Community & Resources

There are several key organizations in the DPC world that you should know about and consider getting involved with.

The DPC Alliance at dpcalliance.org is the primary national advocacy organization for Direct Primary Care, and they do important work lobbying for DPC-friendly legislation at both the federal and state level, including pushing for the DPC Act which would allow Medicare patients to use their HSA funds for DPC memberships. They also maintain a DPC practice directory and provide startup resources for new practices, and membership runs about $200 to $500 per year depending on your practice size.

DPC Frontier at dpcfrontier.com was founded by Dr. Philip Eskew and it is the go-to resource for DPC data, research, and practice mapping. Their interactive DPC practice mapper shows every known DPC practice in the United States, which is incredibly useful for researching your market and understanding the competitive landscape. They also publish the most comprehensive DPC research database available and host regular webinars on DPC topics, and access is free with donations welcome.

The DPC Coalition is a grassroots coalition of DPC physicians focused on federal legislative advocacy, and they coordinate letter-writing campaigns, congressional meetings, and public comments on proposed regulations that could affect how DPC practices operate.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has officially endorsed DPC as a legitimate practice model and provides DPC-specific resources through their practice transformation programs, including startup guides, legal summaries, and practice management tools through their DPC resource page.

The Society of Direct Primary Care is a professional society for DPC physicians that provides continuing medical education, networking opportunities, and practice resources.

And Hint Health, which is the DPC membership management platform, also hosts an active online community of DPC physicians, publishes the Hint blog with insights on DPC business topics, and organizes the annual Hint Summit conference.

The flagship annual conference is the DPC Summit, which is organized by the DPC Alliance and typically held in July or August in a major US city. It runs 2 to 3 days and covers everything from the nuts and bolts of starting a practice to employer contract strategies to legislative updates, and it draws more than 500 attendees including DPC physicians, people just getting started, employers, and policy makers. This is the must-attend conference for anyone serious about DPC and early bird registration typically runs about $400 to $600.

The Hint Summit is hosted by Hint Health and focuses more on the business and technology side of DPC. It has strong content on employer DPC, practice growth strategies, and DPC technology, and it is typically held in San Francisco or another major West Coast city with about 300 or more attendees. It is also an excellent networking opportunity for connecting with DPC-focused vendors and technology companies.

DPC Nuts and Bolts is an intensive workshop-style conference designed specifically for physicians who are in the early stages of starting a DPC practice, and the content is very tactical and hands-on covering things like business plan development, financial modeling, legal setup, and marketing plans. It has a smaller and more intimate format with about 50 to 100 attendees and is sometimes held in conjunction with the DPC Summit or as its own standalone event.

The AAFP FMX is the American Academy of Family Physicians' annual conference and it includes DPC-specific tracks and sessions, making it a good option for family medicine physicians who want to explore DPC alongside broader family medicine content in a conference that draws more than 5,000 attendees.

Beyond the major conferences, many states and metro areas have regular DPC physician meetups that happen either in person or virtually, and you can find these by checking your state's DPC Facebook group, the DPC Alliance chapter directory, or just asking in the national DPC Facebook groups. These smaller intimate gatherings are often some of the most valuable networking you can do because you are meeting DPC physicians in your specific market who understand the particular challenges and opportunities in your area.

DPC Frontier, Hint Health, and the DPC Alliance all host regular webinars on various DPC topics as well, and these are great for continuing education and staying current on trends without the time and expense of traveling to a conference.

The most important Facebook group to join is DPC Docs at facebook.com/groups/dpcdocs, which is the largest and most active DPC Facebook group with over 5,000 members. This is where DPC physicians ask questions, share wins, troubleshoot problems, and support each other on a daily basis, and the range of topics covered is enormous from "what EHR should I use" to "how do I handle the Medicare opt-out" to "my lease negotiation is going sideways and I need help." The group is moderated by experienced DPC physicians and the joining requirement is that you must be a physician with an MD or DO degree or a physician in training.

The Direct Primary Care group at facebook.com/groups/directprimarycare is a broader community that includes not just physicians but also nurse practitioners, physician assistants, practice managers, and people who are simply curious about DPC, and it features more general discussion about the DPC model, policy developments, and news in the DPC world.

DPC Frontier at facebook.com/groups/dpcfrontier is managed by the DPC Frontier team and focuses specifically on DPC data, research, and evidence-based practice, which makes it a great group for physicians who want to stay current on the DPC literature and outcomes studies.

DPC Women Physicians is a supportive community specifically for women physicians who are practicing DPC or considering the transition, and it provides a space to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that women face in building and running a DPC practice.

DPC plus Employer is a more specialized group focused exclusively on employer DPC contracts, sales strategies, and plan design, and while it is smaller than the main groups it is highly targeted and very useful for physicians who are building out the employer side of their practice.

