This interview was done in-person with “direct primary care” physician Michael Garrett, MD who has a private medical practice just down the road from my PT clinic in Austin Texas. He is part of the “direct primary care” movement in which patients pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to his services.

More specifically, we discuss these cash-based practice topics:

• How I (Jarod) educate my physician referral sources on how to speak with patients about my services, the fact that Carter Physiotherapy is not in-network with insurances, and how this can actually be cheaper for them in some cases.
• How he started his direct-pay medical practice while still working multiple shifts per week in an ER.
• Why he wanted to avoid the insurance-based practice model.
• How he is able to operate large amounts of his patient interactions digitally without the patient always having to come see him at the clinic.
• Why many patients prefer secure texting versus video conferencing for remote/tele-evaluations.
• The variety of terms used synonymously with cash-based practice.
• The differences between “direct primary care” and a “concierge” medical practice.
• How he sets his Direct Primary Care fees and saves his patients money.
• Why he really doesn’t see many people over-utilize his services even though the monthly fee includes unlimited visits
• What a “sharing ministry” insurance plan is, and why it has become more popular since the inception of the Affordable Care Act.
• How he is choosing the total number of patients he plans to accept.
• His guarantee to see patients within 1 day of calling for an appointment.
• The different ways he markets his practice and a brilliant (and free) way that certain Facebook groups have produced direct-pay patients for him.

Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:

• Atlas MD
• Direct Primary Care Frontier
• Direct MD Austin
• Direct MD Austin Twitter

Interested in the cash-based private practice model?

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[Click to Tweet] Thank you @directmdaustin for being an awesome guest on the Cash-Based Practice Podcast w/ @DrJarodCarter