Latest / DPC Life: Direct Primary Care Podcast / 4 Years of DPC: What Worked, What Didn’t, and What We Are Still Learning

Transcript

4 Years of DPC: What Worked, What Didn’t, and What We Are Still Learning · DPC Life: Direct Primary Care Podcast

• 0:00
  What we did not have what a business plan.
• 0:03
  Oh, even non business plan. None, none.
• 0:06
  We had nothing. Ashamed to admit it, but we
• 0:09
  didn't have. We were playing fast and free
• 0:11
  with. Our fast and loose just.
• 0:13
  Total trial and error because there have been a billion, like
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  90% of what we've done has not worked and like 10% of what
• 0:20
  we've done has been so sad. And like 10.
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  Percent has been successful, thank God.
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  This is DPC Life where we share honest stories, big ideas and
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  celebrate the freedom to do medicine our way.
• 0:39
  I'm your host DPC. Physician and Gonzalez.
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  Let's get started. Hello and welcome back to DPC
• 0:48
  Life, the podcast where we talk about all things DPC and beyond
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  the. Office.
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  Since it is the holidays, I thought that we would take a
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  break and replay some of our most popular episodes from our
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  first season so far. So today we've got.
• 1:04
  Myself and doctor. Kelly and we talk about our
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  first four years of DPC and one of the things that DPC has given
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  to me is actually one of the many things that DPC has given
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  to me is the opportunity to expand my horizons, learn new
• 1:21
  things. And then also.
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  As a DPC physician, you get to make your own schedule and so
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  like right now I am on vacation. With my family.
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  And for the rest of the year, I've basically blocked my
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  schedule for mostly acute visits because number one, most of my
• 1:38
  patients if they do schedule to come see me between at the end
• 1:42
  of December, from the third week on, a lot of them will cancel
• 1:45
  anyway because they're so busy. And so no one really wants to
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  come see me for reaching visits. And so I've basically set it up
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  so that it's just, I'm available for acute visits, which again, a
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  lot of times we can just take care of on the phone or by
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  telehealth or they can come in to see me.
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  So that's one of the perks about being your own boss as you get
• 2:04
  to make your schedule and how it fits your life.
• 2:07
  So here we go, with a replay of Doctor Kelly and myself talking
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  about our first four years in DPC, some of the things that
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  we've learned, and some things we wish.
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  We'd changed. And we hope you enjoy it.
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  Thanks again for being a listener.
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  I really appreciate it and I look forward to bringing.
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  You some more pearls. And wisdom about DPC in the next
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  year. Is my partner, Doctor Rachel
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  Kelly, internal medicine, OBC medicine boarded.
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  Fantastic, doctor. Thank you.
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  Awesome. Partner.
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  So let's see. Last week we're talking about
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  what tips we have for DPC doctors just opening up and one
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  of them was regarding aesthetics.
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  Oh, so you know, hindsight is always 2020 and when I think
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  when you start doing. DPC you're like I'll do.
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  Everything. I'm so excited.
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  It's. All so exciting.
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  It's very stressful and I think that the number one thing for.
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  People is to. Make.
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  Sure that they develop a good base clientele.
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  You know in like inside of DPC before doing anything else.
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  So have a DPC that is so robust. And working.
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  Really, really, really well. And seamlessly and you have
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  enough employees that. You can the DPC.
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  Can run properly and it's funded and everything's.
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  Great before you do. Absolutely.
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  Anything else? I think with aesthetics, like
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  one thing happens. With DPC, is that you?
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  Have so much time. All of a sudden.
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  And you're like, Oh my gosh, look at all this time I have and
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  I've been in practice for X number of years and maybe we can
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  learn some new stuff. Maybe we could do some new
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  things and offer different procedures and offer, maybe we
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  can do aesthetics. And then you kind of jump into
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  that maybe a little too. Early, before you have a really
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  like well developed. Thing going on and the thing
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  with. Aesthetics is that it's.
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  It's expensive, expensive to. Start it's.
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  Expensive to maintain, it's. Expensive to.
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  Learn It's expensive to learn. We spent $50,000 in the first
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  year on. Just.
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  Training and you know. Doctors are like that.
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  I mean, not none of us are going to go in to do something brand
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  new and be like, let's take one course.
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  Like that's never going to happen with doctors.
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  Like we're like, we'll have to take all the courses.
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  And then we have to like make sure we can do it perfect before
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  we do anything and. At least that's how I am.
