Direct Primary Care
A direct primary care (DPC) practice is one where patients pay their physician directly for primary care services. Typically structured as a membership in the form of monthly or annual payments, DPC allows the practice to spend more time caring for patients rather than billing insurance companies. It also allows a medical practice to remain smaller than an insurance-based practice, which typically sees 25 patients per day with 15-minute appointments.
At Cedars Internal Medicine, our vision is a small practice fostering deeper relationships with our patients. Our members benefit from increased accessibility to their physician with unlimited telehealth visits, extended appointment times, priority scheduling with same day appointments often available, and unlimited communication with the physician. We believe the DPC fee structure enables primary care physicians to have a closer and more impactful relationship with their patients by removing the dense bureaucracy of third-party payments.
Membership in our practice is not a replacement for health insurance. We recommend that our patients still carry health insurance for coverage of diagnostic testing, medications, specialty care, and hospitalizations. The membership is a monthly subscription and patients may discontinue membership at any time with a written request.
Membership Benefits
- Unlimited Telehealth Visits – The HIPAA-compliant telehealth application allows virtual visits with your doctor on your computer or smart device from the comfort of your home or wherever you are. No need to commute or sit in a waiting room. Extended appointment times are more comfortable than the traditional 15-minute office visit.
- Priority Scheduling – Same day and weekend scheduling for sick visits is available. Routine priority scheduling can be within 5-7 days if needed. If you don’t have time for a full visit, your concerns can often be addressed with a quick call or message.
- Unlimited Communication – Members can communicate with their physician directly via phone, dedicated email, or HIPAA-compliant OhMD secure texting app. If the physician is covering hospital duties, urgent calls will be forwarded to our ARNP and will receive a response from the physician as soon as possible. Less urgent emailing and OhMD texting is always received directly by your physician and answered as soon as possible. Calling after hours should be reserved for urgent medical concerns.
***For emergencies such as, but not limited to, chest pain, shortness of breath, sudden one-sided weakness or facial droop, sudden mental status change, significant bleeding, severe abdominal pain, decreased responsiveness, “worst headache of my life”, acute vision loss, or any other medical or surgical emergency, please call 911 or visit the emergency department. We will follow up with you after your emergency care.