With MedLogic we are entering an exciting time for primary care as there has not been a significant shift in the way care is delivered or reimbursed for decades. Now, providers can offer more time with patients and lower patient loads (meaning less risk of medical errors) at a lower cost. Wouldn’t it be nice to know up front what your cost is for more than two-thirds of your medical needs and have an open discussion with your physician as to how to manage these cost that suit your budget while still providing high quality care? Wouldn’t it also be nice to know that you could manage 75% of health care needs on a budget of less than $900 for the entire year?

We want to give this power back to our patients. We want to spend more time with them so we order less unnecessary testing only because we did not have time to spend to get their full story. The average physician visit for primary care is seven minutes. Oftentimes people have multiple issues. We think it is poor care to be managing complex medical issues in under three minutes per issue. This is our current health care system. Physicians know it is dangerous but until recently have lacked the ability to do something about it. We want our patients to understand how their health issues impact their current and future health, longevity and satisfaction. We want them to know how the medications they take work and understand why they are taking them. This has been shown in numerous studies to increase compliance, decrease medication errors and decrease unintentional death or disability from medication errors. We also want those medications to be affordable to them which is why we plan to offer them for a fraction of the retail price; and we plan to dispense them directly in our office. With more time to educate patients, everyone benefits.

Direct Primary Care is really about patient and physician empowerment. It is high quality care at reasonable cost. It is better care via more time with patients and their families than the current traditional medical system allows. It allows patients to make educated informed choices. Patients can take part in managing their costs. This increases social responsibility. Physicians can provide better care to patients through 24/7 access with technology available (cell phone, computer, email). In the current system, only face to face and occasionally phone visits are reimbursable. This creates a lot of unnecessary visits for issues that can be managed electronically. In the traditional system, patients are required to come to the office for every issue in order for the physician to be compensated for the care they provide. This is a disadvantage to many patients- people with transportation issues, mobility issues or schedule issues. Some issues can be handled without a face to face office visit.