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  I would say my one. If I were.
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  You know the problem with DPC? Is that you have a practice to.
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  Run and so if you're going to add aesthetics, that means half
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  of your time is taken up by something that's not going to
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  make you any money for a long time.
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  And so you have to kind of think about that when you're building
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  your primary practice, you know that how much money is this
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  primary practice making? Is this primary practice going
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  to? Cover A. 100% of the overhead,
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  all of my salary, and probably most of the overhead in
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  aesthetics. Yeah.
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  If it can do that, then go ahead do.
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  Aesthetics, but. You know, this is, I think it's.
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  Sold to you like a total cash cow.
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  You know, and that's one thing like, oh, you know.
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  Add a laser. It will just, it will make money
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  for it, right? I know they'll be like.
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  Oh, you just need to do. 3 treatments a month and you'll
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  make the you know you'll make your payment.
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  Yeah, in three, but they don't include the other overhead.
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  All the other overhead. Exactly.
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  And there's way, way more overhead than anyone.
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  Could ever tell you. I mean, when we first started
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  doing aesthetics, the thing that like blew my mind was how
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  expensive everything was. I mean even to the point where
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  like buying. Tox.
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  You know you can't just go and buy.
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  Two boxes of tox. Right.
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  You mean you can? Just not.
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  You don't get the discounts, you don't get the samples.
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  Right. You're going to spend, you know
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  what, $600.00 on one box. At.
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  Versus, you know, you buy it in bulk, you get samples, you're
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  spending $300. A box.
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  And then you can't. Sell it.
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  For a billion dollars. Like the established practices?
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  Can because you don't have a clientele and so really you're
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  trying to get people into the. Door Everybody's.
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  Telling you not. To.
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  Discount too much. Don't discount too much you're
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  going to get. Talk shoppers.
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  You're going to get. Aesthetic shoppers, but at.
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  The same time, you have to be reasonable, you know, and
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  there's a. Lot of tricks that I think we've
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  learned over the last three years about how to get.
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  People in the door from just total trial and error, you know,
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  because there have been a billion, like 90% of what we've
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  done is not worked and like 10% of what we've done has been so
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  sad, so sad. And like 10.
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  Percent has been successful. Thank God you know.
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  But it's it's a difficult you have to.
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  Think about your market too. Our market, you know, is not the
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  same as. Charlotte or Raleigh?
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  And the people. Who are?
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  Selling you things are coming from big markets.
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  So they're. Selling you lasers and, you
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  know, devices and everything as if you live in a market like
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  Charlotte, you know? Like the other day, we.
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  Were looking at a hydro facial machine and they're quoting like
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  oh this new hydro facial machine's so amazing it you know
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  you can charge 3. $150.00 for a hydro facial.
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  Yeah, that. Was insane.
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  Yeah, You can probably do that in Raleigh.
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  You know, you can probably do that in Charlotte.
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  You 100% can't do that here. You know, So we're not going to
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  get return on investment like they're quoting us, right
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  baseline like and that doesn't again take into account keeping
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  the lights on. You know, overhead consumables.
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  Paying our esthetician, all of it.
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  And Speaking of esthetician, that's something we just hired
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  her in January. So it's been about 8 months and
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  she's only really been seeing clients about six months and it
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  took a couple of months. She had to train with us and,
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  you know, kind of get used to us, but we should have done
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  that. A year ago, 100% we should have
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  done it a year. Like we should have hired.
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  Her a year before we did. Yeah, literally like I.
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  You know, in retrospect, you know I've been thinking.
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  About that a lot. Actually, you know, and why
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  didn't we hire? We were so.
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  Afraid to hire people? That has been the one of the
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  things that you and I have like hemmed and hawed about
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  constantly. You know, we're we're hiring a
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  nurse practitioner right now. We've been him and hawing about
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  that for three. Years.
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  You know, and that has been, it's been like, Oh no, you know,
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  if we hire someone, we're going. To go broke.
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  You know The thing is, is that like what is end up?
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  Happening what ends up. Happening is that you spread
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  yourself so thin. Because you're like I'll do.
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  Absolutely everything for this practice because I don't want to
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  spend the money to hire somebody who can bring in.
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  New clients, Fresh perspectives. You know something different,
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  right? Well.
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  The other thing too is I think we were afraid of what if this
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  person doesn't work out. What if this person doesn't work
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  out? Ourselves.
