Dr. Michelle-Linh Nguyen became a Direct Primary Care (DPC) doctor and launched her independent practice in a few short months, and nearly a year in, she’s spent less than $10,000 on the whole project.

Yeah, it’s that doable.

A DPC doctor is a primary care physician who contracts directly with patients or their employers for healthcare services, instead of billing insurance. Patients pay a flat monthly or annual membership fee, typically between $75 and $150 per month, that covers most routine and preventive care, including office visits, basic labs, and virtual consultations.

Because there’s no insurance middleman, DPC doctors usually keep much smaller patient panels (often 300 to 600 patients compared to 2,500 to 4,000 in the legacy system). This allows them to spend more time with each patient, offer same-day or next-day appointments, and communicate directly by phone, email, or text.

In this podcast, hear why doctor Michelle left a large healthcare system in the San Francisco Bay area to a DIY practice in the gold-laden foothills of Gott’s Gulch.

* Dr. Michelle’s website: https://michelle-md.com/

* Michelle’s Substack: mtln.substack.com

5:00 DPC vs Concierge Medicine

12:20 Home visits and length of visit

31:00 Doctor burnout.

34:08 Pairing DPCs with self-funded plans

47:50 Ordering referrals

55:45 Malpractice insurance

56:20 How employees flood to DPC when available

58:08 Working with independent grocers

1:07:45 How to build your own health plan

1:15:30 How DPCs treat you when you’re hospitalized

1:25:00 DPCs can now be purchased with HSAs

Build-Your-Own Health Plan article: https://gottwals.substack.com/p/build-your-own-health-plan

Music by Marc “MIRV” Haggard.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gottwals.substack.com