Considering Direct Primary Care?

You're not alone. 2756 DPC practices across 52 states have stepped off the insurance treadmill. Here's the case for the model, the math behind it, and the steps to launch your own practice.

How to start a practice List your practice

The case for DPC

400–600

Patients per panel

Compared to 2,000–3,000 in traditional family medicine.

$200K–$350K+

Take-home at maturity

Competitive with MGMA median for employed family medicine, with practice ownership.

93%

DPC physician satisfaction

Versus a national average burnout rate near 50%.

15–25%

Annual DPC growth

2,800+ practices today, up from ~700 in 2015.

The full breakdown — including the panel-size math, prior auth burden, and the transition economics — lives in our FAQ on burnout and the case for DPC.

How to start a DPC practice

  1. Decide the model — pure DPC, hybrid, or employer-direct.
  2. Build a financial model — $75–$100/month membership, 400–500 patient panel target, 12–24 months to sustainability.
  3. Set up the entity and legal — PLLC/PC, malpractice, membership agreement reviewed by a healthcare attorney.
  4. Pick lightweight tools — Hint Health, Atlas.md, or Elation for EHR; Stripe for billing; direct lab contracts.
  5. Find space — 300–800 sq ft is plenty. Many practices launch with shared or part-time space.
  6. Plug into the community — DPC Alliance, DPC Frontier, Hint Summit. The community is unusually generous about mentorship.

Step-by-step detail with budget ranges, EHR options, and state-specific legal notes is in our FAQ: How do I start a DPC practice?

Recommended reading

See DPC in your area

The fastest way to model your own practice is to look at peers. Browse practices by state to see how they price, structure pricing tiers, and present themselves to patients.

Browse practices by state

List your practice on the directory

Free to list. Helps patients in your area find you. Takes a few minutes.

Joining the directory is a soft signal of an active practice for prospective patients and for physicians thinking about making the same jump you did. Listing is free, and you control what appears on your practice page.

List your practice

Resources and communities

DPC Alliance

Physician-led membership organization. Annual summit, advocacy, mentorship.

DPC Frontier

State-by-state legal mapper, model membership agreements, founder interviews.

Hint Health

EHR + practice management built specifically for DPC. Annual Hint Summit.

Atlas.md

Lightweight EHR tailored for DPC practices.