Compare Your Primary Care Options

This is the conversation we have on most fit calls. Worth having in writing.

The four real options

	Traditional Primary Care	Urgent Care	Concierge (Hybrid)	Direct Primary Care (us)
Visit length	7 to 15 minutes	10 to 20 minutes	20 to 45 minutes	30 to 120 minutes
Same-day access	Rare	Yes (walk-in)	Sometimes	Routine
See your actual doctor	Sometimes	No (whoever is on)	Usually	Always
Direct text or video	Rare	No	Sometimes	Yes
Annual physical depth	12 to 20 minutes	None	30 to 60 minutes	90 minutes
Advanced labs (ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin)	Rare	No	Sometimes	Yes, standard
Wearable + CGM review	No	No	Rare	Yes
Same physician across years	Sometimes	No	Yes	Yes
Care coordination	Light	None	Some	Full
Home visits	No	No	Rare	Yes (for members in the city)
Bills your insurance for visits	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Per-visit copays	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Membership fee	None	None	Yes (mid to high)	Yes (low to mid)
Replaces your other insurance	No (it IS insurance care)	No	No	No
Typical cost per year	Insurance premium + copays	$200 to $500 per visit	$3,500 to $7,500 + insurance	$250 to $2,500 / yr + your insurance for hospital, surgery, specialists, imaging, prescriptions

Who each one is for

Traditional primary care. Good for adults who are mostly well, see a doctor once a year, and use insurance for everything else. The visits are short and the doctor changes more often than you would like, but the cost per visit is low. Urgent care. Good for acute, uncomplicated issues when you do not have a primary care relationship or your doctor cannot fit you in. Not a continuity model, by design. Hybrid concierge. Good for adults who want longer visits and more access but want to keep using their insurance for everything, including primary care visits. You pay a membership fee AND copays on visits. Direct primary care (us). Good for adults who:

• Want to actually reach their doctor (text, video, same-day).
• Want longer visits and a real annual physical, not 12 minutes.
• Want advanced labs (ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin, wearable review) read with them.
• Are willing to pay a flat membership fee for unlimited primary care visits instead of paying per visit through insurance.
• Are NOT trying to drop their insurance entirely (we run alongside it).

When a different model is the better fit for you

We genuinely want you in a setup that works for you, even if that setup isn't ours. You're probably a better fit somewhere else if:

• You only see a doctor once a year and feel well between visits. Traditional primary care is cheaper for you.
• You want one-time acute care without a relationship. Urgent care is faster.
• You want a doctor to bill your insurance for every visit so you pay nothing out of pocket on the visit itself. We do not do that.
• You are looking for a Medicaid-only primary care home. Our billing model is not compatible.
• You need OB / delivery, pediatric, or active oncology care as your primary. Those are different specialties.

If you fit one of those better, the fit-call quiz takes 2 minutes and routes you cleanly.

How insurance fits with direct primary care

Worth being explicit because this surprises people every week:

• Your insurance still covers hospital, surgery, specialists, imaging, and prescriptions, exactly the way it does now.
• We do not bill your insurance for our care. The membership fee covers that.
• You can keep a high-deductible plan, a PPO, an employer plan, or marketplace coverage alongside.
• HSA or FSA dollars may apply to the membership; rules vary by plan, so confirm with your plan administrator.

The mental model: insurance covers the expensive things you hope you never use. The membership covers the unhurried, continuous care insurance has stopped paying primary care to provide.

The next step

Twenty minutes on the phone with Dr. Ash. If we are the right fit, you will know. If a different model is the right fit, we will say so and point you to it.