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The case for direct primary care doctors in the debate over membership care

In the membership care model, doctors ask patients to sign up for membership plans for direct primary care services. Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In the membership care model, doctors ask patients to sign up for membership plans for direct primary care services. Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Last week on Here & Now, host Peter O’Dowd spoke to a primary care doctor about the new trend of membership care, a model that’s becoming more common across the country. Under this model, doctors ask patients to sign up for membership plans for direct primary care services.

The conversation sparked a debate online with members of the concierge medicine community. This is a follow-up conversation with Dr. Josh Umbehr, a direct care doctor at Atlas MD. He brings a different perspective on this model of care and tells O’Dowd why he believes this model is better for patients and how it avoids a doctor shortage.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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