As a healthcare provider, I believe that my highest responsibility for my patients is ensuring their healthcare needs are met. I take great pride in serving as an advocate for my patients and working together as a team to address each individual patient’s healthcare needs. I am committed to putting the interests of my patients first – even if they are unable to afford insurance plans to cover their cost of care or their deductibles are so high that they cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs.
Thankfully, there is a new model of healthcare called Direct Primary Care. With this model, I am able to provide quality service and treatment for my patients while drastically lowering costs for those who simply cannot afford high out-of-pocket deductibles that coincide with visits to the doctor’s office. Instead, this arrangement allows patients to work directly with their doctors for payment through a monthly membership agreement – which is very similar to a gym membership.
I began practicing Direct Primary Care last April after realizing that a number of my patients were not utilizing healthcare due to the financial burden associated with their out-of-pocket costs. If patients are afraid to visit the doctor when they’re sick, there is a problem with the way our system operates and changes need to be made. Not only has this model of care enabled me to provide better service by spending more one-on-one time with my patients, it most importantly gives the power back to patients to be in control of their healthcare needs.
With Direct Primary Care, patients pay an affordable monthly fee that covers both sick and wellness visits, as well as all routine testing and labs. The arrangement also gives patients the opportunity to access care through other means – such as e-visits – that many insurance companies do not currently recognize. This is a huge benefit to patients who otherwise would not seek treatment, as it allows them the opportunity to follow up with any concerns without the worry of being nickel-and-dimed each time.
The positive outcomes I have observed since implementing Direct Primary Care in my practice go even further than the benefits for patients who struggle to afford out-of-pocket costs. As past president of the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, my role was to advocate for the more than 2,500 family physicians and family medicine residents throughout Tennessee. In my past role as president, I was encouraged to look for more innovative means of healthcare and we are definitely embracing the Direct Primary Care model as a form of practice that makes wonderful sense for many physicians and their patients. The Direct Primary Care model is inspiring young medical students and sparking interest in family medicine to a degree I have not seen in my entire career.
Direct Primary Care is an incredibly efficient model that takes away a lot of the burdensome paperwork, billing codes and back and forth with the bureaucracy – all of which have nothing to do with patient care. Direct Primary Care is drastically lowering expenses for patients while enabling doctors to spend more time focusing on treatment and not on billing issues.
The state Senate recently passed this bold reform unanimously. I urge the House of Representatives to do the same when they debate it this coming Monday night. We must make certain that healthcare remains patient-centered above all else.
Kimberly A. Howerton, M.D. is a physician practicing family medicine in Jackson, Tn. at Patient Centered Physician’s Care, P.C. She is the past president of the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians.