With health care costs on the rise, a growing number of Americans are throwing out the old way of seeing a doctor and turning to a membership model. A monthly or annual fee gets you direct access to a doctor, no insurance needed.

This concept called Direct Primary Care (DPC) simplifies health care delivery, taking the focus away from visit volume and reimbursement, and allowing doctors to focus on patients and their needs. When reimbursement is not tied to individual visits, patients and physicians are free to have as much contact as required, whether in-person or virtual. Problems can be followed and resolved in real time instead of fragmented, spaced-out visits.

Physicians become invested in people, and patients learn to trust their physician again. This translates into significantly decreased ER and urgent care visits, decreased hospitalizations, increased patient satisfaction, and increased physician well-being, as found in a recent study done through Milliman by the Society of Actuaries and attested to by the hundreds of physicians already in DPC practices.

Using the DPC monthly membership model, physicians can decide how much time and attention their patients need without the onus of check boxes and insurance-based decision making. Each patient and the context of his or her ailments can be evaluated and treated on an individual basis:

■ The single mother whose child is sick with pneumonia can come to the clinic, receive a diagnosis, and get access to antibiotics without even having to stop at the pharmacy.

■ The 80-year-old patient who needs more time to move from the waiting room to patient room can now be seen and heard without the rush.

■ The 40-year-old with a broken ankle can get an x-ray, pay only $35 for that image, get a boot ordered from Amazon, and see a physical therapist on a cash basis, all for a fraction of what insurance would charge.

Patients can meet with the DPC doctor at the clinic or consult with him or her through email. Healthcare happens outside the office as well as inside, and patients with quick questions can simply avoid the drive to the office and speak to their DPC doctor on the phone or even email them.

Patient satisfaction, therefore, is fostered through convenience, instant-access to care, and safe discussion. Furthermore, with Direct Primary Care, physicians can realize efficacy and find purpose in their day-to-day interactions with patients, trusting that patient satisfaction will be the natural outcome.