Direct Primary Care Marketing

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Making Donations as a Direct Primary Care Practice

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Making donations as a direct primary care practice

This year, we made many donations to local charities in our community, from $100 to $1,000, gifts can be impactful and go a long way, especially in a small town or a close-knit community. As physicians, we have an obligation to give back, to enrich the lives of others. Some of my favorite categories to give to include health and wellness, children and families, and recreational activities.

A shout out from a company that we donated to this year.

For your direct primary care practice, donating to a local charity can build good will for your practice in several ways. First, it demonstrates that your DPC practice is invested in the community and cares about the well-being of its residents. This can help to create a positive image for your practice and your physicians and improve your overall reputation.

Additionally, by supporting a local charity, your DPC practice may be able to build relationships with community members who may become customers or advocates for the business. Even if the folks at the charity don’t sign up for your practice, they will likely spread the good word about your practice to the people that they serve.

Finally, it can also show employees that your DPC practice is socially responsible and that you care about making a positive impact. This can help to boost employee morale and engagement. It’s a great way to boost engagement to work with your teammates, physicians, and staff to pick a local charity that you want to support. You could have everyone chip in and provide a match in addition to a baseline gift.

Good luck with your DPC practice, and happy giving!

-Paul Thomas, MD with Startup DPC

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When Starting a DPC Practice, You must be decisive

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Low Cost Tools to Create Excellent Video Content for Your Direct Primary Care Practice

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How to Create Excellent Video Content for Your Direct Primary Care Practice

This week, I got a really nice note from a direct primary care colleague. He wanted to know about the tools that I use to create engaging video content for my direct primary care practice. Here’s the ask:

Hey Paul, I hope all is well and that you’re staying safe during this time. You posted your equipment on how you make videos - the computer program, the lighting, the microphone, and the camera that you use to make your videos for Startup DPC and for your practice Plum Health DPC. Can you share that information with me again? I can’t seem to find the post. I want to start making videos and I think these tools and resources will help me to create better videos.

Thank you

There are a ton of great people in the direct primary care movement and I love seeing them succeed in their direct primary care practices. So here it is, the tools that I use to make great video content!

Tools of the Trade

The editing software that I use during my lectures is called Camtasia and it costs $250 - https://www.techsmith.com/store/camtasia. I don't make any money from recommending this product and I recommend it because it's easy to use and low cost. Also, they're based in Lansing Michigan, so a part of my State's economy.

The camera that I use is found on Amazon and it's a Logitech C920S - it costs about $225 and it's worth every penny because the video quality is just so damn good. Here's a video with the basic MacBook Air webcam (super grainy, almost distractingly so). Here's a video with the Logitech C920S HD Webcam that shoots in 1080p: perfectly focused and crystal clear.

The microphone that I use can be found on Amazon, and it's called a Blue Yeti. It costs about $129 if you click over to the basic (silver) color package. The blue version of the Blue Yeti is $146. I don't know why I can't link directly to this lower cost microphone, but it's there for less expensive if you click over to the silver one.

So for right around $600, you can have everything that you need to create excellent content.

Lighting Your Video Perfectly

Now, if you want to kick it up a notch, you can use a simple ring light to give you the perfect lighting in any environment. It's about $60 or $65 on Amazon.

A ring light is great for shooting in situations where lighting is less than ideal. I shoot most of my videos in my office because I get great lighting - there's a large window that faces our front desk, so I just sit at the front desk or stand behind my front desk and enjoy perfect lighting.

A few things to note about this video - the sound quality isn't as good because the camera/microphone combo that is my iPhone is being held 8 feet away from my mouth, so it sounds echo-y. Also, the video quality isn't nearly as good as my other videos shot in 1080p using my Logitech C920S.

So in daytime situations at my office, my lighting is perfect. But, if I'm in another room in my office, or filming at home in my home office, my lighting isn't very good as is. Therefore, I bought a ring light to give me excellent lighting wherever I may be. Here's what that ring light looks like in my dining room and here’s what the ring light looks like in my home office.

Here's an example of mediocre lighting, I was at Ford Field where the Detroit Lions play for a Men’s Health event. You see how the light source (big windows) are on the right side of the screen? And do you see how that illuminates the left side of my face, but leaves the right side of my face in shadow? This is an example of less-than-ideal lighting.

Here's another video with crappy lighting - the overhead fluorescent lights illuminate my forehead and leave my chin dark. Also, no microphone so bad sound quality, and no HD camera, so kind of a grainy video.

