential, Beck says of the direct contract. “There has always been a wall out there.

 

”Using DPC means that employees are able to visit the clinic as much as they need without adding personal costs, which reduces the larger medical expenses down the line.

 

QuikTrip also saw the health claims side of their business as a way to keep their employees in the company as they gained more education and experience, essentially adding another industry to the business. “We have always had this mission to provide opportunities to grow and succeed,” says QuikTrip Benefits and Training Manager Brice Habeck.

The company contracts with CareATC direct primary care physicians in North Texas, and even has an onsite direct primary clinic at their headquarters in Tulsa. DPC clinics are incentivized to reduce costs while maintaining quality, as they receive a dollar amount per member per month, which moves incentives away from costly fee-for-service. They also distribute medication onsite in Tulsa at no cost to their employees. Using DPC means that employees are able to visit the clinic as much as they need without adding personal costs, which reduces the larger medical expenses down the line.

In addition to their primary care, QuikTrip utilized capitized arrangements with hospital systems for treatment that is beyond what a primary care physician can provide. This means that providers are paid a set amount for each employee for a period of time, whether the person utilizes healthcare every day or not at all. The arrangement incentives systems to manage the health in a more cost effective way, much like DPC for primary care.

What may be most surprising, is that employees at QuikTrip never see a hospital bill. The company pays all bills directly, and then employees pay the company back. Many of the bills are deducted from future paychecks in the case of larger expenses. Hospital systems have offered better discounts to QuikTrip, as they know they will get paid for the service right away, without battling insurance companies or waiting on patients to pay.

“The ability to collect prompt claims payments was very helpful,” Beck says. “As was the ability to promote our network and be the premier network in the QT member plan.”

While this all sounds ideal, the results are impressive as well. Over the past three years, employees have seen premiums go down, rather than the bending of the cost curve that most employers are hoping for. While they can’t control the cost of care, this model allows for flexibility and discounts that can help control how much the company and its employees pay for healthcare.

According to Habeck, the savings come from people getting care who are normally untreated. Annual physicals and the diagnoses that accompany them, as well as catching non-compliant employees, can reduce pricey visits to the emergency room or other hospitalizations down the line.

In addition, the company prioritizes communication with employees to make sure they are visiting the doctor frequently enough and maintaining their health.

QuikTrip keeps close tabs on their partnerships with providers and their narrow network, discussing at least quarterly how things can improve care and avoid high cost or low quality providers. Habeck sees their plan similar to what Kaiser Permanente has in California with a medical neighborhood, where you never really leave the neighborhood to keep costs down and quality high.

As self-funded employers pay more attention to their healthcare spending, Beck sees larger companies taking more of a role in the administration and payment of their claims. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, JP Morgan, and even the city of Fort Worth have made similar moves recently. “It allows for direct connectivity with the provider,”Beck says. “And that direct relationship is mission critical.”

For Habeck, QT’s benefits management line up with the culture of QuikTrip, which prioritizes integrity and serving its employees. Even when things aren’t perfect, the medical partners are able to take responsibility and make a change. “Every single person at the table has the confidence and humility to say I made a mistake,” he says. “It has been a huge step in accountability.”

07/9/2019| Article by Will Maddox

DCEO Healthcare

Balanced Physician Care's complete solutions empower small employers to control health benefits costs, while providing Five-Star Primary Care that saves employees time and money as well.

If your company employs 5-300 people, you are in the sweet spot for a Balanced Physician Care Corporate Membership.  Give us a call to schedule a FREE no obligation analysis to see if your business can save money, while taking advantage of better health benefits.

Learn More:
904-930-4774

membership@balancedphysiciancare.com
24-7 Doctor2

Available to Members 24/7

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For some direct care physicians, the idea of being available to patients around the clock may seem daunting. Who wants to be awakened every night in the middle of the night? However, most direct care physicians also find that they are able to develop a relationship with their patients that includes respect, boundaries, and established expectations.

The idea behind the direct care model is that patients pay a monthly fee and, in return, have access to basic primary care services during office hours as well as access to their physician after hours.

That is an enticement for both doctor and patient, that the patient interaction is not limited to a 10-15 minute visit during the day. The physician can spend more time during each visit, getting to know that patient more completely, and the patient feels free to ask follow-up questions and clarify instructions before and after the visit.

Direct care physicians have found that their patients do tend to respect their time and do not take advantage of their 24/7 availability, but it helps to establish expectations up front. Some direct care physicians will state that they are available by text or email – but not phone calls – between certain hours. They may also specify when it is appropriate to contact them after hours. For example, a question about scheduling or administrative issues must wait until office hours.

When the direct care physician offers 24/7 availability and the patient does call in the middle of the night, however, the physician should be responsive to continue that positive relationship. If the call went to voice mail, the physician should return the call. Likewise, a text or email should be answered promptly. Of course, all physicians direct their patients to call 911 when they have such emergency situations as a potential heart attack.

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Balanced Physician Care Members appreciate the peace of mind of 24/7 care by our providers.  Find out more at 904.930.4774

*Article written by Krystle Thornton | Elation Health - December 14, 2018

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