Chiropractor Jason Rueggeberg remembers the day one of his employees had a severe anxiety attack at work. She had been diagnosed with a heart condition and considered going to the ER.
Instead, she went to her Physician Assistant’s office. The Physician Assistant performed an EKG and told her to go home and rest, instead of going to the ER. That office visit saved her thousands of dollars.
Rueggeberg, a chiropractor at Evans Sport and Spine Chiropractic Center, currently has a membership with Welcome Health, a new direct primary care practice in the CSRA. But he also pays for memberships for his three employees, a decision he’s glad he made.
Three local physician assistants and three doctors have combined their practices to form Welcome Health, which is looking to partner with local businesses to offer affordable, accessible medical services for a monthly membership fee.
The company currently has locations in Augusta and Evans. Drs. Rob Lamberts and Ed Boland are located at 119 Davis Road, Suite 4A in Augusta. Dr. Mittal Patel, along with physician assistants, Davis Mellick, Rachel Mellick, and Kelsey Clegg see patients at 418 Town Park Blvd., Suite 1A in Evans.
Rueggeberg said unlike with some other medical practices, his employees don’t have to wait hours to see a doctor at Welcome Health.
“I love it because my employees love it; it’s fast and accessible,” he said. “It has allowed me to build value for my employees.”
With the direct primary care model, patients pay a flat monthly fee for medical services rather than using third-party health insurance. Davis Mellick said providers also have more time to devote to their patients.
“We get to know our patients, which leads to better results,” he said.
Mellick said in traditional primary care practice, each provider typically has between 2,500 and 3,000 patients, and appointments tend to last no more than 15 minutes.
In a DPC practice, each provider generally has between 500 and 800 patients each, which means they can treat patients with a wider range of medical conditions without referring them to specialists.
“It’s not that primary care providers can’t treat these conditions; they just don’t have time,” he said.
One hour is scheduled for new patient appointments, while follow-up appointments can last up to 30 minutes. Patients can also communicate with their providers through an app called Spruce, which means some health care needs can be addressed without an office visit.
The company also provides lower costs for many medications through its in-house dispensary, as well as labs.
Welcome Health provides health coverage options for businesses of various sizes. Small businesses can provide memberships for their employees, while larger businesses can combine memberships with traditional health insurance plans.
“For many smaller employers, it’s well within their budget to sign up for a DPC,” Mellick said.
So far, about 30 small employers, including salons, construction companies, and lawn care businesses, have signed up. But he said the company would also like to offer cost-effective ways to work with larger businesses that have hundreds of employees.
One option these businesses have is offering employees a Welcome Health membership and a high-deductible insurance plan. Mellick said the two can work well together if the deductible isn’t too high.
“If a deductible is $6,000, very few people could come up with that amount right now,” he said.
There are also affordable bridge plans that can cover the cost of a patient’s deductible and health share plans, such as Christian Health Insurance, that typically cost much less than traditional insurance premiums. Health sharing is an alternative to insurance that allows members to share health care costs.
Mellick said the company has representatives who can help employers choose plans that best meet their needs and the needs of their employees.
He said there has been a 300 percent increase in the number of DPCs throughout the United States.
“It’s a good model for people getting burned out in primary care practices,” Mellick said. “The burnout rate in medicine is really high.”
Welcome Health offers both individual and family memberships. Individual membership rates are based on a patient’s age.
For more information about your business can work with the company, visit https://www.welcomehealth.net/ or call 706-504-9321.
A Tedx talk by Dr. Rob Lamberts explaining the direct care model can be found here.
