A photo of a sign and an iPad with Impact Family Wellness logo on it

Impact Family Wellness Shakes Off the Weight of Paperwork

The average American’s medical debt is significant: as of 2023, we collectively owe over $140 billion to medical providers, hospitals, insurance companies, labs, and more. 

This pervasive problem often prevents people from getting necessary medical care whether they have insurance or not.

In 2019, Monica McKitterick, a nurse practitioner, decided to forgo the complications associated with insurance by opening Impact Family Wellness, a direct primary care provider located near Austin, Texas. 

Direct primary care differs from traditional care in that patients pay the clinic or provider directly, with no involvement from insurance. This care model keeps costs lower for patients and clinics alike, and it also lets providers (such as physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) spend more time during each appointment speaking with patients and addressing all of their concerns. 

What’s more, patients at Impact Family Wellness pay a monthly membership fee — think “Netflix for healthcare” — for themselves and/or their families to see providers who can treat about 80 percent of cases they encounter. Monica has found that this model works well for people who are generally healthy and also carry a low-cost health insurance plan, which provides a safety net for more catastrophic injuries or illnesses.

Bureaucracy = Burnout

Toward the end of her tenure in her last role, Monica was burned out and overburdened by the weight of the bureaucracy that comes with insurance. 

“I loved primary care,” Monica said, “but it’s exhausting when you have to see 30 patients a day, and you spend 70 percent of your day charting for an insurance company…I wasn’t doing what I loved.” 

She also said she felt like she wasn’t able to provide the level of care she was aiming for, so when she saw a Facebook ad about a physician who was home in time for dinner, she clicked on it and was taken to a page about direct primary care. 

Now, five years into owning her practice, she sees five to seven patients a day in the office, which allows her more time to address her patients’ concerns and ensure she keeps them healthy. Because she’s not worried about getting paid by insurance companies, she’s also able to easily exchange messages with patients and provide care in that way.

“We take all the restriction out of it and just take care of people like human beings,” she said.

Unique Solutions for a Unique Business

Because of her practice’s unique nature and because her office doesn’t field hundreds of patients in a day, Monica is able to maintain only the staff she absolutely needs, which does not include a front desk receptionist, to help keep overhead costs low. Impact Family Wellness Logo

“Before, when it was just me, I’d just go out there and get [patients],” Monica said. However, as she expanded her practice to include other providers, she found she needed a solution that would alert them to a patient’s arrival. 

In her search for a way to do that, Monica came across The Receptionist for iPad and felt like its simplicity would work well for her and her team and help accomplish her goal of minimizing overhead costs. After a brief setup call with an Onboarding Specialist, she was ready to go. 

“I think it’s a great platform; it’s easy for people to use and it’s easy to make it your own,” Monica said.

If you’re interested in finding a DPC provider near you, you can easily locate one here.

To learn more about using The Receptionist for iPad in your business, check out our next product tour.

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