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  We are in. Yeah.
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  I we totally and I think that that happens a lot.
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  With people who. Have not run a practice.
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  Before. You know.
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  Who are just like. You know, yeah.
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  Because we've never been in the position really to hire, because
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  we've always been employed. That's so true.
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  I mean, I have hired residents. So that's a, you know, so I've,
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  I've been in that kind of position before, but I've never,
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  I've never had to hire employees like medical assistants or
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  aestheticians or anything like that.
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  And that was. That's a really risky.
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  Thing I guess like for me, I don't.
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  Feel that stressed out, as stressed out about it because of
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  the fact. That I know that if you know
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  somebody's not really not working out, I do not have any
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  more. Because I have fired.
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  People in the past, like I don't have as much concern about
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  firing people as I. As I used.
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  To and I know that's like a really.
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  Dark place to go, but this is. Part of running a business.
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  Sometimes you have to. Let people go.
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  Because they're not working out like in your model.
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  And that's another thing with somebody who's just starting out
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  in DPC most likely has never. Had to deal with employees
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  yourself so. You know, one of the things that
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  I think is really important starting out is making it.
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  Very clear to your employees. Like both.
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  Boundaries and what their? Jobs are.
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  You know one of the. Our one of the.
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  Blessings of like our. Practice is that our office.
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  Manager we knew she previously worked for me.
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  In a different capacity. So when she was able.
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  To for 5-6 years. Beforehand right and so.
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  We were able to. Grow with her and.
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  Create a lot of of like the. Framework of this practice with
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  her helping us in a very safe setting.
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  So we knew she wasn't going to steal our money.
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  We knew she was going to. Do the best she.
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  Could we knew what her capabilities were beforehand?
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  But if I were. Going to do this again.
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  That like if I. Had started a new.
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  Practice or whatever I would do. Some things differently,
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  definitely. I mean, there were things that I
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  didn't even. Realize you needed like SOP's.
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  You know, like. All this, all this.
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  Framework kind of defining everything.
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  Defining what? People do.
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  From day in to day out defining. What I do?
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  Who's who's responsible for things?
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  All of that stuff. Because you don't realize, like
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  when you're a doctor and you work in a hospital or you work
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  in a big clinic, that there is somebody else who is doing that.
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  Who is? Defining everybody's.
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  Role while you. Just mind your business and to
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  see your patients, right. So then in DPC.
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  You're that? Person and.
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  Literally 0 doctors have those skills.
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  You know, initially. Right.
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  Yeah, because you just don't know that it's happening on the
• 13:13
  back end. Right, you don't know.
• 13:17
  Anything like that's you don't know what's happening ever I.
• 13:21
  You know when we took. Over this started this practice.
• 13:24
  I couldn't even believe. I didn't even know.
• 13:27
  How taxes worked. I mean, I didn't know still.
• 13:31
  Have a hard time? I like how you earlier today you
• 13:33
  like buzzed. Out of our conversation when we
• 13:36
  were talking. About the taxes, you were like,
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  oh, I have something to do I. Look like something to do, but
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  you know, that kind of stuff. We're not business.
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  People like we didn't get, we didn't get any education in
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  businesses writing contracts. For people like just all of it.
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  Bookkeeping. Is so hard I.
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  Bookkeeping is so so hard and that's one thing I would 100%
• 14:05
  recommend to a new DPC is hiring a bookkeeping group.
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  That is actually. Even if you have an office
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  manager. Yeah.
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  I think that like. Really, we just.
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  Hired A bookkeeper and I was like and amazing like we've been
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  doing these books. For for four years, right?
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  Is it 4 years now? It is 4 years.
• 14:32
  Holy crap it's 4. Years like a week, so we've been
• 14:35
  doing. These books for four years.
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  Kind of like sloshing through QuickBooks is impossible to use
• 14:41
  if we're a novice user. It's like the blind leading the
• 14:44
  blind at all times. Constantly.
• 14:46
  We're like, did we just do that wrong?
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  Did we just delete something? Did we?
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  Is this? Correct.
• 14:51
  You never know. You've no idea what you're
• 14:53
  doing. QuickBooks is not written for
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  us. You get these bookkeepers they
• 14:58
  like. In two weeks, they turned around
• 15:01
  our like. Fixed our QuickBooks.
• 15:03
  And now it's telling me things I want to know.
• 15:05
  Yeah, for the first time ever. And.
• 15:08
  We were for the first. Time forever.
• 15:11
  It was amazing. I would 100% recommend that.
• 15:14
  Yeah, you know, I guess we can. We can recommend them.
• 15:16
  Can we record accounting? Yeah, kick start accounting
• 15:19
  there, I'll. Ask for an affiliate.
• 15:21
  Yeah, I would 100% recommend them.
• 15:25
  They are super, you know. Really, really good.
• 15:28
  And I told them exactly what I needed because, you know, now
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  that we've been doing this. For like 4 years.
• 15:35
  And sometimes our. Taxes get screwed up.
• 15:37
  And sometimes I'm having an anxiety attack based on.
• 15:40
  XYZ because of the. The money like I came into that
• 15:46
  conversation being like, I need to know this, I need to know
• 15:49
  this, I need to know this. How do you make that happen for
• 15:52
  me? You know when when I get my
• 15:54
  monthly reports, those are the things that I need to know from
• 15:58
  you and they were I mean they like delivered immediately.
• 16:00
  So kick start accounting. They're the bomb.
• 16:03
  I. Was you were saying you wanted
• 16:05
  this, this, this, this? Yeah.
• 16:07
  And then they came back and they're like, oh, we had this
• 16:10
  other column because we knew eventually you would want to do
• 16:13
  this. Completely I was like.
• 16:15
  OK, so the biggest complaint I've had about our accountants
• 16:18
  just accounting in general, and I hope our accountants don't
• 16:21
  listen to this. But is that?
• 16:23
  They can never tell me how much money we like estimated money.
• 16:29
  Truly. We're going to have.
• 16:30
  To pay, they're like, they do the estimates, it's like.
• 16:34
  Kind of wrong most of the time you know it and it's not.
• 16:38
  It's based on last year's, you know, money, like how much money
• 16:42
  we made. Last year, but last, you know
• 16:44
  the. Last two years we were
• 16:45
  depreciating stuff and so we weren't paying the correct
• 16:50
  amount of, you know, taxes. For the salary.
• 16:54
  And I was like, I need somebody. To be able to like figure this.
• 16:59
  Out and I know that QuickBooks. Does it because it has to do
• 17:02
  with there's a part. On the balance.
• 17:05
  Of goods or whatever that that tells you.
• 17:08
  And but it's it's like we just didn't.
• 17:10
  Keep and it wasn't set up right. So they.
• 17:14
  Set it up right and now every month was it every?
• 17:18
  Quarter, every quarter we get a. Like running tally of how much
• 17:22
  we should have paid in taxes. Already OK.
• 17:25
  Which is amazing. That's great.
• 17:27
  I love it. I'm like, love it so much.
• 17:30
  It's funny that these are the kinds of things that make me
• 17:32
  happy now, right? Seriously.
• 17:36
  Yeah. So, Anne, what do you think?
• 17:38
  Like if you. Were going to go.
• 17:40
  Back to like 4 years ago. Anne, what would you?
• 17:44
  Tell her do. Differently.
• 17:46
  What would you do differently? What would you tell her to do
• 17:48
  differently? Like even when we were setting
• 17:50
  it up. You know what we did not have
• 17:55
  what? A business plan.
• 17:58
  Oh, a non business plan? None, none.
• 18:00
  We had nothing. Ashamed to admit it, but we
• 18:03
  didn't have. We were playing fast and free
• 18:06
  with. Our.
• 18:07
  Fast and loose fast. And loose.
• 18:09
  You know, what I would not have done is given special pricing to
• 18:14
  previous patients. Yeah, and family.
• 18:19
  Discounts and family discounts, I wouldn't have done any of them
• 18:23
  because one of the things I think the mentality change that
• 18:27
  happens when you go from. Fever service to DPC is it's
• 18:33
  really really hard to get. Your head around the fact.
• 18:35
  That you are your. Time is worth something and that
• 18:39
  you are you are inherently worth something to these patients
• 18:45
  because. Of the fact that you have spent
• 18:47
  your. Entire career basing your worth
• 18:50
  off of the number of patients you can see in one day you know
• 18:55
  and in the in the inpatient it's you know just as bad it's not
• 19:01
  like on the outpatient you have to.
• 19:02
  See 30 patients a. Day to make $200,000 a year in
• 19:06
  the inpatient it's. It's just like.
• 19:08
  A badge of honor. You can see 25 patients in the
• 19:13
  hospital and not, you know, and get through your day in a timely
• 19:15
  manner, but it's all like nonsense.
• 19:18
  So. The DPC model.
• 19:21
  What you really have to get. Your head around is that this
• 19:25
  isn't. This is no longer about.
• 19:26
  That this is about your. Presence as a doctor for someone
• 19:32
  long term and it's not episodic and you have to train the
• 19:36
  patients to think of. That as well.
• 19:39
  Like, think like that in the patients who stick with you long
• 19:42
  term are the ones who really buy into that concept.
• 19:45
  Yeah. It truly I think.
• 19:47
  A lot of the patients that came with us, I don't know, 50% are
• 19:53
  probably already gone. Yes, I think so.
• 19:57
  And I think it's because they wanted to follow us, not
• 20:01
  necessarily that they loved the model of DPC, but the new
• 20:07
  patients. Are great.
• 20:09
  They really embrace the model, yeah, and that is one thing that
• 20:14
  I would probably tell myself. As well like there will be.
• 20:17
  Plenty of people who want to do this, you know, don't be.
• 20:22
  Afraid. Don't sit there and freak out
• 20:25
  and be like, Oh my God, I have to take whoever because I'm
• 20:27
  never going to find enough. People to do this.
• 20:30
  And then you know and not. Listen to other doctors.
• 20:33
  I could not believe the kinds of things.
• 20:35
  That other doctors said to us. When we first started in DPC.
• 20:39
  I think I blocked it all out. It would be like.
• 20:42
  All the time. Like I can't believe you're even
• 20:45
  doing that. What a money grab.
• 20:48
  Or like you're. Basically doing concierge.
• 20:52
  Who cares? First of all, you know what
• 20:54
  concierge doctoring? What's wrong with it?
• 20:57
  In reality, people are paying for your for your time.
• 21:01
  How can you honestly? Argue that you're.
• 21:03
  Giving patients an adequate amount of time when you spend 5
• 21:07
  minutes with them once every six months, yeah.
• 21:12
  I feel for them. You feel for them kids.
• 21:14
  I do we. Were in that system.
• 21:15
  We were in that system. I think the other thing that
• 21:18
  people kind of get in their heads.
• 21:20
  That like will these. Patients, you know, if they use
• 21:23
  their insurance, they're not paying for.
• 21:24
  This, but they are. I mean, first of all they have
• 21:27
  to pay their insurance, second of all they have.
• 21:29
  To pay their co-pays. And also they're paying for.
• 21:32
  What they get here? They're paying for.
• 21:34
  You're looking for a model that at.
• 21:36
  Least allows. You to think through the issues
• 21:40
  and if you're seeing complicated patients, listen, you must be a
• 21:44
  better doctor than I am if you can see a complex internal
• 21:49
  medicine patient in 5 minutes and figure it out and figure it
• 21:52
  out. You are a.
• 21:53
  Much smarter, much better doctor than I am.
• 21:55
  And I will. I'll be.
• 21:56
  The first to. Say like maybe, maybe that's
• 21:58
  true. Maybe I need more time?
• 22:01
  To like, think through. The problems, but at the same
• 22:04
  time, you know, I also have time to write really thorough notes.
• 22:08
  Call other doctors, do research. Do all the things that I need to
• 22:12
  do personally, and that's just me, maybe I don't know that I
• 22:16
  need to do in order to make good decisions and figure out what's
• 22:20
  wrong with people and I see. A lot of people who have a real
• 22:23
  big. Question mark as to what's wrong
• 22:24
  with them. And maybe that's why people come
• 22:27
  to see me. Because I do have the.
• 22:29
  Oh 100% think yes, that's part of.
• 22:33
  It and sometimes people come to see me just to like.
• 22:35
  Discuss their case. And that is something that I do
• 22:41
  enjoy doing as well. So I don't mind that, but it but
• 22:46
  this model allows me to do that. What are?
• 22:49
  Your tell me like what do you think if you were going to give
• 22:53
  you know someone one piece of major.
• 22:57
  Advice about a starting. Aesthetics.
• 23:00
  Oh, starting aesthetics. Really think hard about it.
• 23:05
  Think don't don't look at the money.
• 23:09
  Think really hard about because you're going to if you're going
• 23:12
  to do aesthetics, you need to back off your DPC patients
• 23:15
  because you're not going to have enough time to do aesthetics.
