Question 1

WHAT EXACTLY IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE?

Accepted Answer

Direct primary care, also known as "DPC," is a membership-based model of care that allows us to provide accessible, personalized, and affordable healthcare to our patients. 
 
Our low monthly fees are made possible by purposefully keeping our overhead low. In our model of care, there are no executives, administrators, or insurance billing staff that would cause us to raise our prices. Instead, we offer a monthly membership fee and pass the savings directly to you. 
 
We don't need to have 3,000 or more patients in order to make ends meet at our practice. Instead, we keep the total number of patients to below 600 so that we can get to know each and every patient on a personal basis. This is the healthcare we have all been waiting for!

Question 2

IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE RIGHT FOR ME?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Well, maybe I'm just partial to it, allow me to explain:
The best choice for people who have a high deductable insurance policy. Run the numbers. The cost of our membership is well below what you get charged for by your insurance comany. Plus since most high deductable plans are paired with a Health Savings Account, HSA, you can save even more by using this to pay your monthly membership fees. 
People who might have a really good insurance policy with a low deductable, but want 24/7 personalized care. We have all waited in a crowded doctors office at one point in time. With our services you get direct care from your provider when you need it the most!
People who might need more time with their medical provider.
People who don't want to be just a number.
People without insurance.

Question 3

WHAT EXACTLY DO I GET WHEN I SIGN UP?

Accepted Answer

We have taken extra steps to make sure you get the most from your membership!
Annual wellness visit & routine physical exam.
Direct access to your personal healthcare provider by phone, text, email, video visit, or home visit. Our members receive up to 6 in office visits per year of membership and up to 12 tele health visits at no additional cost. Additional fees do apply for home visits and/or excessive use of services above this amount (please call us if you have any questions about this). 
Same day or next day appointments through Telehealth. New patient and non-urgent appointments are usually available within a week of request in our office. 
Discounted labs through our partnership with LabCorp. 
Assistance in finding the lowest discounted rates for imaging (x-ray, CT scans, MRI). 
And so much more! If it is not listed here and you would like to know, give me a call.

Question 4

EXACTLY HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST?

Accepted Answer

The cost is much less than you might think. We do not surprise you with hidden costs or extra fees that you didn't know about.

Question 5

ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS TO JOINING YOUR MEMBERSHIP?

Accepted Answer

Due to federal restrictions, patients with Medicare at Simply Sweet Health cannot join our membership model at this time. We are currently working on this issue and will provide notice to our patients when this changes.

Question 6

WHAT IS THE POLICY ON CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES?

Accepted Answer

Nathaniel Arnatt, NP-C is licensed as a Family Nurse Practitioner within the Commonealth of Virginia and holds a current license that does allow him to prescribe medications such as narcotics and other controlled substances. 
We believe that controlled substances, both narcotics (Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Percocet, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Vicodin, etc.), benzodiazepines (Ativan, Xanax, Valium, etc.), and hypnotics (Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta, etc.), have a limited role in primary care. Therefore, Mr. Arnatt prescribes them rarely and only very sparingly.
We believe chronic pain requiring narcotics is best managed by a pain management specialist. We are happy to work with you on non-narcotic options for your pain and to manage your other medical conditions. We do not treat chronic anxiety with benzodiazepines, but are happy to offer other medications and techniques often successful in treating anxiety.

Question 7

I AM NOT A MEMBER. WILL YOU SEE ME FOR A SICK VISIT?

Accepted Answer

Although we take pride in getting to know our patients through our direct primary care memberships, sometimes a one time visit is needed without a membership. These appointments are extremely limited, since we give priority to our members and there is no guarantee that we will be available unless you are a member.

Question 8

WHAT ARE YOUR HOURS?

Accepted Answer

Our service is for primary care only. By definition, if a medical problem cannot safely wait until our normal business hours, it is an emergency. We do not provide emergency care.
Typically, we are available to our members between the hours of 9am-5pm Monday through Friday.  
Currently, we see patients in our Locust Grove office on Mondays. Additional office hours are available by appointment only. 
If you are having an emergency like chest pain, you would need to call 911 immediately, and then notify us once you have been evaluated at the hospital.
If you need to talk with us outside of normal business hours and it is not an emergency, we will do our best to help however, we do ask that you understand that we are not robots and need to have some time off work and rest. We strive to live out the work-life balance advice that we give to our patients. 
This is why we ask our patients to reserve after-hours calls for truly urgent matters, never for refills or appointment requests.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions