Startup DPC Reviewed on GoodReads.com

Startup DPC Reviewed on GoodReads.com

This week, we took a look at our reviews for Startup DPC on GoodReads.com. Most of our reviews for Startup DPC are on Amazon.com, where we have 103 reviews for Startup DPC with an aggregate of five stars overall. On GoodReads.com, we have 15 ratings and 2 reviews for the Startup DPC book with an aggregate of 4.67 stars. These aren’t the most important metrics of all time, but they do give us an insight into our readers, and these positive reviews and great feed back show us that the material in the Startup DPC book is valuable for our readers - doctors who want to start and grow their own direct primary care practices.

This is a screen shot from GoodReads.com, a site that has 15 reviews for Startup DPC, our book about how to start and grow a direct primary care practice.

We got a glowing review from one of our readers, Ronald:

Dr. Paul Thomas writes: “You should start a direct primary care practice because you can become the doctor you’re meant to be.” There is a Japanese concept called Ikigai, or “your reason for being.” There’s no doubt what Dr. Paul’s reason for being is: to transform healthcare in the United States, transform the lives of his patients, better his community, and his profession. His passion bleeds through this book, and makes it an incredibly compelling read. It also is a nuts-to-bolts guide on how you can start your own Direct Primary Care practice, from marketing, branding, pricing, and a host of other issues that need to be addressed. When you read that we lose one doctor every day to physician suicide, the equivalent of an entire medical school graduating class, you realize that good people are working in a bad system. I absolutely love his question: “Who in this room would want a five minute haircut? No one raised their hand except for a bald guy. Why do you settle for a seven minute appointment for your health, for God’s sake?” Concierge and DPC medicine are transforming the way doctors provide, and patients consume, healthcare. It’s more affordable, convenient, accessible, but most importantly, it restores the sacred doctor-patient relationship. You will get an insider’s account of how Dr. Paul started his own practice, Plum Health, along with the trials, tribulations, and successes along his journey.

As someone who is interested in Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that actually measure customer success, I loved the KPIs he measures at Plum Health: How many hospitalizations have we prevented? How many urgent care and emergency department visits have we prevented? If a patient has a weight loss goal. Management of their anxiety or depression, have we helped them meet that goal? How much money have we saved our patients? Have we decreased morbidity and mortality in our communities? These are much more difficult to measure accurately, but they get much closer to the truth regarding Plum’s efficacy as clinicians.

I hope this book is read by doctors looking to get back to why they became a doctor in the first place, rather than serving insurance companies and an unsustainable fee-for-service business model. And if you’re a patient, seriously consider finding a DPC doctor.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Paul two times, and a third one coming up on this book on June 26, 2020. You can listen to the first two interviews here…

This is a screen shot from GoodReads.com, a site that has 15 reviews for Startup DPC, our book about how to start and grow a direct primary care practice. One contributor wrote an in-depth review of our Startup DPC book, and for that we are grateful.

This is an extremely kind review, and we’re grateful for our readers and supporters. Our goal is to help as many doctors start and grow their direct primary care practices as possible. This model, and this movement, is essential to helping our patients and communities live healthier lives.

- Dr. Paul Thomas

Latest Review for Startup DPC Book

I love reading the reviews for the Startup DPC book - I really appreciate all of the kind words you’ve said about the material therein! Here’s the latest:

Dr. Paul presents the full story here on how he himself started his DPC clinic. While some books might be vague about the general processes, Dr. Paul tells you exactly what he did, what he used, and how much everything cost. It's important for people to know what they're really investing when it comes to DPC clinics, and Dr. Paul makes shares everything in his book. He does a great job articulating each step, and he writes in a way that is easy to read. He has a great story and a great approach that would benefit anybody who might be interested in DPC. Definitely worth the read.

I love being a part of this direct primary care movement. Reflecting on 2021 , the Direct Primary Care movement is continuing to grow every day and every week - there seems to be a new direct primary care doctor starting their own practice just about every week, and it’s amazing to see this happen. Here’s to the continued growth and success of the movement and here’s to a healthier nation and a stronger doctor-patient relationship.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

Startup DPC Book Reaches 82 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reviews

Startup DPC Book Reaches 82 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reviews

Today, the Startup DPC Book reached 82 five star reviews! I’m really excited about this because it has helped so many doctors start and grow their own direct primary care practices. I really love seeing doctors pick up this book and use it to build their own practices and take care of patients on their own terms. I’m especially excited that more and more doctors are making health care more affordable and more accessible for people in their communities.

