By Beth Greenwood, MD, family medicine physician with more than 10 years of experience practicing in South Jersey
If you've started researching primary care and keep running into the term direct primary care, you're not alone. It's one of the fastest growing models in primary care right now, and it works differently enough from the insurance-based care most people grew up with that it deserves a real explanation, not just a tagline. Here's how I explain it to my own patients: how it works, what it costs, what it does and doesn't cover, and who tends to benefit most.
How Direct Primary Care Works
Direct primary care is a membership model. Instead of billing your insurance for every visit, I charge a flat monthly fee, and that fee covers your primary care visits, sick visits, many in-office procedures, and direct access to me by phone, text, or video. There's no copay, and there's no claim working its way through an insurance system for weeks after you've already forgotten what the visit was about. You pay one predictable amount, and I'm not paid more for seeing you again next week or less for spending an extra fifteen minutes with you today.
That changes the incentive completely. When I'm not racing to the next patient, I can keep my patient panel small enough that visits run as long as they need to in order to provide personalized, comprehensive care and for you to feel as though all your concerns are being addressed.
How This Is Different From Traditional Primary Care
Traditional insurance-based primary care runs on volume. A widely cited analysis in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine puts a typical primary care panel at around 2,500 patients per physician, and the same analysis argues that number doesn't leave enough time to manage each patient well. National data backs this up: the average primary care visit runs a little over 20 minutes, up from under 18 minutes in the early 1990s, according to The American Journal of Managed Care, and a 2025 survey by AMN Healthcare and Merritt Hawkins found new patients waited an average of 23.5 days for a family medicine appointment.
Direct primary care doctors keep panels closer to 300 to 500 patients, based on data from the Society of Actuaries, and that's the real reason same-day visits and unhurried appointments are possible. It comes down to math, not marketing.
What Direct Primary Care Does Not Cover
Direct primary care isn't a replacement for health insurance. Your membership covers everyday primary care: checkups, sick visits, chronic condition management, and ongoing access to me. It doesn't cover a hospital stay, surgery, specialist care, an ER visit, or your prescriptions at the pharmacy counter. Most of my patients pair their membership with a separate insurance plan, sometimes a high-deductible plan, to cover the bigger, less predictable costs. More than a quarter of covered workers nationally are on a high-deductible plan with a savings option, according to KFF's 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey, so for a lot of families, direct primary care and insurance are meant to work together, not compete.
Who Direct Primary Care Tends to Fit Well
In my experience, direct primary care works best for people who want more time with their doctor and faster access to care when something comes up, people managing a chronic condition who need closer follow-up than a rushed annual visit allows, self-employed people and small business owners who want to pair a lower-cost health plan with reliable primary care, and anyone who's tired of feeling like a number during a short visit. It's a personal decision. Think about your own health needs, your current coverage, and how you use primary care before you decide if it's right for you.
Direct Primary Care at Greenwood Family Medicine
Greenwood Family Medicine opened in Voorhees, NJ on December 7, 2026, and I see members ages 12 and up. Membership means extended visits, direct access to me by phone, text, or video, and a doctor who isn't juggling thousands of other patients at the same time. My pricing and membership page has the specifics, and if you have questions before you commit, reach out. I'm happy to schedule a meet and greet visit to see if this would be a good fit for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is direct primary care the same as concierge medicine?
No, its not the same. Concierge medicine usually adds a membership fee on top of your existing insurance-billed visits. Direct primary care replaces that insurance billing for primary care with one flat fee. I will go into more detail in a future post where I compare the two.
Do I still need health insurance if I join?
Yes. My membership covers your everyday primary care, but you still need insurance, or another plan, for hospitalization, surgery, specialist visits, and anything else outside of primary care.
How much does membership cost?
A primary membership is $150 per month plus a one-time $150 enrollment fee. A spouse membership is $135 per month, and a dependent membership, ages 12 to 22, is $120 per month. Nationally, direct primary care fees commonly run $100 to $300 a month, so I'm within the typical range.
What ages do you see?
Twelve and up.
This post is meant to be general information, not a substitute for individualized medical advice. If you have a specific health concern, reach out to my office or seek the appropriate care.
Curious whether direct primary care is right for your family? Schedule a meet and greet visit or send us a question at info@greenwoodfamilymedicine.com.
