08/26/2026
Every so often I come across content comparing DPC and concierge medicine, two ways doctors run direct pay practices outside the typical insurance based system. If you haven’t seen it, there’s one claim that I always see, and I want to comment on this.
The claim is always: DPC doesn’t bill insurance, concierge does, plus a membership fee. My practice doesn’t bill insurance. Neither do a lot of other concierge practices out there. So that’s not actually the hard line people are making it out to be, and the way it gets repeated makes it sound like DPC is the better option, no insurance, more transparent and concierge is different. It’s not.
Honestly, there isn’t a clean line between DPC and concierge anymore. It’s less a rule and more a philosophy, different practices land in different places depending on what they’re built around.
I’m not interested in DPC vs. concierge as a competition. If you’re a physician who chose the direct pay model, whether it looks exactly like mine or not, I’m glad you’re doing it. We’re on the same side here.
Let’s support each other for trying to make healthcare better for patients.
Got questions about how this actually works? Ask, happy to explain.