Here’s what some of our most recent reviewers had to say:

5.0 out of 5 stars DPC for the win

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is the third book I have read to help me get started on my DPC journey and it’s by far the most complete. Thank you so much for putting pen to paper and really getting the most information into one book. Learned quite a few things I did not know. Definitely a great book for anyone considering DPC

Only Book Necessary to Start a DPC

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

Fantastic and comprehensive guide to starting your own DPC. Whether you are coming out of the gate from residency or converting your current practice, Dr. Paul Thomas has written an easy to follow strategy to set you up for success. My copy has so many sticky notes of great advice and further resources to dive into also. This is the one book you need to help you begin a thriving DPC practice and see it grow. Highly recommend this and will be referencing back to it often!

Thank you for reading, and thank you for helping us get to this milestone!

The Startup DPC Book Reaches 82 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reviews - thank you for helping us reach this milestone!

Here’s what I wrote about the book when I first published it on May 5th, 2020. I believe that it still holds true today:

We all know that our current healthcare system is broken, especially for primary care doctors and their patients. Primary care physicians have to see more and more patients in less and less time in order to keep up with declining reimbursement from insurance companies. This leads to rushed office visits, missed opportunities for genuine connections between doctors and their patients, frustrated patients, and burned out doctors. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Direct primary care offers a real opportunity at a fulfilling practice of medicine. It’s a golden opportunity to restructure your time, build the practice of your dreams, and spend your best hours taking care of patients and prioritizing your family life, rather than wasting time as a data entry clerk for an insurance company. In short, direct primary care gives you the opportunity to become the doctor that you're meant to be.

But how do you get this done? How do you go from a less-than-fulfilled doctor in the dysfunctional fee-for-service system to an empowered, entrepreneurial direct primary care physician capable of starting their own successful DPC practice?

The answers you're seeking are in this book!

My name is Dr. Paul Thomas, and I'm a Board Certified Family Medicine Doctor - I launched my own direct primary care practice straight out of residency in Southwest Detroit with over $100,000 in student loan debt. In my first month of practice, I had 7 patients. A few years later, we have over 700 patients, and I've hired a medical assistant and a second family doctor to help me manage the growing demand for our services.

I was named the entrepreneur of the year in 2018 by the Detroit Vanguard Awards, I gave a TEDxDetroit talk on direct primary care, and I've been featured in the Detroit Free Press, Reason Magazine, CBS Radio, Detroit's ABC affiliate WXYZ, Detroit's NBC affiliate WDIV, and Crain's Detroit Business. I've also been a speaker multiple times at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) DPC Summit, the Direct Primary Care Nuts and Bolts Conference, and the Hint Health DPC Summit.

In this book, I'm going to teach you everything I know about direct primary care and about starting a successful direct primary care practice. Here's a smattering of the topics that we'll cover:

- How to have the right mindset to be successful in your direct primary care journey
- How to become the doctor you're meant to be
- What a typical day looks like for a direct primary care doctor
- How to finance your direct primary care startup
- How to raise money for your DPC practice
- How to overcome a lack of business training in medical school and residency
- How to construct the perfect timeline for starting your DPC practice
- How to write a business plan for your direct primary care clinic
- How to start a direct primary care practice straight out of residency
- How to convert an existing fee-for-service clinic to a direct primary care practice while remaining profitable
- What's the difference between direct primary care and concierge medicine
- How to hire a second doctor for your DPC practice
- How to find a profitable location for your DPC practice
- How to negotiate a lease deal for your medical practice
- How to build out the medical office of your dreams
- How to attract patients to your direct primary care practice
- How to brand your practice so you stand out in your marketplace
- How to build your personal brand to grow your direct primary care practice

And so much more!

By picking up this book, you may be taking your first step in starting your direct primary care practice, or you may be taking the next big leap in growing your direct primary care practice. I know that whoever you are, and whichever stage you're at in your DPC journey, this book will inspire you and demonstrate in concrete methods how you can be even more successful.

Here's to your success in the growing DPC movement! - Dr. Paul Thomas

Another Amazing Review for the Startup DPC Book

Another Five Star Review for the Startup DPC Book

We love our readers! Thank you to Akilah De Aza for your recent review of our Startup DPC book! We appreciate you!!!

Akilah De Aza

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read if considering opening your own DPC practice.

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

I have not yet started my DPC practice, so I do not know what, if anything, this book might be missing. That said, I feel extremely comfortable following the directions in this book to maximize my chances of having a successful practice. Dr. Thomas wrote this book in a very approachable, easy to read manner that allows the reader to feel comfortable with what they don’t know. He has made sure to be respectful to everyone in all respects in this book. He has referenced other books for additional information. He has outlined exact dollar amount for expected costs. He has shared specific details about how he obtained money to start his own practice, some thing that was very helpful to me, and quite generous and forthcoming of him. 6 stars for this book! I could not be more grateful. I’m not even done reading it yet.
This is a must read for anyone considering starting a DPC practice and I even want for my family members to read the book so that they understand why I feel so confidently about something so brand new to me. Dr. Thomas and this book are Godsends.