However, if that same office with the same camera location is shot during the day, you can see how much better the lighting can be.

With a ring light, you can have perfect lighting any time, any where. So it's a reasonable investment if you're filming in a location where you know the lighting isn't great - for example if you're shooting in a low-light environment or in a room lit by overhead fluorescent lights.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE PRACTICE?

If you enjoyed reading this blog post and if you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

- Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

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How to Communicate Your Value as a Direct Primary Care Doctor During Times of Coronavirus

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The Coronavirus is here in the United States and it’s causing new infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. People are scared about their own health and they’re worried about the health of their communities. People are looking to their doctors for answers during this time. In this blog post, I’m going to address the following:

  • What can you do during this coronavirus pandemic?

  • How can you communicate the value of your Direct Primary Care practice during this time?

  • What are the most effective mediums of communication?

  • What are some examples of successful Direct Primary Care doctors who are communicating clearly during this time?

What can you do during this coronavirus pandemic?

As a primary care doctor, you are uniquely positioned to address the public and the concerns of the public with excellent information. You want to provide the public with information that is evidenced-based. Avoid making prognostications or letting your opinion seep in. Stick to the facts and best practices.

Additionally, keep an even keel and a calm demeanor. If you look anxious or scared, your patients will pick up on this. If you look calm and collected, your patients will take note and they’ll be more trusting of your advice.

How can you communicate the value of your Direct Primary Care practice during this time?

You can communicate your value by telling folks what you do and how you’re uniquely situated to triage patients. Let people know that you can help them and guide them to the best care possible. This is what you’ve been trained to do - to triage patients, to treat people with medical concerns - now you just have to communicate that ability with your broader audience.

What are the most effective mediums of communication?

Your most effective means of communication are Facebook Live streams, Facebook videos, and YouTube videos. It’s difficult for people to read a lot of information about the coronavirus, so if you can break it down in a digestible format as a video, you will be able to reach a broader audience. You can supplement this video content with written content either in the notes below the video on Facebook or LinkedIn or as a separate blog post.

Examples of successful Direct Primary Care doctors who are communicating clearly during this time

There are a number of Direct Primary Care doctors communicating information clearly to their patients and their communities. I’ll use myself as an example to start and then showcase a few others. So this is a Facebook Live video that I put up on Facebook. It received 180 reactions, 117 comments, 85 shares, and 4,500 views to date. I then downloaded the Facebook live video, uploaded the video onto YouTube and created a blog post around the content. We had 10 new patients enroll in the 24 hours after posting the video.

The next video was not a live video, and a second update on the Coronavirus. I discussed why we’re enacting social distancing and how it can slow the spread of the viral infection. This video received 108 reactions, 27 comments, and 55 shares after posting it.

Dr. Delicia Haynes and her video

Delicia Haynes has a great presentation style and I love what she says here: “It’s Time for Precaution not Panic: Tips For Individuals and Business Owners to stay COVID-19 Free.” Dr. Haynes is the Founder at Family First Health Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Focus on her body language, the lighting, her tone of voice, and her speech pattern. She looks directly into the camera, she has nice lighting on her face, and she is in the center of the camera. These are all great. She keeps an even tone of voice and she speaks at an even pace. These are good things as well.

What if you don’t like to be on camera?

If you don’t like to be on camera, it’s a missed opportunity. However, you can make up for it by sending patients emails with photos of yourself in the office. Photos are important because people are way more likely to engage with visual media than with written posts.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A DIRECT PRIMARY CARE Practice?

If you want to learn more about starting and growing your direct primary care practice, look no further than our courses on how to start and grow your direct primary care practice. We at Startup DPC have begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

- Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

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Startup DPC Show Episode 7: Conversation with a Doctor with 12,100 Instagram Followers

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The Startup DPC Show aims to educate doctors who are starting and growing their direct primary care practices. If you want to take a deeper dive into starting and growing your direct primary care practice, check out our courses where we walk you through different skills that you need to be successful in your DPC practice.

Our guest today is a second year family medicine resident physician at UMass in Boston, Dr. Rami Wehbi. Dr. Rami is smart and savvy when it comes to many things, and it's remarkable that he has 12,100 followers on his Instagram channel, @DrRami.DO.

Direct primary care is different from fee-for-service medicine in several ways, and one of the big ways is that doctors have to reach out to their patients directly to get them to sign up for their services.

