Frequently Asked Questions

Direct Primary Care, or DPC, represents an innovative approach to delivering primary care that has already assisted a quarter of a million people in improving their health and reducing healthcare expenses. Patients at DPC practices frequently receive continuous primary care from their doctors without any copays. They enjoy the convenience of online scheduling options, benefit from near-wholesale prices on medications and blood tests, and even have access to their doctor’s personal cell phone number, creating a sense of having a doctor within the family. The answer is simple: direct primary care practices eliminate intermediaries like insurance companies, allowing them to provide excellent care at fair prices. Most DPC memberships cost less than your monthly cell phone or cable bill, ensuring outstanding care whenever you require it. If you’re tired of high copays, excessively long wait times, and rushed 8-minute doctor visits, direct primary care is for you.

You won’t have to pay a copay for office visits or routine physicals. You’ll also be able to avoid many visits altogether by sending your questions directly to us via email and text — something you won’t get from a traditional practice. We’ve negotiated amazing deals for prescription medications, blood tests, X-rays, and MRI/CT scans on your behalf. More importantly, since you are getting all this amazing care from us, you can cut way back on your insurance premiums. Most DPC patients find a high-deductible, low-premium insurance plan so they’re covered in the case of a major health issue, and leave the rest of their healthcare to us.

Of course! Physician access is one of the greatest benefits of the direct primary care model. Because illness and injury do not respect regular office hours, you may call, text, or email your physician whenever you need to.

Of course — this sort of care is “baked in” to the DPC model. Because you’ll have your doctor’s email and phone number, you can reach out to us whenever you need, wherever you are. Many illnesses can be diagnosed and treated with a simple conversation. We’ll also locate the nearest pharmacy and order the medications most appropriate for your circumstances.

We maintain high standards of patient privacy. We will never provide your health information to any third party unless you specifically ask that we do so.

I prefer to say that I don’t bill insurance. This means that I don’t take your commercial or Medicaid insurance card information and submit a bill to your insurance in order for the clinic to get paid for our services — which is what clinics in the traditional fee-for-service system do.

I still want you to use your insurance for surgeries, ER visits (which we try our best to prevent), labor and delivery, etc. However, with a direct primary care membership, you can receive all your primary care needs for a reasonable price, with no insurance company interference. This allows us to deliver the primary care experience you deserve.

For starters, having such unprecedented direct access to your doctor will prevent hospitalizations and specialty referrals in many cases. However, when those types of care are required, we will certainly continue to work with your hospitalist during your hospital stay as well as work closely with any specialist. Depending on the level of care and the sorts of expertise required, we may rely on those specialized caregivers to manage that part of your treatment.

Charges will be added and applied to your preferred method of payment.

We expect to have an open, honest, respectful relationship with you. If you have voiced a complaint that we cannot satisfy together, we will gladly allow you to terminate your membership.

Yes, we take care of any patient regardless of your insurance situation. Since we work completely outside of the insurance system, none of the billing is eligible for insurance reimbursement. However, we recommend that everyone has insurance coverage, which is still important in the event of a major health issue.

You may want to check with your human resources department regarding the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) as possible payment options for your membership. If you are unable to use these funds to pay for the membership fee directly, there is a good chance that you can still use your HSA/FSA as reimbursement for certain services provided through our office.

Yes. You need to sign a waiver declaring that neither you nor we will directly bill Medicare for our services. Medicare will usually cover any laboratory testing, imaging, medications, or hospitalizations ordered by our practice.

Dr. Ali does not prescribe controlled substances for long-term use. You will need to see another physician, preferably a specialist in pain medicine or psychiatry, to receive controlled substances. We do not carry pain medications or controlled substances in our clinic.