Nurturing Pediatrics is a pediatric direct primary care (DPC) clinic. Patients of Nurturing Pediatrics receive routine primary care services for a flat, monthly fee. We do not contract with insurers or government payers such as Medicaid and Medicare. There are no surprise bills or fees.
It depends upon your personal circumstances and coverage. For some families, DPC make perfect sense, as there are no hidden costs or fees, which makes budgeting for healthcare easier. DPC may save money over time, though that will depend on many factors including the overall health of your child. Families with high deductible health plans will likely find that DPC is a more cost effective option for primary care than the traditional model. While DPC may not be cost-effective for a child who is seen only once a year for a wellness check and whose parents have no questions for the pediatrician, many parents in the DPC model find they have many questions throughout the year for the pediatrician and appreciate getting quick answers.
DPC membership is NOT insurance. We recommend that you still carry health insurance for your child to help cover services outside of primary care, including labs, specialty care, emergency department visits, and medications. Read here for information about vaccine billing.
We are a direct primary care (DPC) clinic that by definition does not take insurance. By eliminating the bureaucratic burden of insurance-based care, physicians and patients remove the barriers to receiving excellent healthcare in a sensible manner.
Yes, we are sure. No matter how amazing insurance coverage is for patients, it is typically not amazing for physicians because it requires a lot of time and support staff to prove to an insurance company that we deserve to be paid for our services. Our pediatrician would rather spend time caring for patients than playing insurance games.
Good healthcare is not free. Even though we have dramatically cut overhead by stepping outside the insurance model, providing care still has significant costs. If you want your child to be part of the Nurturing Pediatrics family but the fees are beyond your means, please send an email to support@nurturingpediatrics.com
Reduced overhead costs when freed from the insurance model makes providing care at a reasonable fee easier.
That question is best answered under Services. Please email support@nurturingpediatrics.com if you still have questions.
Absolutely!… just not to pay for services provided by Nurturing Pediatrics (minus vaccines if your child does not qualify for VFC vaccines). We recommend that families have insurance to help pay for medications (though some people find cash pay prices cheaper), outside labs (ex Labcorp), radiology studies (like x-rays), specialist care, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Families of Nurturing Pediatrics may find it most cost-effective to purchase a cheaper high deductible health plan (HDHP) for non-primary care services since routine pediatric primary care is included in the services provided by Nurturing Pediatrics.
No, as that subjects Nurturing Pediatrics to the very cumbersome insurance system our clinic is avoiding. Providing a superbill that a family submits for reimbursement allows an insurance company to audit the medical record, which means the encounter notes must meet insurance requirements, which are onerous and have nothing to do with quality care.
Prescription medications, external labs, x-rays, or care provided by someone outside of Nurturing Pediatrics (such as specialty clinics, emergency departments, and hospitals). Although we will administer vaccines, the cost of vaccines is not included in membership, and vaccines will be billed separately if a child does not qualify for VFC vaccines.
Vaccines are expensive. (The raw cost of vaccines for a child under 2 year of age is over $2,000!)
The Affordable Care Act mandates that insurance policies include vaccines. Please read more here about how we will work to get your child’s vaccines covered. Nurturing Pediatrics will not charge an administration fee to patients receiving VFC vaccines.
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAS) may be able to be used to pay for the primary care services provided via DPC fees. Please contact us at support@nurturingpediatrics.com to discuss more. We can provide a receipt showing that the fee was used to pay for primary care services. Ultimately, please check with your plan administrator to determine if you may use your account in this way.
Typically a card (credit, debit, HSA, or FSA) is placed on file in the patient portal. Our electronic medical record system Elation Health processes payments via Stripe.
Support@nurturingpediatrics.com