Direct Primary Care

[Guest guest]

Reading over the website - http://www.dpcare.org/about_us -- see below.

 

Also, list of Direct Care practices -- http://www.dpcare.org/practices --> Practices with this symbol offer monthly membership lower than $100.

 

 

Dr. Bliss and Dr. Wu are connected with the Qliance clinic -- http://www.qliance.com/ -- mentioned in past posts as a unique way to run a clinic.

 

http://www.qliance.com/about-us-management-team.html

 

back to top  Garrison Bliss, MD Chief Medical OfficerQliance Medical Management Inc.

President:Qliance Medical Group of Washington PC

Dr. Garrison Bliss is a board certified Seattle-based physician with 30 years of experience as a primary care doctor. He is widely regarded as a pioneer in changing the way quality health care services are provided and financed. Frustrated with the poor performance and low service inherent in traditional insurance-based medicine, Dr. Bliss helped reinvent Seattle Medical Associates in 1997 to offer high quality, patient centered primary care services for an affordable fixed monthly fee. Dr. Bliss has also been active nationally in the Society for Innovative Medical Practice design, serving a tenure as President and Chairman of the Board. His expertise has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Medical Economics and many other news and trade publications. He has been rated by his peers as one top physicians in Washington on numerous occasions. He was named as one of the 25 top entrepreneurs and innovators by the Seattle Business Monthly in 2006. Dr. Bliss received his BA in Biology from Harvard University and his MD from the University of Utah. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington. He has been passionate about medical ethical issues for many years and has served as chairman of the King County Medical Practice and Ethics Committee, King County Grievance Committee and the Judicial Counsel of the Washington State Medical Association.

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  W. Norman Wu President & CEOQliance Medical Management Inc.

Norm Wu is an entrepreneur, operating executive and business strategist with over 30 years of experience. He has founded or co-founded three prior start-ups including Avantos Performance Systems, a venture-backed pioneer in software for management and organizational effectiveness where he was President and CEO for seven years. Prior to Avantos, he spent ten years with the management consulting firm Bain & Company where, as Vice President, he oversaw a wide variety of high technology and health care client consulting teams, internal West Coast professional development and human resources. Mr. Wu also acted as corporate Chief Strategy Officer and SVP/General Manager of two divisions of a $250 million semiconductor turnaround and LBO. Mr. Wu is known for his acumen in developing and implementing high growth strategies and is well-regarded for his management and organizational leadership abilities. Mr. Wu received his MBA from Harvard University and his MS (specializing in medical applications of electronics) and BS in electrical engineering with distinction from Stanford University.

 

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http://www.dpcare.org/about_us

About Us

Across America you will find a growing number of patients, employers, doctors, nurses, skilled health care providers, business leaders, unions, and civic activists who are dedicated to the support and growth of direct primary care. The Direct Primary Care Coalition is united in the pursuit of a healthier, stronger America and the availability of quality, affordable, and immediate primary health care.

The Direct Primary Care Coalition:  healthier patients, happier providers, and a stronger America.

 Garrison Bliss, M.D. Dr. Garrison Bliss is a board certified Seattle-based physician with 30 years of experience as a primary care doctor. Frustrated with the poor performance and low service inherent in traditional insurance-based medicine, Garrison helped reinvent Seattle Medical Associates in 1997 to offer high quality, patient-centered primary care services for an affordable fixed monthly fee.  He continues that charge as Chief Medical Officer of Qlaince Medical Management Inc.  

Garrison has served as both President and Chairman of the Board for the Society for Innovative Medical Practice design. He has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Medical Economics and numerous other news and trade publications. Rated by his peers as one top physicians in Washington several times, he was in 2006 named as one of the 25 top entrepreneurs and innovators by the Seattle Business Monthly.

Garrison received his BA in Biology from Harvard University and his MD from the University of Utah. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, and has served as Chairman of three committees of the Washington State Medical Association:  King County Medical Practice and Ethics Committee, King County Grievance Committee and the Judicial Counsel.

 

Kershisnik, M.D.

Dr. Kershisnik is a board certified family physician practicing in Olympia, Washington. She graduated from Seattle Pacific University and then went on to Philadelphia to earn her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at Providence St. Hospital in Olympia.

Dr. Kershisnik is Medical Director of the Olympia Union Gospel Mission's new Chronic Disease Management Clinic and an ad hoc member of the Thurston County Safety-Net Strategy Group Clinical Subcommittee. She is also an active member of the Primary Care Committee at Providence St. Hospital.

 

 Nick Hanauer Nick Hanauer is a Seattle-based civic entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Active in the Seattle community, Washington state, and national progress, he co-founded the League of Education Voters and The True Patriot Network and serves on the boards of the Cascade Land Conservancy, The University of Washington Foundation, The University of Arizona's Mount Lemmon Science Center and the Biosphere2 climate research project.

Nick's business accomplishments include founding aQuantive, Inc. which was purchased by Microsoft in 2007 (the largest acquisition in Microsoft history), early investment and board advisement to amazon.com, and key management roles and investments in dozens of other companies.

Nick grew up in the Seattle area, attended public schools, and received a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Washington. He co-authored the critically acclaimed national best seller The True Patriot.

