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Healthcare over Health Insurance: The Case for Direct Primary Care

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Direct Primary Care (DPC) challenges the very definition of healthcare in America.
More and more research has shown that DPC improves the access to and the quality of care, as well as reduces healthcare cost, mostly by reducing unnecessary healthcare utilization. Unnecessary healthcare utilization is a scourge: It is responsible for upwards of 10 percent of our nation’s healthcare bill. Certainly, the tests and procedures we perform in medicine saves lives, but unnecessary tests and procedures expose patients to unjustified risks.

In February 2016, I founded Balanced Physician Care to bring this emerging model of Direct Care to Northeast Florida. Since then, my love for my profession has returned. Having enough time to spend with each patient has invigorated my passion for medicine. I’m finally practicing medicine the way I always envisioned I could and should. I mention this because the joy I now feel in the practice of medicine is in fact what makes the Direct Primary Care model not just viable but essential.

Critics have argued that widespread adoption of the DPC model will only exacerbate the primary care physician shortage because by necessity it will significantly reduce the number of patients each physician sees. In the short run, this might indeed prove true. But unless a workable solution is found to reverse primary care physician dissatisfaction, a critical shortage is already inevitable. According to a survey conducted by the Urban Institute in 2012, 30 percent of primary care physicians between the ages of 35 to 49 and 53 percent of primary care physicians over the age of 50 want to quit medicine altogether.

Primary care physician patient panel sizes haven’t risen to their current levels of 2,500 to 4,000 patients because primary care physicians believe that these sizes are optimal for patient care. They’ve risen to these levels because insurance reimbursement for primary care hasn’t kept pace with the expense of running a practice, and primary care physicians have been forced to increase the number of patients they see to survive financially. This has resulted not only in poorer access to care, poorer quality of care and increased healthcare costs, but also in dramatically increased primary care physician dissatisfaction. What’s required is a new model that attracts physicians into primary care.

Personalized, quality healthcare is not possible when physicians are handing patient panels of over 4,000 or more in size. No matter how many wellness screenings are being performed. Direct Primary Care has been proven to bring quality, personalized medicine back. According to an article in the British Medical Journal in October 2013, patients of DPC practices enjoy 65 percent less ER visits, 35 percent less hospitalizations and 82 percent less urgent care visits.

Primary care — and with it, all of healthcare — is in crisis. Access to personalized care is limited, the quality of care is poor (despite spending more per capita on healthcare than any other country in the world), the life expectancy of U.S. citizens ranks only 26th out of the 36 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and costs are spiraling out of control. Though many view the new model of Direct Primary Care with skepticism, derision and even fear, new models that ultimately prove successful are often initially greeted that way. But if we can challenge our fear, personally changing to a direct primary care model might just prove in the big picture to be the single most effective solution for the most significant problems facing American healthcare today and even more importantly, ensuring the health of the ones you love.

Optimize Your Health, Simplify Your Life,

Dr Sharyl Truty MD

 

 

Dr. Sharyl Truty is the physician-owner of a Direct Primary Care practice called Balanced Physician Care located in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. She has been in practice as both a board-certified Family Medicine and a board-certified Sports Medicine physician for over 15 years. She has completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine from the University of Arizona with Dr. Andrew Weil. She has practiced Acupuncture for over 12 years after having trained in China and completed the UCLA physician acupuncture certification. Dr.Truty is committed to finding the best solutions to help you live the best-balanced life possible.

Why Direct Primary Care Health Coverage Should Be Incorporated Into Your Employee Benefits Package

Why Direct Primary Care Health Coverage Should Be Incorporated Into Your Employee Benefits Package

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Here are 7 reasons why Direct Primary Care health coverage should be incorporated into your employee benefits package:

 

It saves money. Direct Primary Care can provide substantial savings and improved cost controls for employers in managing overall health benefit expenses. The goal is to reduce utilization of the insurance plan at urgent care and emergency rooms. This approach typically saves employers double-digits over traditional group plans, while delivering a far better care experience. Also it can minimize employees’ out-of-pocket expenses and helps solve their avoidance of care for financial reasons – workers should not have to forgo healthcare because they don’t want to pay their co-pay, or their deductible is sky high.

It reduces absenteeism and presenteeism. By taking advantage of the proactive, preventative nature of direct primary care, employees stay active in the workforce and keep out of the hospital and urgent care clinics.

It’s convenient. Direct Primary Care provides employees convenient and unfettered access to their primary care physician—enjoying prompt appointments, exceptional care, and easy utilization. By having direct cell phone and email access to the doctor, employees no longer have to wait hours in a waiting room to interact with the doctor to answer a simple question, get a shot of support, or even a prescription refill.

It helps employers retain their best employees. As competition for talented employees intensifies in the coming years, small businesses will have to find ways to attract and keep good workers. So, providing quality health coverage is an important bargaining chip to give you the competitive edge for attracting and retaining talented employees.

It boosts employee engagement. Whatever an employer can do to improve morale—and quality health benefits do that—makes employees feel more positive about their work and their employer.

It heightens job satisfaction. Health benefits communicate to the employee a concern for their physical well-being and shows them a desire of their employer to invest in their total well-being, helping them achieve a better work/life balance.

It sets a good example. Placing value on healthcare in the workplace can energize workers to place importance on it at home as well. This is important for busy adults who have limited free time due to job and family commitments. But when an employer places a lot of emphasis on healthcare, that helps place emphasis at home too.

So before your next renewal, or if you’re interested in starting a health benefits program for your employees, let Balanced Physician Care provide you with a free, no obligation analysis of your current (or future) health benefits’ plan.

Many employers are converting their health insurance policies to high deductible, often with a deductible as high as $10,000 per person or family per year. For a family with members that have chronic illnesses, the costs of healthcare will be very substantial indeed at this level. Employees will arguably feel that their employer has walked away from them and saddled them with costs that they simply cannot bear. The company can partially offset the inherent anger this generates among its employees by paying the fee for a direct primary care practice. It is especially valuable for the individual with multiple chronic illnesses since quality primary care can mean much better health, many fewer tests, prescriptions, specialist referrals and hospitalizations. I suspect that employers will be the major reason for direct primary care membership/retainer-based practice growth in the coming years as they will essentially demand that level of service for their employees — and in so doing they will be reducing their company health care costs as a result of high quality primary care.

As a bonus service, we can potentially reduce your worker’s compensation costs by treating some worker injuries within our Balanced Physician Care plan, which reduces the overall costs of claims filed. Over time, lower claim costs could reduce your workers’ comp premium costs.

 

Optimize Your Health, Simplify Your Life,

Balanced Physician Care Membership

 

Give us a call at 904-930-4774 and we will setup a free, no obligation analysis of your current, or future health benefits program.
We now have Two Membership Options starting as low as $69 per month!
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Direct Primary Care Talk

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Dr Sharyl Truty of Balanced Physician Care presents Direct Primary Care to the patrons of the Ponte Vedra Rotary

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Health Sharing Ministries and Direct Primary Care

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Audio provided by DPC Podcasts on Liberty Healthshare

high deductbile blues

High Deductible Blues

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It is the beginning of the year and you have health insurance, right?  You chose a high-deductible plan because it was the best you could afford.  However, with a high deductible plan you essentially are likely going to pay for everything out of pocket unless you end-up having a medical event or surgery that puts you in the hospital. 

What is your strategy for your health?  Do you have a plan or will you just worry about it when it happens?  Let us play through a few scenarios and see which one seems to work better if you have a high deductible plan.

Scenario #1

It is Friday night and you start getting a headache and over-the-counter medications just don't cut it.  The Urgent Care is closed at 8pm and your choice is the ER.  You go to the ER and are seen your blood pressure is high and the cause of your headache.  After a CT scan, bloodwork and a long night in the ER.  Your health bill totals over $3000. 

Scenario #2

You cut your hand on Thursday morning making breakfast.  It is not a deep cut, but enough that you need stitches.  You to the local Urgent Care and they say they are unable to stitch you up because the cut it is located in a place the provider is not comfortable with, so they tell you to go to the ER.  You head to the ER and there is a long wait.  After about 4 hours and over $1000 later you are finally done.  You get an antibiotic to take to prevent infection, but you go to the pharmacy and it costs $70.  What choice do you have?  Do you need it?  Is there an alternative?  There is no one to call.

