Qliance, a Seattle-based company that was an early pioneer of Direct Primary Care (DPC), officially closed it’s doors as of Monday, May 15th, 2017. Cousins Dr. Garrison Bliss and Dr. Erika Bliss began the company in 2007, and attracted financial backing from famous investors Jeff Bezos, Rich Barton, Drew Carey and more.
DPC has been dubbed as the possible future of medicine, has claimed to lower health costs for patients 20% or more, and is a possible remedy for the shortage of primary care physicians in the United States.
So why is Qliance closing if DPC seems to be the answer to so many healthcare issues?
While I cannot speak to the details of the business operations behind Qliance, I think DPC physicians and companies can learn a lot from the Qliance closure.
Stay small as you grow
Many DPC physicians operating today have a small practice where patients sign up because they either love their physician or see the value that insurance-free membership medicine offers. Retaining those patients is easy when you are small because you’re able to give them the attention they deserve and desire from a membership-based model.
But, as DPC companies grow to multiple physicians and locations, it’s harder to maintain the quality, personal service that the small micro-practice is able to offer. In order to fight that drift, companies have to focus on efficiencies of tasks that aren’t patient-facing and hire the best customer service representatives possible throughout their company.
Personally, I was interested in building our DPC clinic through employer accounts. Being curious what attracted other companies to purchasing a DPC membership for their employees, I called a company that was quoted in an article as signing up their employees for membership. My phone call with the owner of the company was quite revealing, as he mentioned that after a year of membership with his 84 employees, there were a total of 3 visits to that DPC clinic over the course of the year! He of course cancelled their plan after just one year. That DPC clinic could have done a myriad of things to reach out to those employees and provide value to that group of individuals.
Balance membership with individual and group accounts
DPC companies and physicians often desire large employer accounts for several reasons (larger checks each month, potential for fewer visits per membership, etc.). Group accounts take just as much care as individual accounts – stay small as you grow!
Individuals will come and go, and so will group accounts. By maintaining a balance of both types of membership, any DPC clinic will ensure that finances will stay intact in case a larger group account cancels membership.
Direct Primary Care is still a service: be cautious of investors
Service, availability, transparency and care should be the top priorities of DPC clinics (and all of healthcare, for that matter), which means that DPC clinics will often make choices that prioritizes a person’s health over making money. Profit may come slowly (as in most service-centric businesses), and investors (and DPC owners) must realize this in order for the model to work. This is one of the main concerns with the general healthcare system today – that companies are profiting from a generally uninformed and medically uneducated group of people. We are fighting a system and earning the trust of the public, and that takes time.
But, not all investors are money hungry. Some investors are looking to help great businesses succeed because they have the potential to change the world for good, and are willing to wait for a return on their investment for the sake of partnering with the right person or company. When seeking for investors or being approached by them, be honest and realistic about your profit potential and desire to value transparency and care over profits.
DPC likely has a much better future as a part of our healthcare system due to the work of Qliance and Drs. Garrison and Erika Bliss. I am personally thankful for their hard work, persistence, and willingness to step outside of the broken healthcare system to take care of people.