How Employers Can Benefit From Direct Primary Care

Direct primary care (DPC) is an alternative to traditional fee-for-service, insurer-billed primary health care. For employers who are interested in reducing their health care expenses while enhancing their employee benefits, DPC can be an excellent option.

The Benefits of DPC

In addition to benefiting patients, DPC offers numerous features that can benefit employers. For instance, DPC:

• Focuses on keeping employees well – Extending far beyond basic “sick care,” DPC emphasizes prevention with a goal to help keep patients healthy.
• Reduces absenteeism – DPC practices offer unlimited doctor visits, including same-day and next-day availability, as well as telemedicine consultations via voice, video conferencing, and SMS text. With access to this level of convenience, an employee is less likely to miss work when he or she needs to consult a doctor.
• Contributes to productivity – With DPC, an employee does not have to meet a deductible or pay a copay to receive health care, which means the employee is more likely to seek medical attention when needed and have small issues addressed before they become major problems. This can help the employee stay healthy and function optimally, both at work and elsewhere.
• Provides recruiting, retention, and job-satisfaction advantages – With unlimited access to a known and trusted doctor, an employee can establish a close and productive doctor-patient relationship, an attractive benefit that is, for the most part, unavailable when an employer offers only traditional health insurance options.
• Promotes a health-oriented culture – DPC is a practical way to demonstrate a company’s commitment to helping its employees achieve and maintain their optimum health.
• Lowers health care costs – DPC is a tool an employer can use to get the most from a benefits plan while paying less. Research by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM) shows that DPC costs an average of only $77 per patient per month, or $924 per year. Additionally, a company that commits to spending more money upfront on DPC can expect to spend less money in the future on specialist care, emergency room visits, and surgeries, which typically represent a significant portion of a company’s total health care expenses.

Recognizing these numerous advantages, more and more employers are taking advantage of the DPC health care model and including DPC options in their employee benefits offerings. If you’d like more information, contact Optimum Direct Care today.