Is there another option?  You're a victim of the system what can you do?

There is another option.

Scenario #3

You had a headache a week ago and emailed your new DPC physician.  She reminded you to check your blood pressure and because it was high and you had no other issues she called in a higher dose of your medication and you came in to the office the next day at a convenient time for you.   She was able to quote you the price of your medication over the phone, so that it only cost you $4.  Today, you cut yourself with a kitchen knife.  You called her and you were in the office later that day and out in 30 min all stitched up.  You only lost 90 min at work.

The cost a Direct Primary Membership. 

Direct Primary Care Membership + a High Deductble Plan

Gives you COMPLETE coverage at a low fixed cost. (Like adding a "rider" to your insurance plan)

For less than $1500 a year (Less than the cost of 1 ER Visit)

  • You get personal care on nights and weekends
  • You get complete advice at the tips of your fingers thorugh email.
  • You get care in your home or work through home phone calls and video visits
  • You get the best deals in town on health testing because your DPC membership shops for them.
  • You save on prescriptions because you and your doctor discuss the price before you leave.
  • Your get a doctor who coordinates specialists and helps you sort through conflicting advice.
  • Consider a long-term view of your health.  Add some kick to your health care plan.

Call about Direct Primary Care today!  

 

Dr. Sharyl Truty

Dr Sharyl Truty MD is Physician Owner of Balanced Physician Care located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She has been engaged in family medicine, sports medicine, acupuncture and orthopedics for almost 15 years in many different capacities.  Dr. Sharyl is Board Certified in Family Practice and Sports Medicine, and fellow of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Arizona (Dr Weil) and a graduate of the UCLA Physician Acupuncture Program.  Please call 1-833-HEAL JAX to find out on how to become a member.

Rx

Telemedicine, One Better

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Telemedicine is emerging in healthcare.  If you do an internet search you can find several companies where you can schedule a visit and see a physician instantly for a low cash price.  It seems like a great deal, does it not?

The biggest issue however, is that it is NOT your own doctor.  If you don't list all of your medications or medical problems in the pre-visit question section, the physician you see is missing information that may be critical to your care.  Furthermore, you not sure what type of physician you are getting because you have not met them, do they practice the type of medicine you want to have?  Is there a better solution when it comes to telemedicine?

There is...

Direct Primary Care + Telemedicine = Quality, Convenient Care

 

Direct Primary Care is an emerging membership model throughout the country.  At its core is the premise that you have direct access to your doctor when you need it.  You get to meet your doctor and see if they are right for you.  You doctor gets to know you before you have an issue.  If you get sick afterhours and weekends, a direct primary care doctor uses a telemedicine visit to care for your needs from the comfort of your own home.  There is no need to make sure you've entered everything in the computer because you doctor knows you.  The visits are fast, convenient and very satisfying. 

Regardless of your Telemedicine choice, there are a few things I do recommend doing to prepare for your visit:

1) Get a Thermometer.  Check your temperature.  A lot of decisions when you are sick with an upper respitory infection depend upon whether you have a fever.

2) Get a blood pressure machine.  This is especially true if you have any heart or blood pressure issues.  Knowing your blood pressure can go a long way in making decisions.

3) Be open to an alternative diagnosis.  You've done your research on the internet and you are absolutely sure you know the diagnosis and just want to a quick prescription medication.  Sound familiar?  Remember, the sign of a good doctor is to entertain the unusual to be sure you are not missing something else.  Be patient with any questioning that they may provide and be open if they think something else is going on or ask you to follow-up with your own physician in a few days. 

4) Realize that not everything can be done on-line.  Abdominal pain, skin abscesses and dizziness issues are just a few things that are best still seen in person.  Be open to the on-line doctor telling you that you need to go in somewhere to be seen.  A good physician's credo is "do no harm", so often it is a wise decision to recommend a visit in person even if it turns out to be nothing serious.  It is always better to error on the cautious even if inconvenient side when it comes to protecting your health.

