What Is Direct Primary Care (DPC) and How Does It Work?

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a growing alternative to the traditional, insurance-based healthcare system. DPC is designed to make everyday healthcare more accessible and affordable for both individuals and employers. To understand why DPC matters, it helps to start with the basics: primary care.

Primary care is where most people turn first when they’re sick, need a prescription, or want to manage ongoing conditions. It’s also where preventive care happens—checkups, screenings, and early interventions that help people stay healthy and avoid unnecessary emergencies or hospital visits.

But in the U.S., access to primary care is increasingly out of reach. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), one-third of Americans lacked access to a primary care provider in 2023. That’s more than 100 million people—including one in four children. For many, the high cost of traditional insurance plans makes it difficult to get consistent primary care. As a result, people delay treatment, avoid routine care, or rely on urgent care centers and emergency rooms for issues that could have been prevented. When minor health concerns go unchecked, they often escalate into more serious problems, forcing employees to miss work, incur additional expenses, and leaving employers to manage the costs of lost productivity and unplanned coverage gaps.

That’s why more people—and the employers who support them—are turning to Direct Primary Care (DPC) memberships. DPC memberships offer a simpler and more affordable healthcare experience. It’s more personalized care delivered for a flat monthly fee. No insurance required, no surprise bills, and no red tape.

In this article, we’ll break down what Direct Primary Care is, how it works, and how you can give employees access to quality primary care while keeping costs low for your budget.

Understanding Direct Primary Care (DPC)

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a subscription-based healthcare model that provides direct access to essential primary care services, including routine visits, preventive screenings, and more, without going through traditional insurance. It also gives employers a more predictable, manageable way to offer health benefits to their employees.

How do you pay for DPC?

With Direct Primary Care, individuals, or employers on behalf of their employees, pay a flat monthly fee directly to a medical professional or institution, such as a physician or nurse practitioner. Traditional health insurance is not required to participate in a DPC membership. In fact, most DPC practices do not accept payments from group health plans, Medicare, or Medicaid. Instead, DPC memberships operate entirely outside of the insurance system, which allows providers to focus on care—not claims.

With DPC, there are no copays, no deductibles, and no surprise bills for the employer or the individual. The consistent, subscription-style payment model makes healthcare costs more predictable and removes the financial barriers that can prevent people from seeking primary care when they need it.

What is the Goal of DPC?

The goal of DPC is to improve access to consistent, high-quality primary care by removing the complexities and limitations of traditional insurance-based healthcare. By focusing on the patient-provider relationship rather than billing codes and paperwork, DPC memberships allow providers to spend more time with each patient and deliver more personalized, proactive care.

This model helps patients stay healthier and reduces the need for emergency care or costly specialist visits down the road.

What does DPC cover?

While offerings vary by DPC provider, most DPC memberships include:

• Routine checkups and sick visits
• Care for minor injuries or illnesses
• Chronic condition management (e.g., diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure)
• Basic lab work and screenings
• Care coordination and referrals to specialists
• Generic prescription access
• Direct communication with a provider
• Vaccinations

How DPC solves common healthcare challenges

DPC is designed to solve many of the issues that have made traditional healthcare frustrating and expensive. Here are just a few of the healthcare challenges DPC helps eliminate:

• Long wait times for appointments
• High out-of-pocket costs for primary care
• Confusing insurance networks
• Delays in care due to cost or access
• Burnout among primary care providers
• Administrative burdens for both providers and employers
• Not enough time spent with patients
• Unnecessary in-person visits
• A disconnect between physician and patient

By addressing these core issues, DPC not only improves the individual’s experience but also helps employers reduce healthcare-related costs, absenteeism, and turnover. It’s a benefit that works better, because it’s built for how people actually use healthcare.