Employee response to employer-sponsored direct primary care

Health benefits represent employers’ fastest growing operating expense. Efforts from human resources to control healthcare spending through restrictive plan design changes and corporate wellness programs may not achieve employer health and financial goals and may negatively impact employee outcomes. Employers are increasingly contracting directly with providers in order to access quality medical care and to control spending. The purpose of this practice-focused paper is to provide survey data collected from 10 employers as part of the quality improvement activities of a direct primary care (DPC) program. Overall, survey responses of employees engaged with DPC had higher patient satisfaction, group health plan rating, perceived organizational support, and job satisfaction than survey responses of those registered into the program but not yet engaged with a DPC physician. Implementation considerations and DPC characteristics are provided.