Sozo Lifestyle Medicine is a Direct Primary Care practice. Both Direct Primary Care (DPC) and Lifestyle Medicine (LM) are becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare field as physicians are looking for ways to practice medicine that improve the care they provide their patients. Luckily, DPC and LM go hand in hand, because practicing lifestyle medicine requires time with patients, something that is abundant in a DPC practice and hard to come by in a typical practice.

Here is a little introduction to the way we provide care at Sozo Lifestyle Medicine.

“What is Direct Primary Care?”

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a simple, transparent agreement between a patient and physician, leaving insurance companies out of the mix. The patient pays an affordable monthly membership and the physician provides them with medical care. There are no copays, charges for visits or surprise bills.*

*For Medicare members, standard Medicare cost-sharing applies to covered services.

DPC physicians do not involve insurance companies in the care of their patients. This is great because the docs do not need to pay a billing company, spend extra time concerned with coding or charting just for the sake of reimbursement and they do not need permission from an insurance company to see a patient. This might not seem like a big deal, but it significantly reduces time and money spent on administrative endeavors and allows them to have a smaller patient panel. The average panel for traditional insurance- based primary care doctors is about 2,500 patients, which is necessary to cover expenses. DPC physicians have a typical panel between 300-600 patients, which is what allows them to provide this excellent care, lengthy visits and availability.

Every DPC is a little bit different. At Sozo, members have access to Dr. Young via text, patient portal, phone call, virtual visits, and in-person visits. Visits are unlimited and unrushed, usually between 30-60 minutes. With this type of practice model, patients are realizing that they receive better, more personalized and affordable care and physicians are excited and relieved to find a way to practice medicine that promotes quality patient care.

Is Direct Primary Care Worth the Cost?

Whether you have no insurance or amazing insurance, DPC can save you money and something possibly more valuable… time.

For some things there is an easy comparison: a single simple blood test, the CBC, costs $4 at Sozo. Without insurance at Walk-In labs it is $25. With insurance it may be free or it may cost a bundle.... you don't know until you get a bill! In my experience, the cost to us for routine labs through our good insurance was about double the cash pay Sozo price.

For some other things, it is difficult to ascribe a value, similar to trying to attribute a dollar value to the work done by a parent who acts as a taxi driver, cook, housekeeper, nurse and tutor. What are your savings when you can text your doctor a picture of a cut and say, “does this need stitches?” Perhaps it saves you a 4-hour wait in the ER waiting room followed by a 3 minute visit with a doctor who tells you it doesn’t need stitches followed by a $500 copay.

Or perhaps you developed pink-eye while you are out of town. You could spend your morning looking for nearby urgent cares and comparing wait times. Sit in the waiting room and fill out several pages of documents to see a provider and get a prescription for an eye drop, then go to the pharmacy to pick it up… or you can save yourself the hassle and text Dr. Young, hop on a quick virtual visit and have a prescription sent to your pharmacy in a matter of 10 minutes.

Now that you’re familiar with Direct Primary Care...

Let's talk about Lifestyle Medicine

Did you know that 80% of chronic medical conditions are avoidable or reversible with a healthy lifestyle?  80%!!!! Whoah Nelly!

While the concepts are not new, Lifestyle Medicine is relatively new as a specialty. LM focuses on the root cause of disease and focuses on nutrition, physical activity, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, restorative sleep and social connection to prevent and reverse this disease.

LM is not at odds with conventional medicine it is the basis for conventional medicine. Unfortunately, in medical school and residency, students are taught very little about lifestyle and taught A LOT about pharmacology. When they finish training, physicians know that lifestyle change is important, but don't have the time, knowledge, or tools to help their patients implement lt. Instead of getting to the root cause of the diseases to stop the constant damage caused by an unhealthy lifestyle (turning off the faucet), physicians spend their time mopping up the mess with medications. They end up managing illness instead of preventing or reversing disease. 

Dr. Young practices conventional medicine, but with a lifestyle approach. She believes in using medications, when needed, but she strives to help people prevent and reverse chronic disease through lifestyle change.

Get ready to take charge of your health.