• 23:19
  If you have a full DPC practice, when are you going to do the
• 23:22
  aesthetics? Then then you're going to get
• 23:24
  burned out, right? So you have to So we we just
• 23:28
  kind of let some go by attrition and just never replaced those
• 23:32
  patients. But definitely talk to other.
• 23:36
  That's what we didn't do. We talked to anybody.
• 23:39
  We're so sneaky about it. We talked.
• 23:44
  To our our previous boss, 'cause she was doing aesthetics but she
• 23:49
  just driving in one day a week. She has a whole staff to to
• 23:54
  schedule to order stuff. To do get stuff.
• 23:57
  Ready for her? Prep her stuff.
• 23:59
  And she'd roll. In do some Botox and that was
• 24:03
  it. Yeah, exactly.
• 24:05
  And she never mentioned how expensive it was, although we
• 24:09
  should have kind of known that. Yeah, yeah.
• 24:11
  But yeah, I mean. You're.
• 24:13
  Like, yeah, we could do that, That's awesome.
• 24:15
  But then we didn't think about this 95% of the stuff that goes
• 24:20
  on behind the scenes. I, you know, I think.
• 24:22
  That probably our. The thing we should not have
• 24:26
  done was buy a second. Device when we did.
• 24:31
  I almost. Think we shouldn't have bought
• 24:32
  the vice? The first one, I think you know
• 24:36
  one thing that the device. People do is really.
• 24:41
  Prey upon new practitioners and. They they really.
• 24:48
  Push this narrative that in order for you to grow, you need
• 24:52
  to have devices. But it's not that.
• 24:55
  It's the opposite of that. In order for.
• 24:57
  You to grow. You need to have clients who
• 25:00
  come to. You regularly the only.
• 25:02
  Way you can get clients to come to you.
• 25:03
  Regularly is to do. Talks and.
• 25:08
  Do facials microneeling that kind of like the?
• 25:12
  Stuff that you can do without anything.
• 25:14
  And that's where the esthetician.
• 25:16
  Comes in. Comes in exactly because you.
• 25:20
  Have to have a. Baseline regular clientele
• 25:24
  because. If you buy a device, it's not
• 25:27
  like. People are going to have lasers
• 25:29
  done every month, or they're going to have lasers done even
• 25:32
  twice a. Year.
• 25:33
  People get their lasers done and they don't come back, you know,
• 25:36
  and that's, that's true for Neogens.
• 25:38
  That's true for. You know, for.
• 25:40
  All of all of the these like. Big ticket items and.
• 25:45
  What you have to have is a regular clientele.
• 25:50
  Who is comfortable with you, who may do other things but really
• 25:55
  wants to improve skin buys, you know, buys some retail, sees
• 26:00
  your esthetician, gets their talks done.
• 26:03
  That's. How you build a practice?
• 26:05
  Right. Yeah.
• 26:06
  And then they are, they're, they stick with you instead of going
• 26:10
  down the road. Exactly.
• 26:12
  And when they want something, they'll say hey.
• 26:13
  Do you do this? Or and when you when you learn
• 26:16
  how to do something new. These are the people.
• 26:19
  Who will go and be your model? They're trusting.
• 26:22
  They. Will understand like what you're
• 26:25
  learning how to do. They already know your skill set
• 26:28
  and they'll tell people you know and they'll bring people with
• 26:30
  them and they'll, they'll bring people into the practice.
• 26:33
  And even if there's a complication like we had, I did
• 26:36
  the. Lifting threads.
• 26:39
  And one of the threads popped. That's right.
• 26:41
  Yeah. But.
• 26:42
  She was just like. That's cool.
• 26:45
  It happens. It happens and and that's.
• 26:47
  That's what you get with regular clientele who have.
• 26:51
  Who know you and who are comfortable in your practice.
• 26:55
  And that's why I think long term GPC and aesthetics.
• 27:00
  Go together really, really well because of the fact that you
• 27:04
  have. A built in clientele who trust.
• 27:06
  You. And who want to grow with you?
• 27:09
  You know, not everybody. Obviously, you don't want to be
• 27:11
  one of those practices that pushes, you know, whatever
• 27:14
  you're doing on patients who are here for hypertension, right?
• 27:18
  But you. You.
• 27:18
  Lightly offer. I never bring it up.
• 27:22
  I don't either. Yeah, I never bring it up to.
• 27:24
  Regular people. If they want to see us for
• 27:26
  aesthetics. Great.