Optimize Your Health, Simplify Your Life

Dr Sharyl Truty MD

 

Find out more about Direct Primary Care in Jacksonville, the Beaches, & Ponte Vedra at BalancedPhysicianCare.com

Direct Primary Care for Athletes

Direct Primary Care for Athletes

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Learn How Direct Primary Care Helps Athletes and Weekend Warriors Stay at the Top of Their Game

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or professional, a fitness enthusiast, or you just enjoy to be active, you understand the need for training and conditioning your body. How your body looks on the outside is just as important as how it looks on the inside. To maintain your current fitness level and ensure you stay at the top of your game for many years to come, you will need regular advice from a physician you can trust. At Balanced Physician Care, we offer Direct Primary Care (“DPC”) memberships for weekend warriors and endurance athletes that will keep your body and mind conditioned so you can stay at the top of your game. 

The following outlines the benefits of a DPC membership for weekend warriors and endurance athletes:

Our Founder Is Sports Medicine Board Certified

A Sports Medicine Physician is specially trained for total care of athletes and active individuals. After graduating medical school from Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine in Illinois, our founder, Dr. Sharyl Truty, a former college basketball player at the University of Indianapolis herself, completed the Phoebe Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship Program in Georgia and trained in acupuncture through the UCLA-Helms Acupuncture certification for physicians. She served as primary care physician for the Chicago Red Stars women’s professional soccer team and has covered the Chicago Marathon yearly for 15 years. She also recently completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona with Dr. Andrew Weil. As a physician, athlete and mother, Dr. Sharyl strives to provide all athletes the most trusted and balanced perspective on their health.

Feel Like a Pro with Direct Primary Care’s White Glove Services

Direct Primary Care membership offers 24/7 access to your physician by phone and text. For in office visits, we offer relaxed, extended appointment times. You will never feel rushed or have to wait. As a Direct Primary Care member at Balanced Physician Care, our physicians can help you with:

  • Acute injuries such as ankle sprains, dislocations and non-surgical fractures;
  • Overuse injuries including stress fractures, tendonitis and osteoarthritis;
  • Traumatic brain injuries or concussions;
  • Acute illnesses such as asthma, mononucleosis, cold or flu;
  • Exercise prescriptions for people who want to be more active;
  • Return to play decisions for injured or ill athletes;
  • Evaluations of supplements, multivitamins and herbal medications;
  • Acupuncture consultations and treatments;
  • Cortisone injections;
  • Cupping therapy;
  • Dry needling;
  • Trigger point injections;
  • Mindfulness education; and
  • Mind body techniques for improving performance.

Every membership includes an annual wellness physical, comprehensive 60-minute exam, biometric lab panel, and pap or prostate screening. We offer unlimited in office visits with no copays. Three (3) complimentary acupuncture visits are also included, along with holistic and integrative medicine consultations.

Prevent Injuries and Speed Recovery Times with Direct Primary Care

As we age, our muscles and joints do not recover as quickly as they used to and are more prone to injuries. Whether you are starting a new workout routine or continuing with an old one, it’s important to ensure your body is in optimal health. As your Direct Primary Care sports medicine physician, we will work with you to create an exercise plan to help prevent injuries. When injuries occur, our physicians will work with you to explore options beyond surgery.

Stay Active With Direct Primary Care

For athletes and active individuals to stay at the top of their game, they need a proper nutrition plan, exercise routine, and regular checkups with a Sport Medicine physician they can trust – a former athlete, now physician. At Balanced Physician Care, we offer affordable Direct Primary Care plans designed to simplify your life and optimize your health. For more information on Balanced Physician Care, call (904) 930-4774 or visit www.balancedphysiciancare.com.

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Direct Primary Care for Pediatrics

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Learn Why You Should Choose This Innovative Healthcare Model for Your Children

At Balanced Physician Care, we offer affordable Direct Primary Care membership plans for parents and their children. Direct Primary Care (“DPC”) is an innovative model of medical care that provides transparent, comprehensive, affordable, and accessible care. For a small monthly fee, your family can have full access to a physician 24/7 by phone and text. This level of care is designed to help you simplify your life and optimize the health of everyone in your family.

The following outlines the benefits of a DPC membership for your children:

We Offer Improved Patient Relationships & Convenient Care

Our physicians don’t work for insurance companies. Instead, we work for patients and their families. In addition to being available 24/7 by phone and text, we also offer same day in office appointments with no wait times. If your child is severely allergic to insect bites and gets bit by fire ants, instead of rushing to the hospital or an acute care center to wait hours for someone to see you, you can text a photo of the bite to your physician, who will review the photo, and call, text or email you immediately with care instructions. If your child gets a cold or the flu, by going through a series of questions, your physician can diagnose your child’s infection and order an antibiotic by phone, without you ever having to leave the comforts of your home.

We Help Manage Your Child’s Chronic Illness

When a child is diagnosed with a chronic illness such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, or mental illness, regardless of your wealth, it is a burden on any family. Children with chronic illness may be well at any given time, but they are always living with their condition. Parents are required to deal with the child’s needs on a daily basis. At Balanced Physician Care, our goal is to create a treatment plan that helps reduce your child’s symptoms and your family’s overall healthcare costs. If your child suffers from a chronic disease such as diabetes, our physicians can provide the tools your family needs including, nutrition and diet evaluations, advice on supplements and multi vitamins, and help creating personalized exercise programs.

We Help Keep Your Child’s Brain and Body Conditioned

Whether your child is an all-star athlete or all-star mathlete, to ensure they perform at the top of their game, they will need diet, nutrition and exercise advice from a medical professional. At Balanced Physician Care, we offer annual physicals for all of our members, including Sports Physicals. Additionally, our physicians will work with you and your child to develop a diet and exercise plan, teach injury prevention strategies, and mind-body techniques for improving performance.

We Prescribe Wellness, Not More Meds

When thinking about your child’s health, it is important to also think about the long-term effects of taking medications. Some medications are absolutely necessary; while some can be completely avoided by improving diet, sleep habits, and physical activity. At Balanced Physician Care, our founder & physician, Dr. Sharyl Truty is board certified in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine. Dr. Sharyl uses her background in Integrative Medicine to apply a holistic approach to healing for our patients and their children. From managing chronic illness symptoms to pulled muscles and other acute injuries, our physicians will work with you and your child to create a holistic treatment plan that you can trust.

Invest in Direct Primary Care for Your Child Today!

Dr Sharyl Truty MD

Family Care

At Balanced Physician Care, we work with your family to create a wellness plan that simplifies your life and optimizes your health.  Child Add-On Memberships are either just $69 a month for Premier Plan and $49 per month for Basic Plan.

And the more family you add, the bigger the savings...

We offer 2 different Family Plans, With the purchase of two, Adult DPC Memberships, you can include up to 3 dependent children for a discount rate per month. For more information on Balanced Physician Care, call (904) 930-4774 or visit BalancedPhysicianCare.com

 

Balanced Physician Care Basic Family Plan
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Family Care

Direct Primary Care for your Children

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Giving Mothers the Gift of Time.

Mother's Day is around the corner this week.  Direct Primary Care membership can be a huge help for all types of mothers.  Whether you are a working mother looking to balance a career and your newborn or are a stay at home mother with your third or fourth child on the way Direct Primary Care can help take a few things off your plate, make your life simpler, and give you the gift of time.  At Balanced Physician Care, Dr. Sharyl Truty, your physician, becomes a direct partner by providing a hands on, personal resource you can tap into at anytime.

A Hands-on Resource at Any Time

For parents with a newborn, life can be pretty intense those first few weeks of life.  Even if the birth of your newborn child went smoothly or even if you are an experienced parent, new challenges always arise seeming to test our understanding of how to care for and protect this new life.  While our own mothers can be a great resource for helping us navigate new waters sometimes they are not always up on the latest medical understandings.   Sometimes the issues can be simple, but immediate and who wants to wait for the next wellness visit to get your questions answered?  If is is more complicated, who wants to go scrambling to a crowded emergency room and waiting hours with an unhappy infant?  By having a Direct Primary Care membership at Balanced Physician Care, if an issue comes up at 5pm on Friday evening with your newborn or young toddler, you call you doctor directly for answers.  You get direct contact with your physician and immediate peace of mind.

