New Primary Care Model Delivers 20 Percent Lower Overall Healthcare Costs, Increases Patient Satisfaction and Delivers Better Care

A review of two years' worth of healthcare claims data on thousands of patients reveals, contrary to the prevailing view, that unlimited primary care drives down overall costs while improving patient outcomes and experience.

The analysis by Qliance Medical Management Inc. – hailed by Time magazine as "one of the most intriguing experiments in the medical industry" – reveals that the increasingly popular "direct primary care" model, with its emphasis on unrestricted access to primary care, makes healthcare 20 percent less expensive than traditional health insurance yet leaves patients feeling more satisfied with their care.

The success of the monthly-fee primary care model challenges the notion that simply making traditional health insurance available to all is the best way to heal the nation's troubled healthcare system, according to Qliance President and Chief Executive Officer Erika Bliss, MD.

"At a time when our country is struggling to make healthcare less costly, our results confirm that primary care, when made more personalized and accessible to patients, can lower specialty and hospital costs, and keep people healthier and more productive," said Bliss, a practicing primary care physician. "We have an opportunity to rebuild our healthcare system to ensure we're delivering the right kind of care in the right place at the right time.  But we can't do that without investing in primary care that puts the patient and the doctor-patient relationship first."   

 A 2014 assessment of Qliance's patients' experience, conducted using the national CAHPS survey, placed Qliance above the 95th percentile in overall patient satisfaction, well above the 90th percentile nationally.