• 27:28
  That's a totally. Different hat if they want.
• 27:31
  Yeah, I I very much do not. I like to keep those.
• 27:34
  Those things separate. This is this visit.
• 27:36
  For your doctoring. This is your aesthetics visit.
• 27:40
  These are very different things. I don't want ever.
• 27:43
  I don't want anyone to ever feel.
• 27:44
  Pressured. To do anything.
• 27:46
  And so I'm a very, very bad salesman that's.
• 27:51
  Bad. I mean, I think there's
• 27:54
  definitely some of our patients who are real offended that we
• 27:58
  do. Most of those people have gone.
• 28:01
  Most. Of them have gone, but yes,
• 28:03
  initially some of them are just like, Oh my gosh.
• 28:06
  I think they thought that it would like take over the
• 28:09
  practice because. People.
• 28:10
  Still ask that, yeah. Because they have seen other
• 28:13
  practices in town make heavy, heavy left turns into aesthetics
• 28:19
  and like never do regular medicine yet, right.
• 28:21
  Yeah. You know, and.
• 28:22
  And so I think that they've like people have done that to them.
• 28:26
  They've been in other. I can think of a couple
• 28:27
  practices in town who have done that.
• 28:29
  Yeah. And I think that.
• 28:31
  There's always that fear that like, oh, you guys.
• 28:33
  Are going to get taken up by this and that and you'll never
• 28:37
  do my regular healthcare ever again but I feel like that's
• 28:41
  kind of the. Opposite of what's happening,
• 28:42
  we've just like added more regular healthcare too.
• 28:47
  Like we've kind of. Created.
• 28:49
  We've added. More Women's Health, you know,
• 28:52
  to our practice than we were previously doing.
• 28:54
  We've added more obesity. Medicine and not in the like
• 28:59
  gimmicky way, but in the actual like working through your
• 29:03
  lifestyle, lifestyle medicine type of stuff and so.
• 29:07
  The. Addition of the aesthetics has
• 29:09
  really been not the only thing. Right.
• 29:13
  Yeah, it was great in in the sense that.
• 29:17
  We. Realized you can add or add
• 29:19
  other things. Yeah, different services,
• 29:22
  different service lines and. It's OK.
• 29:25
  That's OK. Yeah, excellent.
• 29:28
  I hope you enjoyed listening to that episode as much as we
• 29:30
  enjoyed making it. It's really nice to have a
• 29:33
  partner in DPC, especially since being a DPC doctor by yourself
• 29:37
  can be pretty lonely. A lot of people don't understand
• 29:39
  the model, they don't know how it works.
• 29:42
  And so it has been amazing to have an awesome partner, Doctor
• 29:46
  Rachel Kelly. So before we wrap up, I just
• 29:49
  wanted to mention Harmony how many OPS for DPC, the CRM that I
• 29:52
  developed for direct primary care doctors and specifically
• 29:56
  for DPC doctors who are solo in micro practices or maybe they're
• 30:01
  just about to open and they're still getting out of their fee
• 30:03
  for service contract. This is ideal for people who
• 30:07
  need help with answering the phone, answering questions, busy
• 30:11
  work that does not take your medical degree to answer these
• 30:15
  questions and is. Harmony OPS for DPC includes
• 30:19
  tools to help you answer those questions and also to reach out
• 30:22
  to your potential ideal patients and.
• 30:25
  Nurture those relationships. So that when you do get out of
• 30:28
  your fee for service contract that you'll have plenty of
• 30:31
  people who are interested and waiting to join your practice.
• 30:35
  So if you're interested in learning more, go to
• 30:37
  harmonyopsfordpc.com. And because it is the end of the
• 30:41
  year, we do have special founders rates until the end of
• 30:45
  the year. So please go take a look and
• 30:47
  book a demo or give reach out to me if you wanted to learn more.
• 30:51
  Thank you for listening. I appreciate each and everyone
• 30:54
  of you listening to DPC like and wishing you Happy holidays and
• 30:59
  Happy New Year. Thank you for listening to DPC
• 31:03
  Life. If today's conversation inspired
• 31:06
  you, hit follow, Leave a review and share it with a friend who's
• 31:11
  ready for change. Remember.
• 31:13
  Wherever you are in the journey, your DPC family has your back.
• 31:19
  Until next time, keep building a practice and a life that truly
• 31:24
  fits you. This show is brought to you by
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• 31:31
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