Thanks to Ryan Neuhofel, MD, MPH, for the opportunity to talk about Direct Primary Care in the Google Hangout video above. I have interviewed him about six months ago while at the NeuCare Family Medicine office in Lawrence, Kansas. That video follows at the end of this blog post.
He is known as Dr. Neu on twitter and the internet, and he has been telling his story since the opening of his practice in December 2011. Earlier this month, he was on a panel telling the Direct Primary Care story at the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
In the video above, our conversation begins with how he describes Direct Primary Care to prospective new patients. Just like trying to define Family Medicine, it can be difficult to exactly define Direct Primary Care, because each practice is different. He also describes how he differentiates between Direct Primary Care and "concierge" medicine.
We also cover some of the common misconceptions about Direct Primary Care, like DPC patients are usually young people without any insurance. He states that there are many patients who come to NeuCare Family Medicine, do have insurance, usually high deductible private insurance, who pay out-of-pocket expenses anyway.
Dr. Neu states that there are many medical students and residents who visit his practice with the goal of opening their own Direct Primary Care practice when they complete their formal medical training. In fact, right at the end of this video, he introduces us to a medical student who is shadowing him today.
As I have said on this website in the past, I am glad that medical organizations, like the American Academy of Family Physicians, are recognizing Direct Primary Care as a legitimate alternative to our current broken health care system. It's always great talking with Dr. Neu, except for the fact that I continue to mispronounce his name when I interview him. Sheesh...