More Time for You, Less Time in the Waiting Room

For some parents, long waits in the waiting room to see your physician can be difficult.  If you are a working mother, needing to be at work you often have to rely on others to do the task of helping you take your child to well visits.  If you have several children, you can feel like you live at the doctor's office.  With a Direct Primary Care membership, you are seen if the office right away and unnecessary visits are minimized giving you more time to spend enjoying playful and learning activities with you children rather than long hours in a waiting room.  If you have a child with a chronic disease such as asthma, eczema or attention deficit disorder, visits such as these can add-up.

Sound Holistic Advice from a Trusted Source

Holistic care can be very important to some mothers.  Even if a child is very healthy, issues do arise from the inevitable cold and flu season to dealing with picky eaters. At Balanced Physician Care, our membership allows Dr. Sharyl Truty the time to spend counseling mothers on holistic options from dietary advice to natural herbals that are safe in children.  For children who are struggling with chronic diseases, often answers cannot only be found in conventional medicine, having a physician you can trust for advice on what holistic options make the most sense for the personality of your child can be invaluable.

At Balanced Physician Care, our goal is to optimize the health of your child and simplify your life.  Let us help to create a wellness plan for your child that goes beyond wellness checks and immunizations.  A Direct Primary Care membership works as a compliment to health insurance as is designed to provide very personalized, quality care.  Let Balanced Physician Care, give you the gift of time this Mother's Day.

Wishing all mothers this upcoming Sunday, a very special and Happy Mother's Day.

Dr Sharyl Truty MD

 

Sharyl Truty

Dr Sharyl Truty has been in practice as both a board-certified family medicine and a board-certified sports medicine physician for over 13 years. She completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, by Dr. Andrew Weil. For more information on Balanced Physician Care and its Direct Primary Care membership plan visit www.BalancedPhysicianCare.com

 

 

 

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Do You File Insurance When You Change Your Car’s Oil?

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The Case for Direct Primary Care

Of course, you don’t.  Car insurance is typically for catastrophes, covering injuries and property damage in the horrible case of an accident.

It’s not for gas, oil changes, tire rotations, or windshield wiper replacements; these are routine maintenance items – can you imagine if auto insurance covered these, it’d be really complicated and expensive.

Unlike auto insurance, we use health insurance for everything: routine, preventive and emergency care – no need to imagine, you know how expensive and complicated these plans are.

And when insurance claims are filed for every little thing, insurance premiums rise. So, the only logical way to decrease insurance premiums is to reduce the frequency of claims filed.

Balanced Physician Care can help

To reduce frequency of claims, our solution divides healthcare needs into those healthcare services which are used often, and those which are used rarely.

Primary care, with its routine physicals, acute care, chronic condition management, refills, and lab orders fall into 80-90 percent of services that are used most.

And when used in a Direct Primary Care setting,  the majority of healthcare is included as part of the membership, so filing an insurance claim is no longer required.  Also Direct Primary Care, caps the cost into an affordable, manageable, flat monthly fee.

That means 10 to 20 percent of care is for those rare catastrophic occurrences that are really expensive and should be covered by insurance.  As a result, insurance use (and cost) is minimized.

So, if you separate the emergency stuff from the routine, suddenly healthcare becomes more affordable.

Employers are using Direct Primary Care to lower healthcare costs

Business owners are smart, and given some time, they can figure most things out – that goes for healthcare too.

Across the country, many forward-thinking CEOs and business owners have discovered that Direct Primary Care returns control back to them and returns wasted healthcare dollars back to their bottom line.

They realize by using the car insurance approach to healthcare, the can use a high-deductible plan for major healthcare issues (Accidents, hospitalization, cancers etc.) and use a direct primary care plan for all the regular routine stuff and save money on their healthcare spend at the same time.

It’s the way healthcare should be.

Interested in learning more about Direct Primary Care?  Give us a call at 904-930-4774

 

By Shawn Fox, Co-founder IdealMD

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