How to Find a Direct Primary Care Doctor
Screenshot from DPC Frontier Mapper of the nearly 2500 DPC practices in the U.S. (as of Feb. 2025). Click to search their database for a DPC practice in your area.
If you’re looking for a good DPC practice in your neck of the woods, you should check out the practice mapper at DPC Frontier. My practice is listed there, along with a bunch of other great offices that have doctors I know and admire.
Some things you might notice when searching DPC practices at on DPC Frontier:
Who runs the office
Most practices are run by physicians (MD or DO degrees), but some are run by advance practice nurses (APNs). I’ve worked with a lot of great APNs in my career and I think they can do a great job in primary care. But if you’re looking specifically for an MD/DO, make sure to doublecheck the provider types listed.
Fees can vary quite a bit
Some practices are as low as $75 a month, and some charge hundreds of dollars a month. Some offer whole family discounts. Many require a signup fee of some sort (usually equal to a month or two of payments). Some make you sign up for several months at a time. Just for comparison, our fees max out at $150/month, we don’t have a signup fee, and you can stay month-to-month for as long as you’d like. On average, our patients pays about $110/month (after accounting for various discounts, a few needs-based programs we have created, and several family discounts that let kids get added on for $25/month).
Make sure the practice is accepting new patients
A lot of them have been very successful and now are running waiting lists to get in. This is also impacted by the fact that DPCs can remain small, whereas traditional offices need to maintain patient loads of 2000-3000 patients per provider due to the impact of insurance.
Services offered
Take a look at the services offered in the office. Some of them are more full-featured than others. Notably, try to pay attention to when the doctor is available to see you for appointments and when they can take phone calls.
Personality and communication styles
As always, personality matters so much. If it’s possible at all to talk with the doctor before signing up, make sure to do that. Whether or not they will listen to you and click with your specific needs makes a huge difference to the value you’ll get from the service! If you are looking for a physician in St. Louis, I’d be glad to have a 15-minute video call or in-person meeting with you to see if we are a good fit for each other.
I wish you all the best as you explore this exciting new style of practice. If you have questions or think that Nexus might be the best practice for you, please fill out our interest form, and we’ll get in touch right away!
