The Benefits Of Direct Primary Care: A Real World Example With Shreveport Direct Care

Busy professional moms get affordable, accessible and personalized primary care at Shreveport Direct Care.

Primary Care Shouldn’t Be Hard.

Nearly all Shreveport primary care physicians and most other primary care providers in the United States work through an insurance-based model to deliver healthcare. This system is plagued by a number of shortcomings including having to see too many patients per day and spending more time documenting in an electronic medical record than actually seeing patients. I used to see too many patients a day, spent way too much time on documentation and often felt like I couldn't connect with my patients in the manner necessary to maximize their care.

There's another model that is taking Shreveport and the United States by storm, and it is called Direct Primary Care (DPC). Direct Primary Care is a subscription-based health care model where members receive a set of services from their provider in exchange for a monthly fee. These services differ depending on the provider. At Shreveport Direct Care, for example, we offer unlimited appointments, direct physician access and discounts on services including labs, imaging and various specialists.

Patients are no strangers to these shortcomings as well. Long wait times, rushed appointments and having to go through layers of staff just to get a simple message to and from their physician. Not to mention, dealing with the many inefficiencies of health insurance such as specialist referrals, prior authorizations, expensive premiums and high deductibles. For the money you pay your insurance, you should be getting a premium healthcare product. However, this is far from the case for many consumers, even with the best of policies. Many of my patients have learned that health insurance does not necessarily mean 'healthcare.'

Let me give you an example: Meet Sarah, a 45-year-old female a busy professional and Mom of three. She began experiencing signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI)-- a burning sensation with frequent urination. Unfortunately for Sarah- this is her fourth UTI in the past four years. She is fairly confident that this is what is going on. However, she has an important deadline at work and has an event for one of her kids after school. She has not even received a call back from her PCPs office despite leaving a message at 8 am. She doesn't want or have the time to spend several hours at an urgent care care seeing a random provider who does not know her. Her busy PCP's office calls back her hopes of getting a quick appointment were immediately rebuffed as the nearest appointment was three days out. Frustrated, Sarah asks the staff member if she can quickly talk to her doctor about her symptoms and work/ child situation, "it will just be a minute," she pleads. The secretary replies that she will leave this message for her doctor, but she has to give her doctor 24-48 hours to respond. Her doctor does eventually get back to her, but it wasn't until a day later after he had time to catch up on his messages. But by that time, she was forced to call off work so she could go to an urgent care to get seen for her UTI and she was late for her child's after school event.

Now imagine a world where you can call or message your doctor for anything, get a timely response and get seen the same day by a provider that knows you. Your doctor may even be able to handle the concern without having to see you in the office or can hop on a quick telemedicine visit.

Consider the same situation Sarah is going through, however, she is now a member of Shreveport Direct Care. Instead of calling her PCP office, she texts her doctor directly:

Sarah: "Hey Dr. Bass, I think I am having a UTI again"

Dr. Bass: "Hey Sarah, what symptoms are you having?"

Sarah: "The same as I usually get, burning, frequency and hesitancy."

Dr. Bass: "Ok, when can you swing by the office? Are you free at lunch?"

Sarah: "Yes thank you, I'll come by at noon."

Sarah is diagnosed with a UTI. She leaves the office with her antibiotic and her symptoms begin improving before her daughter's after school activity.

Which feels like a more premium product to you? To me, the answer is obvious. However, more importantly, it is a better, safer and more efficient way to do primary care. If you are interested in this type of health care service, look no further than Shreveport Direct Care.

If you would like to become a member of Shreveport Direct Care you can schedule a Meet & Greet here.

If you prefer you can text the clinic directly to schedule or ask a question at 318-588-6060.