My DPC Story

Can Your DPC Practice Survive Its Own Success?

Most physicians opening a Direct Primary Care practice master the clinical side quickly. The harder challenge? Running the business that sustains it.

In this episode of My DPC Story, host Dr. Maryal Concepcion sits down with Tom Squire, founder of Osprey CFO, a financial advisory firm built specifically to support small businesses and DPC practices. Tom brings a background in banking and...

Dr. Shannon Connolly, Dr. Shayne Poulin, and Dr. Amy Tressan found each other inside Melody Health, a mission-driven primary care practice embedded within Planned Parenthood, serving more than 13,000 patients across seven health centers in Orange County, California. Then, with the passage of HR 1 and the defunding of Planned Parenthood, they lost it, in a matter of weeks.

They opened Open Arms Primary Care on March 1st 2026. Melody ...

Dr. Feneisha Franklin spent a decade in corporate medicine before finding her door: a Direct Primary Care practice seven minutes from her house, owned by a retiring physician ready to pass the torch. She left her employer on a Friday. She owned Living Well Family Medicine on Monday.

In this episode, Dr. Franklin breaks down what it actually takes to purchase an existing DPC practice: profit and loss statements, Medicare opt-out wind...

She was working 20 hours a day in fee-for-service medicine, and her supervisor was online at 3am too, totally unbothered. That's when Dr. Victoria Leventis-Shew knew nothing was ever going to change. So she changed everything.

Dr. Leventis-Shew is the founder of Victory Family Medicine in Columbia, SC, a physician-only micropractice she built intentionally, organically, and on her own terms. In this episode she gets radically h...

Dr. Matthew Hitchcock of Hitchcock Medical Group in Chattanooga, TN has spent over a decade proving that direct primary care is not just better medicine, it's a smarter business. In this episode, he breaks down the layered economic model behind his DPC practice, in-house pharmacy, and cash-only imaging center.

What we cover:

• Why primary care is a loss leader in the insurance world and how DPC fixes that
• Health insurance ≠ hea...

Episode Summary:

After our episode about Zion HealthShare sparked more listener questions than almost any other episode this season, we brought together Preston Guthrie, Head of Sales at Zion HealthShare, and Camila Guerrero, Practice Manager at Brock Family Care in North Carolina and a Zion member herself, to answer everything.

We discuss pre-existing conditions and the 24-month pre-membership rule, maternity care and the six-month ...

We’re closing out February with Dr. Aisha Harris of Flint, Michigan, a board-certified family physician, community advocate, and the founder of Harris Family Health, the first Direct Primary Care clinic in her hometown. In this episode of My DPC Story, Dr. Harris shares how returning to Flint to open a DPC practice allowed her to practice medicine with purpose - addressing trust, environment, and health literacy upstream while crea...

In this previously aired episode of My DPC Story, host Maryal Concepcion sits down with Dr. Jalan Burton, a Washington, DC/DMV–based pediatrician practicing at the intersection of healthcare policy and deeply relational care. As the founder of Healthy Home Pediatrics, Dr. Burton shares how Direct Primary Care allows her to deliver unrushed, home-based pediatric care in a policy-dense environment while protecting both physician auto...

In this episode of My DPC Story, we’re highlighting Dr. Adelola "Lola" Ashaye, a board-certified family and lifestyle medicine physician and the founder of InTouch Primary Care in the Sugar Land area of Texas. Practicing in one of the most complex healthcare markets in the country, Dr. Ashaye shares how Direct Primary Care protects physician autonomy while expanding access for patients, creating space for meaningful conve...

If you run a Direct Primary Care clinic, you’ve probably asked: What happens to my family if I can’t work for months? In this episode, Zion HealthShare President Ashton Casper and DPC practice administrator Camila Guerrero share how medical cost sharing works, what “coverage” can look like without insurance, and how Zion pairs with DPC. 

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In celebration of Black History Month and Heart Health Month, we're re-airing our powerful conversation with Dr. Gabrielle Williams, founder of Gateway Direct Health in Georgia. Dr. Williams shares her inspiring journey from severe burnout in fee-for-service medicine where she dreaded waking up each morning to discovering Direct Primary Care as her "second chance into medicine." As the first person in her family to a...

Most physicians are trained to manage what’s in front of them.

What we’re rarely taught is how to step far enough back to ask whether the direction itself still makes sense.

In this January Reset re-air, I’m bringing back my conversation with Dr. Neal Douglas, a family medicine physician at Heritage Family Medicine in Hood River, Oregon.

Dr. Douglas shares openly about building a successful career that slowly drifted out of alignment ...

Not all misalignment shows up as exhaustion.

Sometimes medicine works - the protocols are correct, the outcomes are acceptable - and yet something essential feels missing.

In this January Reset re-air, I’m revisiting my conversation with Dr. Meena Julapalli, a pediatric dermatologist whose work spans direct care, creativity, and healing.

Dr. Julapalli speaks honestly about practicing inside systems that prioritize efficiency and algor...

At the start of a new year, many physicians don’t feel burned out, they feel unsettled.

In this January Reset re-air, I’m bringing back my conversation with Dr. Cindy Dafashy, a family medicine physician who opened her direct primary care practice directly out of residency.

This episode isn’t about how quickly she launched or whether her path should be copied. It’s about the distinction she names so clearly between being clinically p...

This episode is a homecoming!!!

As part of our January Reset Series, we’re re-airing a powerful conversation with four physicians from three specialties who each share a one-year update on their Direct Primary Care journeys.

In this episode, you’ll hear from:

• Dr. Christina Much and Dr. Jake Much (Family Medicine) founders of Defiant DPC who are sharing about growth beyond expectations and how they planned maternity leave without pan...

This is a great episode to listen to and send to a Med Student or Resident you may know! In this episode of the My DPC Story Podcast, host Dr. Debbie Lupeika, Director of the UC Davis Network of Affiliated Family Medicine Residency Programs, moderates a graduate panel featuring leading family physicians sharing their diverse career journeys post-residency within the UC Davis Network of Family Medicine residencies. From rural practi...

In this My DPC Story Patreon episode, Dr. Ashlee Hendry of Mid South DPC in Petal, Mississippi, for an inspiring update on her Direct Primary Care journey. Nearly four years after her clinic’s rapid growth, Dr. Ashlee Hendry discusses the evolution of healthcare access in her community, the power of patient advocacy, and the impact of price transparency. She shares invaluable business tips on scaling her practice, hiring staff, and...

In today's episode of the My DPC Story Podcast, host Dr. Maryal Concepcion and guest Dr. Amber Beckenhauer reflect on the transformative landscape of Direct Primary Care (DPC) as 2025 ends and 2026 approaches. They discuss critical updates like HR1 and HSA regulations, sharing insights on how legislative changes, practice resources, and evolving patient needs are shaping the future of DPC clinics. Both physicians explore topic...

A Letter From Me to You

As we close out 2025, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to you - doctor to doctor, human to human.

This episode is a little different. It’s a twist on ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, written as a reflection of our shared journey as physicians. It honors not only the work we do in exam rooms and inboxes, but also the quiet, unseen work that happens in kitchens, cars, call rooms, and living rooms - t...