The questions every new member asks.

Not quite, but similar. Concierge practices typically charge a higher retainer and still bill your insurance. Direct Primary Care drops the insurance billing entirely — which lets us charge a much lower membership while still offering everything concierge patients expect: direct access, longer visits, and same-day appointments.

Yes — and we encourage it. Keep insurance for the big things (hospitalization, surgery, specialist care, major imaging). A high-deductible plan paired with Foundations membership often works out cheaper than a low-deductible copay-heavy plan, and you get substantially better primary care.

Mending is one of the only insurers (Oklahoma and Maine) built around Direct Primary Care — their plans pair $0 visits to DPC doctors with low deductibles and broad in-network access for everything else.

We accept Mending members, but we keep that share of the panel intentionally small. Our focus has to stay where it belongs — on our patients, not on insurance paperwork. Even DPC-friendly coverage carries administrative overhead, and unhurried care for every member depends on us not letting any one insurance group take over the schedule. Contact us to check current availability.

Fee-for-service pays doctors to see as many patients as possible, as fast as possible. That's how you get 7-minute visits. A monthly membership decouples our time from a billing code — so we can give you 45 minutes without losing money, or answer a quick text without billing you for it.

We cap enrollment at 750 — about a quarter of a traditional family-practice panel (~3,000 patients) and a fraction of what an urgent care sees in a single week (600+). Keeping the panel small is the only way to keep the access unhurried.

Medicare patients are welcome. We don't bill Medicare for our services — you pay the membership fee like any other member — but you can use Medicare (or a supplement plan) for outside labs, imaging, medications, and specialist referrals.

The membership fee is the same regardless of conditions — no surcharges for diabetes, hypertension, or anything else. Some specific labs or procedures may cost extra, but we pass through wholesale pricing. If you need a specialist, we coordinate the referral.

Great problem to have. Use the membership for prevention — a thorough annual, a wellness-focused conversation, nutrition guidance. If you travel internationally and something comes up, telehealth us before finding a stranger in an urgent care. Think of it as a cap on your medical expenses, not a per-visit bill.

Current guidance is genuinely inconsistent (Congress has legislation in committee that should clarify it). Most members successfully apply membership fees and lab/medication costs to their HSA/FSA — please check with your tax advisor for your specific situation. We'll update this answer the moment the federal guidance lands.

Text or email Dr. Emily or the team. Most issues can be resolved remotely — a prescription, a guided first-aid step, a check-in on a sick kid. For the rare cases that need in-person attention outside of clinic hours, we coordinate it. The goal is to keep you out of the urgent care line.