 W. Norman Wu Norm Wu is an entrepreneur, operating executive and business strategist with over 30 years of experience in management and organizational leadership, particularly in developing and implementing high growth strategies. He is currently president and CEO of Qliance Medical Management Inc., a direct primary care management company, based in Seattle. He has founded or co-founded three prior start-ups, including Avantos Performance Systems, a venture-backed pioneer in software for management and organizational effectiveness where he was President and CEO for seven years. Prior to Avantos, he spent 10 years with management consultant Bain & Company where as Vice President he oversaw a wide variety of high technology and health care client consulting teams, as well as internal West Coast professional development and human resources.

Norm received his MBA from Harvard University and his master’s (specializing in medical applications of electronics) and bachelor’s in electrical engineering with distinction from Stanford University.

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http://www.dpcare.org/dpc

The Solution: Direct Primary Care

Direct primary care practices offer a membership-based approach to routine and preventive care that can dramatically reduce health care costs for individuals, families and businesses. At the core of a direct primary care facility is a medical practice dedicated to providing routine, everyday care, essential for the well-being and ongoing maintenance of a patient's health. This is where patients go for check-ups, vaccinations, sprained ankles, or frequent headaches. The primary care provider knows her patients. She has talked with her patients in detail, gotten to know them, treated past conditions and knows what recurring problems are experienced. If a patient has a chronic illness, like arthritis or diabetes, she is already a partner in management every step of the way. And, in the unlikely event of a life-threatening accident or disease, she helps coordinate care across multiple providers, facilities, and prescriptions.

How does it work?

Patients pay a low monthly fee—sometimes as low as $49—directly to their direct primary care facility for all of their everyday health needs. Like a health club membership, this fee gives patients unrestricted access to visits and care so patients can use the services as much or as little as they want. Many direct primary care practices are open seven days per week and offer same-day or next-day appointments. At many clinics, physicians are on call 24 x 7.

Primary care practices serve as a patient's " medical home, " where they go for all routine primary, preventive and chronic care management types of care.  Members go to their primary care providers for everything from regular check-ups, women’s health exams, sprained ankles and broken arms to flu shots, arthritis or diabetes management. For any routine types of care, there is none of the paperwork and expense required today by insurance reimbursement—no procedure or billing approval, deductibles or co-payments. With a lower business overhead and dramatically less paperwork, primary care providers are no longer forced to squeeze in an unmanageable amount of patients and can instead take the time necessary with each patient to deliver high-quality, personalized care.

Accidents and the unexpected do happen, so the typical patient of a direct primary care practice keeps an insurance plan to cover emergencies and serious illnesses. Because this insurance doesn't need to cover routine care, many patients choose a less comprehensive plan with a higher deductible and lower premiums.

Lower costs

With insurance-paid primary care, insurance costs consume more than 40 cents of every patient’s health care dollar. Eliminating insurance from primary care through direct membership-based facilities makes that 40 cents available for actual health care—more time with each patient, more extensive office hours, more on-site services and diagnostics, and more patient-provider support technology.

 

Patients Save

The combined cost of the primary care provider monthly fee and a lower-premium  insurance plan is significantly lower than paying for soup-to-nuts health insurance that covers even basic primary care needs. This is important when more than 80% of America’s uninsured are working families. The annual income from a full-time, minimum wage job is only a few hundred dollars more than the cost of an average family insurance plan. With direct primary care, supported by a low-premium " wrap-around " insurance plan that covers everything primary care facilities do not, cost to families can drop by as much as 50%, saving hundreds or thousands annually.

Employers save

Even with a combination of direct primary care membership and lower-cost " wrap-around " insurance policies, employers opting for this combined option can save 20 to 35 percent on comprehensive health care benefits over what they currently spend while employees’ payments (premium cost-sharing, deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance) drop significantly.  Downstream savings from unnecessary diagnostics and specialist, hospital and/or emergency room care add to these savings.  In states where workers compensation insurance premiums are based on claims history, employers can significantly reduce their costs as direct primary care practices do not file insurance claims, even though they complete any legally required paperwork.  Many employers also appreciate the impact that high accessibility direct primary care practices have on lowering absenteeism and improving patient health.

Higher-quality care

When you eliminate unnecessary insurance costs, you also eliminate the need for primary care providers to flood their practices with thousands of patients that require reams of paperwork. A smaller patient pool allows primary care providers to spend more time with each patient. Instead of being rushed through a 5- or 10-minute appointment on what feels like a conveyer belt, patients are allocated what each needs—even if it’s an hour or more—to discuss health details with doctors or nurse practitioners. There is time to actually treat, not just get an overview then refer to an expensive outside specialist. Most Americans have never experienced this level of care. For patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure, the unrestricted access to a primary care physician can have dramatic effects on the individual's health.  Doctor visits are no longer restricted by bank accounts. Patients are seeing their provider more often to manage their health issues and  improve their quality of life.

Reinvigorating Primary Care

By eliminating insurance burdens from primary care practices, physicians and nurse practitioners have more time to do what they were trained to do—practice medicine.  This allows primary care practices to serve as a patient's " medical home. " They develop deep, personal relationships with their patients and have ample time to diagnose and treat underlying problems. Providers can get off the treadmill of seeing 25 to 35 patients a day, providing a balanced life-style.  Physicians act based on what is in their patients’ best interests rather than those of the insurance company.  Direct primary care can stave the exodus from primary care that has been occurring over the past decade:

Many former primary care physicians who discover this model  actually return to primary care.

Medical students are once again selecting primary care as their career of choice.

Primary care physicians discover that with this model they no longer need to retire early to escape the stress of insurance-based primary care.

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Love this diagram...

http://www.dpcare.org/photo/image/54/pneumonia_insurance_large.png

 

Locke, MD