Tea Nguyen, DPM (01:00.512)

Every month there are local employers, businesses, companies that are sending thousands of dollars to insurance companies to provide health insurance to their employees. And sometimes those employees might be driving distances to see a specialist who can't see them for over three or four or even six months. Meanwhile there's a specialist 10 minutes away with an open appointment that nobody knows about.

So, this episode is about closing that gap. You might have landed here thinking this was a podcast about how to leave insurance in your private practice. And I hope that the last 200 plus episodes have shown you how to think like a direct care doctor to launch your own practice. But we're actually doing something bigger. When one specialist succeeds in opening their direct specialty care practice, they are giving their colleagues, med students, and others who are crossing our paths.

Permission to do something different. They are also providing much-needed services to their community and they're doing so with enthusiasm. Joyful work matters, especially in medicine. So here's where I'm taking you today. You need to understand that your expertise matters. Healthcare is feeling detached.

Patients are traveling long distances or they're waiting for months for care or they're traveling internationally for better or for worse. No judgment about that but that speaks to the need for cost-effective care here in the United States and likely in your own community. A direct care practice is a community resource. We're not just a business model. It spreads wide between rural medicine and even more posh setups for those serving C-suite executives. There is a version of direct care for people of all income levels.

Tea Nguyen, DPM (02:52.908)

It's not uncommon for me to have international visitors who are visiting Santa Cruz County to find my practice because they understand that it's easier and faster and there's quality care in contracting directly with the doctor and so they'll call and I'll get them on the schedule and their problem is solved. And I think that's very cool to be able to be set up in that way.

I feel very privileged to be chosen to be their doctor. And oftentimes they're like, what is wrong with the United States healthcare system? Why is it that I called over there and it takes forever to see somebody? Or that business over there, because I don't have insurance, they can't see me. What's that all about? And I can only say, I don't know, but I'm glad you're here.

Now here's where we need a collective voice because one specialist is a niche. Hundreds of them.

Are a market that employers, brokers, and policymakers have to take seriously. This is why the Direct Specialty Care Alliance exists. This was formed by rheumatologist Dr. Diana Girnita  and hematologist Dr. Lara Briseno Kenney . And you may have also heard of Dr. Lou Flaspohler, all who have been on this podcast to discuss the bigger impact that we have as a unit. And that requires everyone on board to be on board. Physicians are Often independent workers and thinkers.

Tea Nguyen, DPM (04:22.444)

But we need a singular place for others to find us, to cross-refer, and to have other opportunities that we have yet to know exist. I know the work that I'm doing here is meaningful, so I reached out to the health conference, it's HLTH Conference, which is a large US event where people who make healthcare decisions gather. This year's focus is on using AI and healthcare accessibility. There will be more decision makers there than there will be.

Doctors, but I'll be there with one distinct mission to find out who's building a path for doctors to be paid directly. I'm very fortunate to be invited as a physician influencer, which is kind of funny because I don't consider myself an influencer, and you know, there's connotations with that word, but nonetheless, I was invited to be there, to sit there amongst executives.

And decision makers, which tells me we ought to be there as doctors. Which tells me we ought to be there. If you're interested in joining me, I'll put the link down below and please let me know if you decide to go too so that we can connect IRL. Now, if you don't know what that is, that means in real life. Alright. So what's the next frontier for us?

Direct contracting with these employers. What does that mean? There are many businesses that are self-funded or self-insured. These are employers who pay its employees their medical bills. So they're using money from the company.

And instead of paying a fixed premium to the insurance company, they'll just pay out to the employees. I used to have full-time employees, and for me, it was a requirement, an obligation to offer health insurance because that was a benefit people were looking for. So I was offering my two full-time employees at the time full coverage for their insurance. Turns out that's a lot of money. So if you're gonna take the example of having to pay out $1,500 a month per employee.

Tea Nguyen, DPM (06:26.946)

Let's say Blue Shield, the insurers will pay the claim. And if there's a difference between what the claim is billed from your monthly premiums, the insurance retains that premium. So if they went out and saw a doctor that one time, that one month for let's say $400, the difference of eleven hundred dollars is retained by the insurance companies. So these self-funded companies would much rather

Set aside money to pay the claim as they come in.

There's usually a third party involved, a third party administrator to process the claim. And there might be a cap on how much the employer pays out. But the point is the employer who are self-funded, they're keeping those savings. And if the claims are lower than expected, the money stays with the company instead of with the insurance premiums. With the insurance premiums, those credits don't roll over. So basically not having to deal with the insurance or the insurance markup.

Allows for more cash flow, so money is only paid out as it's used. So I didn't know about this when I was offering health insurance to my staff.

And I think this is valuable information because you're going to own your business or you own your business now, and maybe it is more economical for you to pay your employees as they have healthcare expenses. And if you want to provide that as a benefit, which I know a lot of doctors are now offering, they might be offering that in the way of having a DPC doctor, for example, as part of their employee benefits. You can decide what that looks like for your business.

Tea Nguyen, DPM (07:59.264)

Now, for the employers who contract with direct specialty care, this is a perfect match because the whole premise of what we do as doctors in direct care is transparent pricing, it's fast access, it's getting the employees back to work sooner because they're getting diagnosed sooner, they're getting treatment sooner, and the healthcare dollars are staying within the local economy. Your small business is helping your community stay healthy.

And money spent within the community stays within the community. That money goes into taxes, it goes into you hiring staff members that live locally and so forth. So this is a win for everybody. The employer saves money, the employee gets timely care, and the practice gets that steady patient volume. Now, disclaimer: this is still very new for specialty care.

But that is what I see coming for us if we do this together. If we have a singular voice to represent us as direct specialty care so that we can normalize direct care as an economical option for self-insured businesses. So, how do we actually get there? Well, employers can't buy from you if they don't know you exist. So here's my invitation for you.

Seek out self-funded employers in your area and decide to bundle your services for your top three to five services. Start introducing yourself to these local benefits brokers.

in the next 90 days. Tell them what you're doing, how what you're doing saves money and time, and it gets their employees back on their feet. And connect with other like-minded businesses. Maybe that's through your local chamber of commerce or other business groups.

Tea Nguyen, DPM (09:54.102)

If we all did that, imagine how much more business we can get in our practice, but also another resource for our community to know that we exist. If you still love medicine, if you still love taking care of patients, I want you to keep the fire going.

Keep this in mind, direct care is not just a practice model. This is a mission to normalize the option for direct care. So you're not just launching a practice, you're building part of the healthcare system that your community deserves. This is why I believe with all my whole heart in the Direct Specialty Care Alliance's mission to bring doctors together and leverage opportunities as a unit. Even as a board member, I pay my membership dues because I truly believe that physicians should not have to give Up quality care to keep their practice open. Direct care is a viable way for physicians to stay in medicine, and that is something everyone should care about. So next month I'll report back from the health conference on whether the decision makers are listening to us if they're ready for us. And the real question for you today is, are you ready for direct care? I'll catch you next week. Take care.