Beyond Facebook there are several other online communities worth exploring. Reddit has an active subreddit at r/directprimarycare with regular DPC discussions. For podcasts you should check out My DPC Story hosted by Dr. Maryal Concepcion where she interviews DPC physicians about their journeys, along with DPC Insights and Physician Nerd which are also excellent. And LinkedIn is the best platform for connecting with employers, benefits brokers, and DPC thought leaders, so search for "Direct Primary Care" and start following the people who are active in that space.

One practical tip before you start posting questions in any DPC group is to use the search function first, because most of the common startup questions have already been asked and thoroughly answered multiple times, and the group archives represent an incredible knowledge base that you can learn from without waiting for responses to a new post.

There are several good ways to find a DPC mentor, and the most effective approach is usually to try a few of them at once.

Attending a DPC conference like the DPC Summit or Hint Summit is probably the single best way to meet experienced DPC physicians in person, and the hallway conversations and after-hours networking at these events are honestly just as valuable as the formal sessions on the schedule.

The DPC Frontier mapper at dpcfrontier.com lets you find DPC practices near you or in markets similar to yours, and once you identify a few physicians you would like to connect with, just reach out and ask if they would be open to a mentorship conversation. The overwhelming majority of DPC physicians will say yes.

Posting in the DPC Docs or Direct Primary Care Facebook groups that you are starting a practice and looking for a mentor will almost always generate multiple responses from people who are happy to help.

The DPC Alliance runs a mentorship program that matches aspiring DPC physicians with experienced practitioners, which takes the guesswork out of finding someone.

And some state medical associations have DPC interest groups or can connect you directly with DPC physicians practicing in your state.

When you are looking for a mentor, the ideal person is someone who has been in DPC for at least 2 years so they have gotten through the ramp-up and have real operational experience, who practices in a market similar to yours in terms of whether it is rural, suburban, or urban, who runs a practice model similar to what you are planning whether that is solo, group, or employer-focused, who is willing to be transparent about their financial data including actual revenue, expenses, and growth curves, and who is available for regular check-ins whether that is a monthly phone call or an occasional coffee meeting.

In terms of what you should bring to the mentorship relationship, come with specific questions rather than asking them to "tell you everything about DPC," be willing to share your own progress and challenges honestly, respect their time by preparing for each conversation, and commit to paying it forward by mentoring the next generation of DPC physicians once you are established yourself.

Many DPC physicians also participate in peer mastermind groups, which are small groups of 4 to 8 physicians who meet on a monthly basis to share challenges, brainstorm solutions, and hold each other accountable. If a group like this does not already exist in your area, consider starting one by posting in the DPC Facebook groups to find other interested physicians near you.

In terms of books, there are several that the DPC community consistently recommends as essential reading. "The Direct Primary Care Revolution" by Dr. Josh Umbehr is considered the foundational DPC book because Dr. Umbehr founded one of the first DPC practices, Atlas.md in Wichita, Kansas, and in this book he shares the philosophy behind the model, the mechanics of how it works, and the evidence supporting it. "DPC How" by Dr. Paul Thomas is a very practical step-by-step guide that walks you through starting a DPC practice covering everything from business planning and legal setup to pricing and marketing and operations. "The Startup Owner's Manual" by Steve Blank is not healthcare-specific but it is essential reading for any physician who is about to become an entrepreneur because it teaches lean startup methodology that applies directly to launching a DPC practice. And "Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System" by Dr. Lee Gross makes a compelling argument for DPC as a healthcare policy solution while also providing practical advice for physicians who are considering making the transition.

For podcasts, "My DPC Story" hosted by Dr. Maryal Concepcion is the single best DPC podcast available because she interviews DPC physicians about their real-world journeys and has produced hundreds of episodes covering virtually every DPC topic you can think of. "DPC Insights" features shorter tactical episodes focused on specific practice management topics. And "Physician Nerd" hosted by Dr. Nii Darko discusses physician entrepreneurship with a strong focus on DPC and direct care models.

There are also some valuable online courses and programs including the DPC Nuts and Bolts course which has an online version available between the in-person conferences, the Hint Health Academy which offers free online resources for DPC practice management, and the DPC Alliance startup toolkit which includes checklists, templates, and step-by-step guides.

For financial planning and advisory resources, Physicians Thrive is a financial planning firm that focuses specifically on physicians, WealthKeel provides physician-specific financial advisory, and the White Coat Investor is a well-known physician personal finance community with a wealth of content relevant to self-employed doctors.

And for staying current on the DPC research literature, DPC Frontier maintains the most comprehensive database of DPC research and publications at dpcfrontier.com/research, and the key studies you should read include the Qliance outcomes study, the University of Michigan DPC satisfaction study, the Nextera employer outcomes data, and any DPC-specific research that has been published about your state if available.