Frequently Asked Questions

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a membership-based healthcare model where patients pay a predictable monthly fee directly to their physician. This replaces insurance billing for routine care and includes preventive visits, chronic disease support, timely acute care, and ongoing communication without copays or surprise bills.

Traditional primary care relies on insurance billing, large patient panels, rushed visits, and limited access. DPC eliminates insurance barriers, allowing:
 

• Longer, unhurried appointments

• Direct access to your physician

• Same-day or next-day visits

• Transparent, predictable pricing

• Deeply discounted labs, imaging, and medications

Traditional physicians often carry 2,000–3,000 patients.
A typical DPC physician manages ~500–600 patients, allowing for more personalized, accessible care.

Your monthly membership includes:
 

• Unlimited primary care visits

• Same-day or next-day appointments

• Direct text/phone/email access to your physician

• Wellness visits & preventive care

• Chronic disease management

• Discounted in-house medications

• Discounted labs & radiology services

• Personalized support for nutrition, lifestyle, and wellness

No. There are no copays, no visit fees, and no surprise billing for primary care services provided within SparksMD.
 
External services — such as specialty referrals or advanced imaging — may have costs, but many are available at significant cash-pay discounts.

Yes. Membership is month-to-month with no long-term contract.
Cancel anytime before the next billing cycle (generally 30 days) with no penalty.

We recommend maintaining:
 

• A catastrophic or high-deductible insurance plan, or

• A health-share or indemnity plan

 
DPC replaces your primary care, not your emergency or hospital coverage.

Absolutely. You would never use your car insurance to pay for an oil change or a car wash. Let's think about your health insurance the same way. A low cost monthly membership for the day-to-day sick visits and preventative visits and health insurance for unexpected, high cost care. The majority of our patients have some form of insurance or a health share. 

Yes. You may use your insurance for anything outside of SparksMD, including:
 

• Specialist visits

• Imaging centers, labs

• Hospital care

 
We coordinate referrals and ensure smooth handoffs. We also have relationships with physician-to-physician referral networks that may offer lower cash prices.

SparksMD does not bill insurance — including Medicare or Medicaid — for primary care. 

Our metabolic program combines:
 

• InBody body composition analysis

• Lifebase personalized nutrition coaching

 
This approach allows for targeted fat loss, muscle preservation, improved metabolic markers, and long-term habit-building — all guided by physician oversight.

No. Nutrition services are:

• Available standalone, or

• Discounted by 40% for SparksMD members

 
This makes the program accessible regardless of your membership status.

Most patients scan every 4–8 weeks, depending on goals. This allows measurable, objective tracking and precise adjustments to your nutrition plan.

The program includes:

• A personalized macro plan

• Behavioral coaching

• Food logging

• Physician-guided adjustments

• Ongoing accountability through Lifebase tools

Yes. Our employer plans allow businesses to provide comprehensive primary care access at predictable monthly rates — without navigating insurance. This improves:
 

• Employee satisfaction

• Productivity

• Healthcare cost control

• Overall workplace wellness

No way! On the surface, concierge and DPC sound similar but there are some differences. With DPC, our low monthly membership truly is our cost to see the doctor without additional copays. Concierge practices typically require a large annual "retainer", in excess of $2,000 even, and still bill your insurance/charge you copays every time you need care. Our patients come from all walks of life and all socioeconomic backgrounds. DPC is for everyone! Everyone deserves affordable access to high quality primary care!