Family Medicine Resident disheartened by the current state of primary care

Dr. Rami has always been motivated to have a private primary care practice. He wants to take care of his patients on his own terms. He then searched for private practices that were successful. He first found concierge medicine, and then he found direct primary care. He reached out to me a few years ago and we hit it off. Together, we recorded an awesome episode for his Beyond Medicine Podcast, which can be found here. Dr. Wehbi is smart and kind, and he knows how to build a great following, either via podcasting or through his social media channels.

Paul Thomas MD of Plum Health DPC and Rami Wehbi DO a second year resident at UMass Family Medicine Residency Program, talk about challenges and opportunities in the Direct Primary Care space.

Paul Thomas MD of Plum Health DPC and Rami Wehbi DO a second year resident at UMass Family Medicine Residency Program, talk about challenges and opportunities in the Direct Primary Care space.

Educating Doctors about the Direct Primary Care model and movement

A big part about what drives me as a person is my mission to educate other doctors about the direct primary care model and movement. Further, I want to help doctors create the best direct primary care practices that they can, and that’s a big reason for this Startup DPC website, courses, and content.

Family Medicine Resident inspired by the potential of the direct primary care model

For Dr. Wehbi, it’s inspiring for him to see our successful direct primary care practice and other successful DPC practices across the country. Dr. Wehbi wants to be able to deliver a higher quality of primary care services. The average primary care doctor has 2,400 patients in their panel and they often see 25, 30, or even 35 patients each day. That means that these fee-for-service or insurance-based doctors have to see 3 or 4 patients each hour. These quotas are often written into the doctor’s contract.

For Dr. Wehbi, it’s mind-boggling that doctors would be expected to see 35 patients each day.

For me, it’s mind-boggling that you’d be expected to see 35 patients in a day and expect people to get quality care. It just doesn’t make any sense.

In our direct primary care practice practice, we have 640 patients total as of this blog post and my panel has 460 patients. I usually see 1% to 2% of my panel each day, so around 4 to 10 patients each day. This allows me to have 30 minutes to 1 hour with each patient and to really develop those strong, trusting relationships that can lead to better health.

What happens when patients need to see a specialist in the Direct Primary Care model?

Because we have fewer patients, we have more time to dedicate to our patients. We have more time to think and care and demonstrate compassion. We also have more time to look things up and to read up on a new diagnosis or the updated management of an old diagnosis. Further, we can work with our local specialist colleagues and develop cash-pricing for their specialty services. Finally, we leverage an e-consult platform called Rubicon MD to get specialty consults done in a matter of 4 to 12 hours.

Why would i pay for a membership-based service when I already have Insurance?

Well, you can restructure your insurance coverage to make it a more of a catastrophic coverage plan, meaning that you pay a lower premium and carry a higher deductible. Then, you can pair that low-premium, high-deductible health insurance plan with a direct primary care plan. This could end up saving you money as those insurance premiums can be quite expensive, and you can get better health care services as you have a trusted doctor at your fingertips.

Direct primary care for employer groups

For employer groups who buy insurance through the current fee-for-service insurance-based system, there is a ton of money lost on the middle men, plan benefit designers, and insurance brokers. Direct primary care clinics offer a way to lower the cost of health care for employees and employers by removing these middle men and offering excellent care and service to employees. And, having best-in-class service for employees will be another benefit for large employers looking to attract and retain top talent.

DOES DIRECT PRIMARY CARE MAKE SENSE FOR A PATIENT WITH MULTIPLE CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS?

Yes, direct primary care is a great system for patients with multiple chronic medical problems. The idea here is that the direct primary care doctor will have more time to fully address all of these multiple medical problems and how they interact with each other. By spending more time with our patients, we definitely prevent several costly and stressful visits to the emergency department or urgent care center each year.

“The urgent care system is a symptom of a failed primary care system. If your doctor had enough time to see you when you cut your finger or had bronchitis, you wouldn’t even have to go to an urgent care.” - Dr. Paul Thomas

For example, we recently had a patient who cut their finger at 5:30 pm on a Monday evening. They called me and I came in to sew up the laceration right away.

This model of care allows you to take full ownership of your patients - you can take radical responsibility for your patients.

Where to Find an Excellent Direct Primary Care Doctor?

If you’re looking to find an excellent direct primary care doctor in your neighborhood, check out the Direct Primary Care Mapper, here. If you’re in Detroit or Southeast Michigan, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Plum Health DPC clinic here in Corktown.

How can you start your own direct primary care practice?

Many medical students, medical residents, and doctors are looking for the best way to start and grow their direct primary care practices. Fortunately, Startup DPC has begun compiling some of the best content available on this blog and in our courses.