How Much Money Will You Make in Your Direct Primary Care Practice?

How Much Money Will You Make in Your Direct Primary Care Practice?

Doctors want to know how much money they’ll make when they start a direct primary care practice. This question came up in the Direct Primary Care Facebook Group. You can join it, here.

Here’s the question in full:

I’ve been looking into doing a DPC practice, however the numbers don’t make sense to me. If I charge a patients $100 a month for unlimited visits, as well as access to email and phone calls. so if I sign up 500 patients that’s $600000 a year. Taking out overhead I’m left with $400,000. But with unlimited visits that encourages pts to constantly come in and makes fir a busy practice and on top of it I’m doing emails and phone calls after hours and after taxes maybe taking home $250,000. Is this correct or am I missing something ? Is there a way to charge for visits in addition to the monthly fee ? Do you drop all insurances when you are dpc?

Here’s my answer:

Well, there’s a lot there.

First, if you’re doing it for the money, then this may not be the right path for you.

Second, there are so many intangible benefits to running a successful DPC practice, like more time with patients, greater autonomy and satisfaction with your practice of medicine.

Third, because you only have 500 patients, not 2,400 like a typical doctor, you see 5x’s fewer patients each day, leading to less stress and more time with your patients.

Fourth, your overhead is super high - there are ways to deliver excellent care at a lower cost than what you’re projecting.

I explain the ethos of this movement in great detail in my book and I give a ton of practical pointers there as well:

https://www.startupdpc.com/books

#StartupDPC

The my response was followed up with a follow-up question:

But overhead is related to where you practice so if you practice in an expensive area the rents will be expensive and people expect higher pay

To which I responded:

yes, that's true, but I think that's a smaller piece of the puzzle than you perceive it to be. In my experience monthly rent is a big expense, but just 5% of our current monthly revenue, so in no way is it the biggest expense. Plus, when you scale up and hire more doctors, the relative cost of your rent becomes much less.

STARTUP DPC - DIRECT PRIMARY CARE MASTER CLASS

Because there are no in-person conferences this year, we are hosting an intimate gathering of Direct Primary Care doctors who are looking to start and grow their DPC practices. We did this last year, and it was a rousing success! Join our Direct Primary Care Master Class on May 14th through May 15th, 2021 at our Plum Health DPC office in Detroit, Michigan and accelerate your growth as a DPC doctor.

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

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

The Confidence You Need to Start Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice

Startup DPC book hits 51 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews

Our book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice just received its 51st review, and it has a 5-star rating overall. Our latest reviewer, Kyle, said that “After reading this book, I feel much more confident about opening my new DPC practice next year. This is a comprehensive guide, highly recommended.”

Thank you so much Kyle, and thank you to all of the people who’ve picked up a copy of our awesome book on starting and growing a direct primary care practice!

I am truly humbled by all of the kindness and positive feedback that I’ve received after publishing this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC

Our book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice just received its 51st review, and it has a 5-star rating overall.

Encouraging Doctors to Start Direct Primary Care Practices

Family medicine doctors and primary care doctors are using the Startup DPC book to start and grow their direct primary care practices. This week, we got a delightful review via Amazon from one of our readers, and they said “Very awesome book. Not only does it give great insight for dpc but it is also very encouraging. Thank you for writing this, exactly what I was looking for!”

We really appreciate this sort of feedback.

To all of my direct primary care colleagues, I love encouraging other doctors and helping them succeed - your success is our shared success for this DPC movement.

Keep pushing. Keep growing. Keep serving. Keep leading.

How Can I Learn More About Starting an 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 book and 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, in our book, 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

Startup DPC Book Helps Doctors Start and Grow Their Direct Primary Care Practices

This week, I got a very kind text message from a doctor who is on the verge of starting their direct primary care practice. They mentioned how they loved the business perspective that this book demonstrates - I think this is because doctors aren’t quite sure how to start a business because they’ve never done it before. In this book, I take you step by step through the startup process for your direct primary care practice. I give you the timeline and I break it down into simple pieces. These simple steps will come together to help you create a fulfilling, successful, and sustainable practice.

A kind review for the Startup DPC book from a doctor who is on the verge of starting and growing their direct primary care practice

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 book and 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, in our book, 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

How this Family Physician Started a Direct Primary Care Practice Straight Out of Residency

How to Start a Direct Primary Care Practice Straight Out of Residency

Many doctors want to start a direct primary care practice straight out of residency. This is a difficult task, so many doctors become intimidated by the amount of work involved and subsequently settle for a job as an employed physician with a large hospital system.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a step-by-step approach available to doctors who want to start their own direct primary care practices. First, you need to write a business plan for your direct primary care practice. This is crucial so that you understand the numbers involved, like how much it’ll cost to get set up, how much it will cost each month to run your business, how many patients you’ll need, and the average amount of money each patient needs to spend for your business to be sustainable.

