Transforming a Distribution Company’s Health Plan with Direct Primary Care: How a DPC Expanded its Reach to Support a 7-State Employer Using Hint Connect

Introduction

In the dynamic landscape of healthcare, Direct Primary Care (DPC) has emerged as a transformative model, offering affordable, accessible, and patient-centered primary care services.

This success story explores the implementation of DPC in one employer’s health plan, highlighting the collaborative efforts of Antioch Med, a leading DPC clinic, Candid Health Advisors and E Powered Benefits, two innovative health plan consultancies, and Hint Connect, a national DPC network.

Antioch Med is a Direct Primary Care practice in Wichita, Kansas that works with over 70 employers to help them bring a DPC benefit to their employees. One of these happy employers introduced Dr. Brandon Alleman, co-founder alongside Dr. Nicholas Tomsen of Antioch Med and Candid Health Advisors, to a multi-site distribution company that was interested in offering DPC as a new benefit for their employees. Alongside his partner Molly Breitenbach, Chief Operating Officer, at Candid Health Advisors and David Contorno, Co-Founder of E Powered Benefits, Dr. Alleman had the opportunity to educate the interested employer about DPC and how it might fit into their health plan, leading to a decision by the employer that they would like to include a DPC benefit in their 2024 benefits offering. However, the new company had hundreds of employees across seven states, and Antioch Med, while being a relatively large DPC practice with seven clinicians, primarily served the Wichita market. 

Molly, David, and Dr. Alleman knew they would need to get creative to service this employer and meet the quickly approaching enrollment dates. This led to them contacting Hint Connect about expanding Antioch Med’s ability to partner with other DPCs to care for these employees through the Hint Connect DPC Network, and leveraging Hint’s technology to support the enrollment process, enabling DPC access to each employee and their family.

DPC is a model that transforms primary care, enabling doctors to build trusting, enduring relationships with their patients.

Plan Structure

Tailored Health Plans for Employee Independence

To build out the self-funded plan for this employer, Candid Health Advisors worked closely with E-Powered Benefits to develop two plans for the employees to choose from – both of which are unbundled, reference-based pricing health plans, and one of which included the DPC membership as part of the benefit. The plans were crafted with transparency and member independence in mind, and through meticulous planning and customization, the partners tailored these plans to meet the diverse needs and regional requirements of employer groups. 

A Challenge & Solution

Expanded DPC Network Through Hint Connect

As they were building these plans, Dr. Alleman, David and Molly recognized the need to quickly develop a network of DPCs in each location and implement the benefit, a significant lift for a small team. This is when they contacted Beth Holmes, the Head of Hint Connect, about the DPC networking and implementation through the Hint Network Technology. After conducting a geo-analysis of the employer’s employee locations with the Hint Connect Network Mapper, the team was able to identify fifteen independent DPC practices to include in this plan, giving them the ability to support hundreds of employees and their families across seven states and eighteen locales.

While building this employer's network, Hint Connect ensured that all practices could meet the price and service standards promised by E-Powered Benefits and Candid Health Advisors. 
Of the fifteen identified DPC practices, 10 were active network members, and Hint Connect was able to quickly add 5 more practices that were not yet part of the Hint Connect network to support the employer. All of this was completed in just seven short weeks!  

Enrollment & Technology

Hint Connect is powered by Hint’s Network Technology, an underlying software to support all participating groups seamlessly. Coupling the technology with a high-touch engagement strategy for enrollment, the team facilitated in-person enrollment meetings at twenty locations, with a local DPC physician present at each, promoting DPC as a valuable benefit. This resulted in widespread employee education and adoption, as Molly explains, “Employees don't really care about how the plan is set up, they want to know how it's going to affect them. So there are a lot of specific questions like ‘I have this condition, how would that work with you as my doctor?’, and it's really meaningful when the doctor goes through exactly how they would make that work in real-time.” 

The in-person enrollment meetings resulted in employees feeling confident about their health plan options and enrollment decisions. To support the employer, Candid Health Advisors, and all affiliated DPC practices, Hint leveraged its Core software to streamline the eligibility, enrollment, plan management, and billing process end-to-end. "I was really surprised by how easy it was to get employees onboarded with it [Hint Core]," explains Molly.

Results

Increased Value and Decreased Costs

The impact of DPC on this health plan is evident in the enrollment metrics and cost savings achieved. Out of 300 benefit-eligible employees, almost 70% enrolled in the DPC Plan - a total of 343 lives. The newly designed self-funded plan with DPC resulted in the elimination of many of the out-of-pocket expenses to employees and left Candid Health Advisors excited about the potential savings this group will realize over the next year. “We just collaborated on the renewal for a previous client that had a plan exactly like the one we designed for this group, and they saved ~30% on costs while making much of the care cost-free to employees,” shared Molly.

The testimonials from satisfied employees underscore the value of DPC in improving healthcare outcomes and enhancing employee satisfaction. As the head of HR said, “I’m hearing [employees] like the providers, they didn’t have to wait in a waiting room, the providers were thorough during the intake appointments…I’m super pleased with how our first month went on the DPC plan.”

The success story of Antioch Med and Candid Health Advisors exemplifies the power of collaboration and innovation in revolutionizing employer health plans with Direct Primary Care. This journey serves as a testament to the transformative impact of DPC in delivering accessible, high-quality healthcare to employees across diverse industries and regions. It invites DPC clinics and health plan advisors to explore similar collaborations and drive further innovation in the healthcare industry. As Dr. Alleman explains it, "Collaborating with Hint Connect to scope and implement DPC for this employer’s health plan has been a game-changer. The quick and efficient approach ensured that employees receive quality care from a DPC physician while optimizing cost savings for employers."