It’s a phrase we use all the time to describe Euphora Health, but we stopped to think twice about it when a prospective patient asked, “Well, what exactly IS that?”
In order to better understand why Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a good fit for your healthcare needs, we’d like to give you a brief summary of how it works.
Typical primary care that patients are familiar with is referred to as “Insurance Based Primary Care.” What we offer at Euphora Health is referred to as “Direct Primary Care.”
Think of Insurance Based Care as Blockbuster. You have to go in every time you want to watch a movie, pay for each movie you rent, deal with late fees, and leave your house to return the movies. The accessibility and discounts are minimal at best. There isn’t much convenience and your bill can climb higher and higher because everything is an extra fee.
Now think of Direct Primary Care like Netflix. With a streaming service, you pay a low monthly fee and in return you receive a higher level of access and convenience. You have more options, you receive the full scope of services for the same low cost, you don’t have to leave your house or worry about open hours or waiting in lines. TV? Movies? Documentaries? No commercials? No problem – it’s all included, and it’s all instantly accessible to you.
There are two components to Direct Primary Care that highlight the benefits – accessibility and discounts.
Accessibility
- 24/7 Access to the same doctor, every time
- Includes all methods of communication – text, email, phone calls, video chat, and face-to-face visits at no extra cost
- Longer visits + more attentive visits
- More focus on patient’s history + patient specific needs
- Ability to create lifestyle plans for patients, instead of throwing prescriptions or short term fixes at them
- Doctor is able to work from a “What is best for my patient” framework, vs. “What can I do in a 10 minute visit?”
We’d like to share an example of one of our patient’s first experiences with the accessibility of DPC. We had a middle aged man who was switching to Euphora Health from insurance based care. He called his old doctor’s office because he needed a cold sore prescription filled, and while the receptionist had him on hold, he texted us at Euphora Health and asked if we could fill the prescription. Before he was taken off hold at his old doctor’s office, we already had the script written and sent to his pharmacy of choice. Access to his doctor was significantly improved by switching to Euphora Health’s DPC model.
Discounts:
- Discounts on labs, procedures, and in-office testing
- Many in-office tests and procedures are free because they are included with your monthly subscription cost – for example: pregnancy tests, stitching a wound closed, draining an abscess, urine tests, strep tests, etc. You’ll often pay $400-$1,000 for these procedures/tests at an Urgent Care or Insurance Based Clinic
- Wholesale Medication and Discounted Medications
- MRI’s and CT’s can be ordered for $200-$300 instead of the $1,000-$2,000 you’d typically pay through your insurance
- Saving on office visits and co-pays. For example, if your child falls and you’re worried he needs stitches, you can text a photo and the doctor can determine if the wound needs stitches and how to dress the wound for the night so you don’t have to visit the ER or Urgent Care
An example of the discounts associated with DPC comes from a male patient who needed various tests and labs for a chronic condition. By the time we were finished with all the testing, he had saved so much money on labs and tests that his year’s worth of DPC fees could be paid for by the savings. Hospital based clinics/multi-specialty clinics that use Insurance Based Care charge 10-12x what we charge for labs.
We do the research for our patients, find the lowest cost services, and advocate for you – we have the time to do this because your monthly membership fee allows us the chance to provide you the full scope of care without jumping through all of the hoops of Insurance Based Care. You aren’t just the 3 O’clock appointment at Euphora Health – you’re a valued patient.
Direct Primary Care is a great fit for individuals and families. We’d love to set up a free consultation with you here to further discuss how DPC can benefit you. Our goal is to save you money, increase your access to great care, and give you the care that you deserve from your doctor.