The U.S. health care system is not prepared to handle the COVID-19 epidemic. We are likely to see it overwhelmed end-to-end, from the hospitals to the primary care doctors’ offices.

The direct primary care membership clinic model has positioned a cadre of doctors with the flexibility to respond to a COVID-19 epidemic. How? Direct primary care is person-centered, not clinic-centered.

The insurance-based primary care model has severe limitations that make it quite vulnerable in an epidemic of COVID-19 proportions. Most notably, primary care is clinic-centered where patients must file in and wait for a 15-minute visit with the doctor or other provider. The doctor’s schedule is necessarily “built” days or weeks in advance in order to generate the number of “billable interactions” required to be profitable under insurance company dictates.

There is little room for flexibility. Little room to adapt to an epidemic surge of COVID-19 testing, diagnosis, and treatment.
Telephone and email communications are severely limited. House calls non-existent. Both doctor and patient find themselves bound by these restrictions, which are a natural outcome of the clinic-centered insurance reimbursement model.

Person-Centered Primary Care

The direct primary care membership clinic model turns this problem upside down, and positions doctors with more flexibility to respond to a COVID-19 epidemic. Direct primary care is person-centered, not clinic-centered.

Virtual visits are built into the clinic membership model. No consent from the U.S. government or insurance companies was needed for doctors in the membership model to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis.

Compensation from monthly membership fees permits longer, unhurried visits between doctor and clinic member. Follow-up communications via phone, email or text untether members from the clinic – and doctors too!

The doctor’s schedule is no longer a packed day of 25 or more 15-minute “encounters.” They are freed from the clinic-centered model and their schedule is opened up to respond to urgent calls, emergencies, and in this case, a viral epidemic. And when needed, they can even make house calls.

An Epidemic of Chronic Disease

Other epidemics already burden our U.S. health care system: chronic diseases, such as diabetes. The direct primary care membership model is better positioned to take on this chronic disease epidemic also, with person-centered care, flexible communication, and ample time with a personal physician.

Flatten the Curve of the COVID-19 Epidemic

To prevent COVID-19 from overwhelming our health care system capacity, it is important to practice social distancing now, and to avoid large gatherings.

Here in SW Oklahoma, we anticipate adequate testing soon. Meanwhile, please take every precaution to keep your distance to avoid attracting or spreading this and all viruses.