Once you have your business plan in hand, you can create a timeline for that business. You will start by laying out a 12-month or 9-month or 6-month road map where you execute all of the tasks that you’ll need to complete to have a successful and thriving direct primary care practice. The great news is that you can complete many of these steps while in residency.

As a resident you can:

• write a business plan

• start building relationships with specialists

• learn as many new skills as you can that will help you deliver excellent medical care for your future patients

• design a website or work with a web designer

• design a logo or work with a logo designer

• come up with your mission, vision, and values for your new clinic

• start developing relationships with vendors like lab vendors, whole-sale medication vendors, and imaging services vendors

• start looking for locations for your new clinic

Simply put, residency is a great time to plan and dream big for your future direct primary care practice because you can start working on it now. I write about this process extensively in my book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice. In the book, I dedicate an entire chapter to what to do in Residency and how to do it, so you’re primed for success in the direct primary care model after graduation.

One of the biggest things you can do during residency is to set up your own elective rotation in direct primary care. I created a Direct Primary Care Elective Rotation Curriculum and I am happy to share it with you here - just drop me an email and I will send you my direct primary care elective rotation curriculum. Please include “Send me the Direct Primary Care Curriculum” in the message for the fastest response possible.

I also dedicate an entire chapter of the book to a detailed timeline of what to do over a 6 month to 12 month period, and how to leverage that time to build up to a successful and thriving direct primary care practice.

I’m writing about this today because I was recently featured on the Health Solutions podcast with Shawn Needham. It was a great conversation and we touch on these subjects in the interview!

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 book and 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, in our book, 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

Startup DPC Book Review

This week, we received an amazing review from Chris Wilson, a social worker and critical thinker on healthcare issues for the Startup DPC book:

Hello, my name is Christopher and I am a behavioral health provider in the city of Chicago. I work in an integrated care setting within an infectious disease clinic. I am an avid advocate for comprehensive health care reform and as a result am increasingly curious and open to any voice within healthcare that seeks to offer an alternative to our otherwise failing, expensive, and underwhelming system.

This book and Dr. Paul’s previous book (see here) are about Direct Primary Care (DPC)—this one is specifically aimed at those who may want to consider opening a DPC practice. It is an excellent read and quite detailed—very few questions, if any will go unanswered. His passion for providing excellent care from the perspective of the patient and the doctor is fierce and he does an excellent job of showing just how DPC practices can do just that.

Further, the lost art of truly informed consent is not lost on Dr. Paul. He takes hopeful DPC practitioners through the potential good, bad, and ugly of DPC practices. Heck, Dr. Paul even hypothesizes the types of folks that SHOULDN’T consider this venture.

Yet this won’t be a surprise after getting to know to Dr. Paul in person or through his writings. His authenticity breathes off the pages and he speaks frankly about things in a way that for many will be deeply refreshing when contrasted with the overly sterile, uncompassionate, and impersonable state of many health systems today.

Personally, I want the real deal and someone that will tell me to dig deep when considering a mission statement as opposed to some generic cookie cutter “crap you just put on the wall.” Yes, it’s okay to laugh—humor is good friends and the author isn’t afraid to use it! Dr. Paul is dynamic and radically authentic, in the best way possible.

Hand in hand with authenticity comes transparency. Dr. Paul discusses how transparency and communication is one of the core values of his DPC practice. His writing is no different as this book offers a behind the curtain transparency about a vast range of topics pertaining to Dr. Paul’s personal DPC business ventures…right on down to the nuts and bolts of his personal salary. Again, if you have questions—this book will most likely have the answers. 

Listen, as someone who works within healthcare AND is a high utilizer of health care I know how much is wrong with our current system and how much more we deserve as both providers and patients. Dr. Paul also knows this—and he is actively attempting to address it by practicing WITHIN and advocating FOR a system of primary care he knows is better.

Despite my personal experience with top-notch health systems within Los Angeles and Chicago—it will always be infuriating to hear about patients being double or triple booked, services and medications being exorbitantly overpriced, the devastating salaries of healthcare CEOs, the terrible patient experience, etc---the list goes on.

While I’m not quite sure how the DPC movement fits within the broader end goal of bringing universal health care to the USA, Dr. Paul makes a compelling and strong case about how to vastly improve the primary care experience NOW…consider enrolling in and/or starting a DPC practice today.

A recommended read!

Christopher L. Wilson, LCSW

Chris Wilson reviews the Startup DPC book - it’s available in paperback and on Amazon Kindle