The best place to start is to take our Direct Primary Care Business Plan course, available here. From there, you can learn how to attract new patients to your direct primary care practice and how to find the perfect location or build out the practice of your dreams.

Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!

-Paul Thomas, MD

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How to Build Your Personal Brand for your Direct Primary Care Practice

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Building a Personal Brand can help you build your Direct Primary Care practice. By having a trusted personal brand, more people will be willing to sign up with your Direct Primary Care service.

But, many of you reading this are unfamiliar with how to build a personal brand. So, I wanted to show an excellent example of how to get this done.

Dr. Kendrick Johnson is a Direct Primary Care doctor with Ark Family Health and he recently made an excellent post on LinkedIn, which helps build his personal brand. The post is titled “Why this Doctor Had to Escape the Healthcare System.” During the video, he tells a personal story, shows real emotion, and even vulnerability. He becomes a relatable person and builds trust with his audience.

Video of Dr. Kendrick Johnson posted on LinkedIn - this is a great example of how you can build a strong personal brand that will help you attract new patients to your practice.

Video of Dr. Kendrick Johnson posted on LinkedIn - this is a great example of how you can build a strong personal brand that will help you attract new patients to your practice.

So, the first part of building a strong personal brand is building brand recognition. Brand recognition is exactly what it sounds like: the ability of a consumer to recognize one brand over other brands. In other words, it's the ability of consumers to identify your product by its attributes and design elements.

But, in this case, it’s you and your face, your body, your beliefs, and the stories you tell. And no, you do not need to have a perfect face, body, belief system, or stories, but you do have to share these elements (aka your personality) with your audience.

So, in the example above, Dr. Kendrick Johnson is introducing himself to his audience by telling a story about himself. He even tells a very touching and relatable story about his father.

Importantly, he Dr. Johnson uses a medium that many people use - LInkedIn, a very popular social media platform. This sort of professional discussion about the role of a physician in society plays really well on this medium. In fact, LinkedIn is probably the perfect medium for this video.

And, because Dr. Johnson delivers a strong message with a great medium, he has great results, and this is based on the engagement that this post has received - over 100 reactions and several comments with thousands of post views.

The third part of this formula is consistency. If Dr. Johnson can create unique, engaging, thoughtful content that demonstrates his trustworthiness and compassion on a regular basis, he’ll build a strong personal brand. If this is a one-off thing, Dr. Johnson’s efforts here won’t be as impactful.

Consistency is key. Consistently generating high-quality content helps you win on social media platforms.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more content and more informational blog posts and courses.

Sincerely

-Dr. Paul Thomas

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One Daily Habit to help you Market Your Direct Primary Care Practice

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If you want to market your direct primary care practice, the best thing to do is to document what you do on a daily basis with pictures and short videos. This is a daily habit that can be very powerful for the growth of your personal brand and your business brand.

This is really important because you build a relationship with your audience, and they get to know and trust you. By seeing you consistently speaking about our sharing about your business or yourself, your audience will slowly get to know who you are. They will create a clear and consistent image of who you are as a person and as a doctor, and what your business offers.

Also, this is absolutely free! It only takes a few minutes of your time to get a photo or a video of you in your office doing what you do on a daily basis. Have your assistant or a physician colleague in your office help you with this. Have them hold your camera or iPhone or smartphone between you and the light source (window) in your office and share what’s going on that day.

You will get so many offers from people trying to help you to market your practice. If you have a smart phone and 30 minutes each day, you can absolutely do this on your own. The more you practice, the better your content will become. The point being, people who offer to shoot a glitzy video for you will charge you $2,000 - $3,000 for the video. AND the end result will not be as powerful as consistently telling your story on your own terms.

If you shoot a video with your smartphone, you can upload the video file directly from your phone to your YouTube Channel in a matter of minutes. You can then copy that YouTube video link and paste it into a blog post (just as I’ve done here) and this creates a loop. If customers find your YouTube Channel, they also find your Blog, and if they find your Blog, they also find your YouTube channel.

Keep it short and simple - address one topic at a time! Do not overwhelm your audience with too much information. If you remove a toenail, share about that one thing. If you lowered the cost of medications, share about that one thing. If you try to do too much in this format, it will be distracting or disorienting for your audience.

Remember, you have the attention of your audience for about 7 seconds or so.

If you want to learn more about this, take our Sales Funnel course where I show you more tips and tricks to grow your audience and get more patients to enroll in your practice.

Thanks for watching and have a great day,

-Dr. Paul Thomas