Startup DPC: How To Start And Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice

Hello, my name is Christopher and I am a behavioral health provider in the city of Chicago. I work in an integrated care setting within an infectious disease clinic. I am an avid advocate for comprehensive health care reform and as a result am increasingly curious and open to any voice within healthcare that seeks to offer an alternative to our otherwise failing, expensive, and underwhelming system.This book and Dr. Paul’s previous book are about Direct Primary Care (DPC)—this one is specifically aimed at those who may want to consider opening a DPC practice. It is an excellent read and quite detailed—very few questions, if any will go unanswered. His passion for providing excellent care from the perspective of the patient and the doctor is fierce and he does an excellent job of showing just how DPC practices can do just that. Further, the lost art of truly informed consent is not lost on Dr. Paul. He takes hopeful DPC practitioners through the potential good, bad, and ugly of DPC practices. Heck, Dr. Paul even hypothesizes the types of folks that SHOULDN’T consider this venture. This candor won’t be a surprise after getting to know to Dr. Paul in person or through his writings. His authenticity breathes off the pages and he speaks frankly about things in a way that for many will be deeply refreshing when contrasted with the overly sterile, uncompassionate, and impersonable state of many health systems today. Personally, I want the real deal and someone that will tell me to dig deep when considering a mission statement as opposed to some generic cookie cutter “crap you just put on the wall.” Yes, it’s okay to laugh—humor is good friends and the author isn’t afraid to use it! Dr. Paul is dynamic and radically authentic, in the best way possible. Hand in hand with authenticity comes transparency. Dr. Paul discusses how transparency/communication is one of the core values of his DPC practice. His writing is no different as this book offers a behind the curtain peek at a vast range of topics pertaining to Dr. Paul’s personal DPC business ventures…right on down to the nuts and bolts of his personal salary. Again, if you have questions—this book will most likely have the answers.Listen, as someone who works within healthcare AND is a high utilizer of health care I know how much is wrong with our current system and how much more we deserve as both providers and patients. Dr. Paul also knows this—and he is actively attempting to address it by practicing WITHIN and advocating FOR a system of primary care he knows is better. And he wants others to join in. Despite my personal experience with top-notch health systems within Los Angeles and Chicago—it will always be infuriating to hear about patients being double or triple booked, services and medications being exorbitantly overpriced, the devastating salaries of healthcare CEOs, the terrible patient experience, etc---the list goes on. While I’m not quite sure how the DPC movement fits within the broader end goal of bringing universal health care to the USA, Dr. Paul makes a compelling and strong case about how to vastly improve the primary care experience NOW…consider enrolling in and/or starting a DPC practice today.A recommended read!Christopher L. Wilson, LCSW

This book is very detailed, easy to read, and gives the budding DPC physician a sense of confidence to start his or her own practice. It goes beyond philosophical musings about why DPC offers our patients better primary care than traditional fee-for-service practices; it gives the reader a step-by-step guide on how to Get. It. Done. Once a burned out fee-for-service doctor or a primary care resident learns about DPC and decides to make the leap, they often ask, "Okay, now what? What am I supposed to get done today to make this happen?" This book answers those questions. It also gives helpful granular data on what to expect with a certain panel size, such as numbers of phone calls per day, how many emails, etc. Like Dr. Thomas says, it's not about the decision, it's about being decisive. So buy the damn book and get started!

Picked this up to keep on hand when teaching resident physicians. Very impressive in scope and detail.How the heck did he find time to write this?

Decent book that covers a lot of the important things relating to DPC practices. The author spends too much time tooting his own horn and talking about how wonderful he is. Perhaps some humility would suit him well.

Are you on the fence about buying Startup DPC?Well, I am here to tell you that after reading it cover to cover that it is the most extensive guide that I have found for starting your DPC practice and is worth more than the asking price for an insight into this specialty knowledge. (Don't buy the AAFP DPC Starter pack, you will be disappointed). It's a fun read because it is written like a story, not a dry textbook. Dr. Paul Thomas talks about his own experience of starting a practice and includes snippets of other people's experiences. He also compiles a vast amount of other helpful resources throughout the book such as other good books to read, and links to DPC websites, videos, and more. While everyone's journey is different, I love how lots of numbers were included in the book, like how many new patients you will get in a month or how much it costs to start a practice. This was great because it gave me a baseline to compare myself to. A detailed marketing strategy is also included that discusses everything from news media to Google SEO, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.I will be referring back to this book frequently as I start my own DPC practice. I am a Nurse Practitioner and I approve this message.Thank you, Dr. Paul Thomas

I have not yet started my DPC practice, so I do not know what, if anything, this book might be missing. That said, I feel extremely comfortable following the directions in this book to maximize my chances of having a successful practice. Dr. Thomas wrote this book in a very approachable, easy to read manner that allows the reader to feel comfortable with what they don’t know. He has made sure to be respectful to everyone in all respects in this book. He has referenced other books for additional information. He has outlined exact dollar amount for expected costs. He has shared specific details about how he obtained money to start his own practice, some thing that was very helpful to me, and quite generous and forthcoming of him. 6 stars for this book! I could not be more grateful. I’m not even done reading it yet.This is a must read for anyone considering starting a DPC practice and I even want for my family members to read the book so that they understand why I feel so confidently about something so brand new to me. Dr. Thomas and this book are Godsends.

Dr Paul Thomas did a great job getting to the point of what it takes to start, maintain, and grow a DPC clinic. He explores the areas you would hope an author would touch on including the finances. If you are thinking about opening a DPC like I am, I would recommend purchasing this fun to read book. Congrats Dr Thomas!

Inspiring read for a doc who’s just starting to think about DPC. I used the book as a launching pad to find more resources and community