How Direct Primary Care Revitalizes the Doctor-Patient Relationship
“What is direct primary care?” This is a question I am often asked, and I find it helpful to go beyond the essential yet basic definition, which is available via our website FAQ. For me, direct primary care (DPC) is a model of medical practice that pairs the old-time, family country doctor with the essential advancements of modern medicine.
This pairing provides key benefits that revitalize the doctor-patient relationship, returning medicine to a place of genuine compassion and care. Here are several key ways DPC achieves this necessary revitalization.
Direct Doctor-Patient Connection Is at the Heart of DPC
The first principle underlying DPC is that the doctor has a direct connection with the patient again. The doctor and patient meet, choose to work together and move toward a common health goal for that person. The relationship that is built with a DPC approach to care often extends to the patient’s family as well.
In my view, a family doctor is precisely that, the doctor for the entire family. After years of compassionate care centered on a genuine doctor-patient relationship from day one, patients come to view the family doctor as an essential, trusted member of the family. The foundation provided by DPC, then, is a relationship that lasts for the patient’s life and generationally.
DPC Removes the Healthcare System’s Barriers to Effective Care
If you have ever wondered why doctors seem to have less time and attention for their patients than ever, it is not your imagination. Many caring doctors face genuine, unnecessary barriers that were put in place by the existing healthcare system.
Here are a few examples of the roadblocks placed between doctor and patient that undermine the doctor-patient relationship:
Doctors employed by hospitals must pay attention to what is best for the system, which often conflicts with what a patient truly needs.
Physicians are often burdened with the regulations of insurance companies that contract with the hospital, which leads to chasing numbers and, often, arbitrary goals so the hospital can make money.
These rules have led to rising costs in healthcare, which creates more administration and documents that a doctor must sign off on to prove the patient is receiving quality care.
Ironically, these barriers are what get in the way of doctors building real relationships that are needed to actually improve the health and lives of the patients we care for and treat. Instead of emphasizing the goals prioritized by insurance and profit-first care philosophies, DPC returns healthcare to an emphasis on people.
DPC Addresses Skyrocketing Medical Costs
Arguably, the most concerning aspect of today’s healthcare system is that rising medical costs have only led to a standard of care that seems more impersonal than ever. DPC is uniquely suited to address these rising costs while also serving patients far better than today’s over-regulated system.
As the below chart demonstrates, administrator growth has far outpaced physician growth over the past 35 years.
During these three-plus decades, the ratio of physician to administrator has increased from 1:2 to 1:15 just to see the same number of patients daily. It would be one thing if these rising costs and increased administrative burdens directly translated to improved relationships between doctor and patient. Sadly, this has not transpired. Instead, the doctor-patient relationship deteriorated.
The burdensome algorithms and data produced by this model ignore who a patient truly is, including crucial factors such as a patient’s:
Work history/environment
Stress levels
Sleep
Family
Other essential factors
Effectively, the rising costs in healthcare decrease spending on patients. Instead, these costs go toward hospitals and insurance administrators in an effort to guarantee that doctors follow these rules, no matter how onerous or arbitrary.
The end result is a standard of care that de-emphasizes the patient, while caring little for doctors using their knowledge accumulated over many years of learning and practice. Instead, rules designed to prioritize the current standard of healthcare are propped up.
According to a 2018 Gallup Poll, 79% of Americans are dissatisfied with their healthcare costs. This is no one-off trend, either. Gallup’s poll is consistent with trends that have been observed since 2001.
Clearly, the rising costs of the system is a glaring issue, but when these costs also create a reduced quality of care, it inevitably wears on doctors and patients alike.
As a doctor, my goal is to help patients, first and foremost. It is my view that doctors ought to prioritize patients, not become burned out cashiers for the healthcare system.
Why DPC Is the Right Path Forward for Better Healthcare
My years of experience in the traditional healthcare model led me to question if there was a better alternative to healthcare. After researching DPC for the past 7 years, I arrived at the following conclusions:
The problems of our healthcare system cannot be fixed by the system itself. It is so tied to strict rules and regulations that they are no longer able to steer the course. They are obligated to chase whichever rule allows them to survive and profit.
The only real improvements in healthcare (both decreasing cost and improving quality) will come from outside the current system. Healthcare needs a grassroots change.
DPC is the grassroots change that will shift America’s direction concerning the cost of healthcare that created overwhelmingly dissatisfied Americans.
In addition to improved costs, DPC will be the significant improvement in quality of care that Maine patients and families deserve.
In the process of making healthcare more affordable and accessible, DPC pulls medicine back toward a concept of making health improvements a collaborative, team-based approach.
DPC does away with so many of the contaminants in the healthcare system that de-emphasize the dignity of the patient and the doctor’s ability to best treat the patient. And, while the dignity of the patient is paramount, DPC also returns dignity to doctors like myself.
Why Dr. G Chooses the Direct Primary Care Model
Without restoring the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, providing the best individualized care is impossible. By taking a direct primary approach to care, I am now able to use my knowledge to help the person in front of me.
I can tell you it has renewed my pride, humility and compassion for being a physician. I am renewed in my ability to give. Before DPC, the strains of the healthcare system left my cup empty, but now my cup is overflowing. These benefits I continue to receive are passed to my patients.
My patients will hear my voice on the other end of the phone and have the ability to get an appointment whenever needed for as long as needed. The ability to call when you are concerned and rest assured knowing you will talk to the doctor that you know and trust is invaluable.
When patients call me, they won’t be sent to urgent care because I was too busy to see them. No matter the day of the week or the time, you can reach your doctor with a committed approach to direct primary care.
When you choose Living Well Family Medicine, you are choosing a family doctor who will know you by name, not your medical record number. A family physician should become like family, knowing your history and your loved ones because they have the time to truly care for and about them.
If you are ready to discuss the benefits of direct primary care for Maine patients, contact me to explore why revitalizing the doctor-patient relationship is the right choice for you and your loved ones.