How to Grow DPC With Employers Without Losing Autonomy | Dr. Kyle Rickner, Primary Health Partners

Dr. Kyle Rickner heard about Direct Primary Care in a side room at the AAFP National Conference in October 2014 and committed to it 50 minutes later. Today Primary Health Partners cares for employee lives in 30 states, and it started with a patient named Jason who owned a 22 person company and handed Dr. Rickner a check covering every employee for a full year, six weeks after opening.

In this episode, Dr. Rickner talks with Dr. Maryal Concepcion about what it takes to build a DPC practice that serves employers without giving up autonomy. He opened with 198 members on day one after a 15 month runway, a $1,000 equipment haul from a shuttered nursing program, and a lot of honest conversations with patients he wanted to bring with him.

He also gets direct about the mistakes he sees. Enrollment is not engagement. A 375 employee contract can gut a 600 patient panel overnight if that company sells or closes. And overpromising to an employer poisons the well for the next DPC doctor who walks through that door.

What you will hear:

• Why commitment and enthusiasm persuade patients faster than any marketing budget
• The three pillars Primary Health Partners built on before opening the doors
• How to identify a good employer partner, and when to say no
• Utilization differences between retail members and employee members, and why adoption rates range from 10% to 92%
• How he built a 28 doctor affiliate network in three weeks using DPC Mapper
• What he thinks about private equity and venture capital money entering DPC, and the two non-negotiables that protect your practice
• Why passive customer acquisition channels may be how DPC reaches the next tens of thousands of patients
• Lessons on autonomy from practicing inside the Army health system

Find resources and your next step at mydpcstory.com, including the free startup checklist and the Physician Owner's Planner built for the business side of practice ownership.

Leave a voice message at mydpcstory.com/contact and your question could be featured on a future episode.

Follow My DPC Story on socials @mydpcstory.

Stand With Dr. Nyasha Spears and the Future of Patient-Centered Healthcare.

Get your copy of the Physician Owner's Planner today at mydpcstory.com/library