Frequently Asked Questions

Tampa Med DPC uses an innovative model of care known as Direct Primary Care (DPC). In this model, doctors are paid directly by their patients, rather than through governmental payers or insurance companies. Basically, we're cutting out the middle man, along with the hassles. This model of health care is rapidly growing. DPC is reminiscent of the doctor-patient relationship from times gone by, when doctors didn’t have thousands of patients, had plenty of time to spend with you, and you didn’t have to wait weeks for your appointment. Cutting out all the middlemen and red tape increases the doctor and the patient's satisfaction, and dramatically cuts costs.

You can expect very short wait times, longer appointments, and almost 24/7 access to your doctor. No more rushed visits or waiting weeks for an appointment. You can contact your physician via phone, text, e­mail, or social media, day or night. Find out more about our benefits in the Member Benefits section of our website.

All patients are encouraged to have at least major medical insurance coverage. The ACA legislation does exempt patients from the underinsured/non­insured tax if you have major medical/catastrophic coverage and a physician on retainer, which is what you will get with Tampa Med DPC. 

One way to save money on your healthcare is by getting insurance with low premiums and high deductibles.  DPC doctors strive to eliminate insurance claims.  Let's say you need some routine lab tests.  Why pay $200 toward a deductible you're unlikely to meet when you can get the same tests from a DPC doctor for $15 in cash?  (That in many cases can also be applied to your deductible!)

Unfortunately we hear this almost every day, and this is part of the reason we're here. Health insurance is not the same as health care, and health care does not have to be expensive.  We don't have to insure primary care. It can be affordable. Direct Primary Care is proving this every day all across the country.

However, even if you're using DPC to cover your preventative care and routine medical needs, you still need to be protected from catastrophic expenses that can happen in the rare case of a medical emergency, hospitalization, surgery, etc. 

There are affordable short-term catastrophic insurance products available on the market, but most of them are only good for a few months at a time. While they're very affordable and definitely offer catastrophic protection, if you get a medical condition while you're on such a short-term plan, the insurance company will drop you like a bad habit the second the short term policy expires, which makes this a pretty lousy option overall (not to mention you'd have to re-enroll several times a year). However, longer-term catastrophic insurance products are emerging on the market in the post-Obamacare era.

Health Sharing organizations are a fantastic third option.  There are both faith-based and non-faith based health shares in existence today. Many Tampa Med Direct Care patients have joined one of the Christian Health Sharing Ministries (CHSM).  These non-profit companies existed before the ACA was enacted and were grandfathered in. They generally exist as underwritten refund-style memberships (where you get paid back by other members for your qualified healthcare expenses.)  Often, they function much like catastrophic insurance, and are very affordable compared to ACA-compliant insurance plans, and because they are faith-based, the plans exempt the members from paying the ACA penalty (Obamacare tax).  CHSMs include Liberty HealthShare, MediShare, Samaritan Ministries, and several others.  A quick internet search will help you research these ministries.  A similar non-faith based health sharing organization on the market now is Sedera which has been fantastic to work with, and a highly affordable option for many DPC patients.

Lastly, there are still catastrophic plans available as group insurance products, as well as self-funded or partially-self-funded "ERISA" plans. Although these plans can save you lots of money, they're only available to groups, (I.e. employers.)  Talk to your employer about finding a plan like this, as some of these companies give significant discounts to employers whose patients use DPC practices, and such employers are saving up to 60% on their insurance expenses. Allied National is a good example.

Rarely, patients can submit a receipt for their membership fees or lab/medication costs.  However, very few insurance companies will apply these payments toward a deductible. 

The law currently allows the use of HSA money to pay for medications, imaging tests, labs, etc.  However, it is legally unclear if HSA funds can be used to pay for DPC membership fees.  This is a question for your tax professional. Legislation has been proposed to clear up the question regarding if HSA money can be spent on a DPC physician's retainer or membership fee.

Our medical staff each will accept only approximately 500-600 patients each. Considering that managed care has driven modern era physicians to patient panels of 2,000 to 4,000 or more, it's no wonder you encounter long waits and very little time with your doctor or other medical provider.  We keep our patient panel low so we can spend plenty of time with you and get you in quickly. This is the kind of attention and accessibility we'd want our family to have, and it's what we offer our patients.

At Tampa Med Direct Primary care, we always strive to prevent our patients from going to the hospital. However, there are situations when hospitalization is required. If you need to go to a hospital in our area, your Tampa Med Physician will  stay in touch with your hospital doctor, ensuring a smooth transition of your care when you leave. Hospital doctors in our region appreciate how well we communicate with them, which helps maintain continuity of your care.

Yes! There are times when a house call is the best answer, and Direct Primary Care affords family doctors the time to get out of the office when necessary, just like in the good old days.  For housecalls out of town, we will charge mileage, otherwise, there is no additional charge for housecalls.

We know that illness and injuries don't always happen during office hours. If you just need to get in touch with us to order a medication refill or schedule an appointment, you can directly e-mail us anytime.  If you have a non-urgent question, but one that probably shouldn't wait until tomorrow, members can send their medical provider a text message and expect a prompt reply. Lastly, if you have an urgent issue after-hours, our providers are only a phone call away virtually 24 hours a day!

Almost all of the routine procedures our physicians perform have no additional charge to our members. There are a few exceptions, for more complicated procedures. Our pricing page has details. As a membership benefit, our clinicians will see sick or injured visiting family of his members for a reasonable one-time office visit fee based upon the severity and time requirements of the visit. We may charge mileage at IRS rates for out-of-town housecalls.

Yes, but only for certain procedures. We offer cash prices on minor emergency surgical procedures (such as sewing up cuts) to non-members. We are also happy to provide some minor cosmetic surgical procedures for patients who are not members at very affordable prices. This is because most insurance plans will cover no "cosmetic" procedures.  So if you have a benign, but annoying mole or skin tag for instance, insurance or medicare won't cover it's removal. These simple procedures are very expensive without insurance, traditionally. We also are happy to provide CDL Physicals, DOT Physicals, Marijuana Card Prescriptions, B12/vitamin injections, New Employment Physicals, and Urine Drug Screens very affordably for local employers, to non-members. Tampa Med has the lowest prices around on these non-member services.

Tampa Med will also provide affordable office visits to visiting family members of Tampa Med DPC members.  We understand that it's always miserable to get sick or hurt when you're away from home.