FAQs

+ What is DPC Medicine?

Direct Primary Care is a revolutionary model of healthcare that focuses on providing personalized care without involving a third party. DPC is a growing movement with over 1,200 practices across the US. Instead of allowing insurance companies to dictate what your doctor does (and often stand in the way of appropriate treatment), you pay a monthly membership fee. With membership, you get direct access to your physician 24 hours a day. This means your physician works for you, not the insurance companies. This streamlining of services leads to a huge cost reductions while simultaneously returning medical care to what matters most — your health..

+ How does a membership work?

Membership is simple — think like a gym, or your cable channel subscription (but chances are, this membership fee for high quality, easily accessed medical care is cheaper). Membership fees are charged to your bank account, credit or debit card. You can pay as a recurring monthly payment, or annually with a 5% discount offered. Many families use FSA or HSA funds to pay for the membership.

+ Why a membership fee?

Direct Primary Care physicians work for patients, not for insurance companies. The set monthly fee covers all of your child’s basic health insurance costs. That’s right — your child’s health care will not be based upon arbitrary insurance rules. There are no co-pays and no deductibles. You will have the security of knowing what you will be paying for the whole year. Membership fees are kept low by eliminating overhead costs associated both with billing insurance, and large organizational and administrative costs. At it’s core, DPC medicine is about affordable, high quality, preventative health care.

Here are a few examples of cost savings:

Discounts with local imaging centers for X-rays and other imaging modalities

+ What is included in the membership fee?

• Well Child Check and vaccines

• Home visits for infants two months and under

• Lactation Services

• Sick Visits

• Same day/next day appointments

• Telehealth

• 24 hour access to your doctor for acute issues

• Access by phone, text, email during business hours

• Sleep Counseling

• Nutrition Counseling

• Option for Home Visits

• Minimal or no time spent in a waiting room

• Anticipatory Guidance

• Extended, unhurried appointments

• School, Sports and Camp physicals

• Care when you are on vacation

• Coordination of medical care if specialists or care teams needed

• Management of chronic medical conditions including:

  • Asthma, allergies and eczema

  • ADHD, Anxiety and Depression

  • Autism

+ What isn’t covered by the membership??

While an extensive variety of services are covered under by your membership fee, some services are not covered.

These include:

• Outside medical care: including ER visits and Urgent Care visits (most of which can be avoided because you can access your doctor!), and hospitalizations.
• Procedures, labs and prescriptions obtained outside of the practice
• Visits with specialists

+ Should I still have health insurance?

Yes! Health insurance is still important to cover unexpected costs, such as hospitalizations, surgeries or specialist visits.

+ Can I use HSA/FSA funds to pay?

It is unclear if HSA and FSA money can be used to pay for membership fees. Legislation has been signed by the president saying that these funds can be used, but the bill has not yet been signed by the legislature. Please contact your accountant to see if these funds can be used.

+ Why should I join if I have health insurance?

Health insurance is not health care. Health insurance doesn't mean you have access to your child's doctor in a timely fashion. Health insurance doesn't guarantee a doctor's help when you are worried in the middle of the night. Health insurance is only about the bottom line. My goal is to make your children the most important part of the health care team by providing personalized, accessible and convenient care of the highest quality.

In addition, between deductibles and co-pays, and Urgent Care and Emergency Room visit costs (that you are forced to go to because you can’t reach a doctor for advice!), you can easily end up saving money. A single emergency room visit often comes to over $1000, which is the cost of a single year’s subscription for most children.

+ Is DPC the same as Concierge medicine?

DPC is not “Concierge Medicine”. Concierge Medicine charges a membership fee that covers only non-medical services (like being available to be seen) — insurance is still billed and there are still fees for additional services. Concierge Medicine memberships can cost two to three times the amount as a DPC membership.

+ What are Lactation Services?

Personalized Pediatrics of Maine supports each family’s decision of how to feed their baby — breast or bottle. However, there is an increasing need for time-sensitive, crucial support and education that comes with first time breastfeeding. As the only Pediatrician certified as an International Board Certified Lactation Counselor (the highest education certification available in Breastfeeding Medicine) Maine, I provide comprehensive care to the mother-child unit for optimizing breastfeeding success. Lactation support covers a wide range of topics and needs, from a prenatal consult to the development of a back-to-work plan for pumping, and everything in between. In addition, if a baby is functionally tongue-tied, I have the ability to perform a frenotomy in the office.

+ Are you supportive of formula feeding?

Of course! Although I do have specialization in breastfeeding medicine, I am most interested in supporting the feeding method that a family decides is best.

+ What do you mean by 24 hour access?

Emergencies come up — your child has a high fever, or a cough, and it is 2 in the morning! Personalized Pediatrics of Maine is here to help for emergencies and acute issues after hours. Routine matters, such as drug refills, appointment scheduling and non-urgent questions are for normal business hours.

+ Is there a vaccine policy?

Vaccines are strongly encouraged following the CDC schedule. My hope is that if you trust me enough to take care of your child, you trust my recommendations on vaccines. Vaccines can be scary - no one likes shots! At Personalized Pediatrics of Maine, a variety of techniques are used to help minimize injection pain, including the use of a shot blocker, and a wide variety of distraction techniques.

+ Do you offer house calls?

House calls are free for all infants, two months and under, with a Clinic Membership . Lactation services include free home visits. Home visits are available either through a Home Membership or as an additional charge with the Clinic Membership.

+ Should I contact you if I am pregnant?

Yes, prenatal connections are ideal! This is a great time for us to meet and for you to learn more about DPC medicine to see if it is right for you. If you are interested in lactation services, this includes a prenatal visit to help set breastfeeding goals and maximize breastfeeding potential. I take on a limited number of newborns each month so that individualized care is truly possible. On average, five home visits are made in the first two months.

+ How is my child’s privacy protected?

Your child and your family’s privacy is of the utmost important. All of your information is stored privately, and only you and your physician can access it. You are not part of a large hospital EHR in which your chart can potentially be read by any employee across the state. For more information, please see: Cer.bo

+ What about college-aged kids?

Personalized Pediatrics of Maine is ideal for college-aged students. College students are at the interesting brink of full autonomy but still benefiting from age-appropriate guidance. Access is often critical for this segment of the population, which is at risk of being under or uninsured. PPM makes it easy to continue care for students going off to college, as well as students new to Maine.