The Direct Care Benefits for Employers and Employees

Partnering with employers is a key strategy for growing your patient panel and your practice. Securing a single contract can open significant opportunities to provide top-quality healthcare to numerous patients.

The way you approach Direct Care Benefits for both Employers plays a significant role in securing new partnerships. 

This blog post offers insights into the key benefits of Direct Care, exploring how this approach can lead to (1) Healthier Employees and (2) a Healthier Bottom Line.

Direct Care Benefits for Employers #1: Healthier Employees

Enhancing Employee Health and Offering Personalized Care

Direct Care models emphasize preventative care and wellness. This proactive approach can lead to healthier employees, reducing absenteeism and boosting productivity. Additionally, you can spend more time with each patient, leading to more personalized, patient-centered care, and improving overall employee satisfaction with health benefits.

Dr. Kendrick Johnson, a Family Physician at Ark Family Medicine, a Direct Care Practice partnering with multiple businesses in Arizona, highlights the importance of Direct Primary Care. He believes that it sends a message to employees about their value to their employer by providing them access to quality Primary Care.

Direct Care Benefits for Employers #2: Healthier Bottom Line

Providing Cost Efficiency and Price Transparency

The Employee Health Benefits Survey, which gathered responses from 2,133 interviews with private firms, revealed that the annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $23,968 this year, with workers on average paying $6,575 toward their coverage. Under the traditional healthcare system, you know that out-of-pocket expenses often come with surprise medical bills.

In the graphic below, you can see how the costs have increased from 1999 to 2023:

What changes with Direct Care? 

There's substantial evidence in medical journals that healthcare providers can prevent and reverse diseases, such as Type-2 Diabetes, cancers, and strokes. And Direct Care places a huge focus on preventive care, often allowing longer appointments with each patient to discuss nutrition, exercise, sleep, and emotional wellness.

By emphasizing preventive care and removing the insurance component, Direct Care often reduces administrative costs associated with healthcare benefits and promotes transparent pricing structures. Employers and employees know the cost of services upfront, removing the unpredictability often associated with healthcare pricing. These are crucial elements to explain to potential employer partners.

Pitching Direct Care to Employers

In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, the concept of Direct Care presents a unique opportunity for employers, yet it remains a largely uncharted territory for many. For Dr. Shane Purcell, founder of Direct Access, the key to successfully pitching DPC to employers lies in a transformative approach, much like how Elisha Otis revolutionized the concept of elevators in the 1850s. Here is a summary of Dr. Purcell's highlights in the video below.

Understanding the Challenge

Employers, CEOs, and business owners often find themselves in a labyrinth when it comes to understanding healthcare systems. The intricacies of insurance and the traditional primary care models are not only complex but also deeply ingrained in their thinking.

The truth is, the healthcare system, with its convoluted insurance mechanisms and fee-for-service models, is as bewildering to them as it is to the general public. This confusion creates a barrier that needs to be addressed through education and reorientation.

The Otis Elevator Analogy

When Elisha Otis invented the safety mechanism for elevators, he didn't just introduce a new product; he changed the entire narrative around vertical transportation. Before Otis, elevators were deemed dangerous and unreliable. Through demonstrations and innovative communication, he shifted the public's perception, showcasing elevators as safe and essential for modern architecture. This paradigm shift is analogous to introducing DPC to employers.

Educating Employers: A Strategic Approach

1. Start with Education

Emphasize that understanding DPC is an educational journey. Employers need to be guided through the nuances of Direct Care and how it differs fundamentally from traditional healthcare models.

2. Highlight the Differences‍

Clearly articulate how DPC differs from concierge medicine and standard fee-for-service arrangements. Focus on the personalization of care, the cost-effectiveness, and the emphasis on preventive measures.‍

3. Address the Benefits Directly‍

Explain how Direct Care can solve many of the problems inherent in the traditional healthcare system, such as the complexity of insurance billing and the lack of personalized care.

‍4. Use Analogies and Stories‍

Just like Otis used the analogy of trains for horizontal transportation to explain his vertical elevators, use relatable analogies to explain Direct Care. This helps in simplifying complex concepts and making them more tangible for employers.‍

5. Showcase the Long-term Benefits‍

Stress how Direct Care can lead to healthier employees, reduced absenteeism, and overall better productivity. Emphasize that DPC is not just a healthcare model but a long-term investment in employee well-being.‍

6. Prepare Comprehensive Presentations‍

Equip yourself with well-thought-out presentations, statistics, case studies, and testimonials that showcase the effectiveness of Direct Care.

Ready to Explore the Key Direct Care Benefits for Employers?

Direct Care offers a promising alternative for employers looking to provide high-quality, cost-effective health benefits. By fostering closer relationships with each employee, employers can not only manage healthcare costs more effectively but also contribute to the overall well-being of their workforce. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, Direct Care presents a forward-thinking solution for employer-provided health benefits.

Check out our other articles to help you partner with employers:

• Implementing Direct Primary Care for Employers: Overcoming Challenges to Improve Employee Health
• ​​Crafting Wellness Programs for Employers: A Guide to Including These Services in Your Direct Care Practice
• Benefits Advisor: The Pivotal Role in Direct Primary Care for Employer Relations
• Navigating the World of Third-Party Administrators: Understanding the Role of TPAs in Healthcare