Direct Primary Care Summit 2025 - Celebrating DPC and the Primary Care Enhancement Act

Another year, another DPC Summit! Hosted by the American Academy of Family Physicians and the DPC Alliance, the annual summit attracts aficionados in the DPC model, the DPC-curious, DPC practitioners from across the country and in all primary care specialties, and loads of vendors targeting their offerings to the DPC crowd. This year’s event drew 400 attendees and 130 vendors to downtown New Orleans, where the distinctive NOLA culture and cuisine did not disappoint. 

A Culture Apart: Why DPC Events Feel Different

The vibe at direct primary care events is always palpably different from other primary care events I attend. Although valuable in their own way, typical events find attendees perpetually promoting the importance of primary care, but looking through a veil of never-ending examination of what is needed to “fix” primary care, along with the many ways primary care remains undervalued in the industry and in society. We endlessly discuss how powerful and impactful primary care could be “if only”, and tell each other stories about small increments of progress here and there. In contrast, the DPC Summit takes the gravity of a primary care in crisis and turns it into a celebration of how wonderful it is to be a primary care clinician who is finally free to practice medicine fully in alignment with our professional values. There are no more “if only’s” – DPC has already solved the problem for many physicians, patients, and communities across the nation.

Primary Care Unleashed: The Spirit of the DPC Movement

The enthusiasm in the air at the DPC Summit is one of those things that can only be believed by experiencing it. I hear it repeatedly from first-time attendees: people seem genuinely happy here. And none of the giddiness feels forced. The sentiment bubbles up organically like spring water, and it tastes like freedom: freedom from an oppressive system designed to make primary care fail, now transformed into a powerful movement of “primary care unleashed”, as my friend Dr. Kenneth Qiu likes to say.

The DPC model has proven benefits to patients, physicians, communities, and society. Built around a longitudinal relationship with the doctor of your choice (not who the insurance carrier chooses for you) and supported by a payment model that removes the profit-driven middleman and liberates the PCP to focus entirely on the best interests of the patient, the “direct” in direct primary care describes the nature of both the care experience and how that experience is financed. The real-world impact, as measured by actuaries and healthcare analysts, is a story like none other in healthcare: ER cost reduced by half, hospitalization rates cut in half, 30% of total costs of care evaporated, and patient-reported outcomes superior to anything else in traditional primary care. What’s even better is whether you have insurance or not, even if you change insurance carriers or lose your insurance, your DPC PCP can still be your doctor.   

A Defining Victory: The Passage of the Primary Care Enhancement Act (HR1)

This year’s summit was even more celebratory than usual. While the DPC movement has been gaining steam, growing in numbers of clinicians and patients each year, a long-awaited legislative breakthrough has just created a historic watershed moment that promises to expand DPC access to millions more Americans. Tucked away in the 1,000 page One Big Beautiful Bill Act, HR1 (also known as the Primary Care Enhancement Act) amends outdated (and fundamentally flawed) tax code that previously considered DPC fees a form of health insurance. Under the old tax code, pre-tax dollars assigned to health savings accounts (HSAs) could not be used as a qualifying expense to pay for DPC fees.  But of course, insurance is not healthcare, and DPC fees do not pay for insurance; the fees pay for care—a better kind of primary care than you’ll find anywhere else. 

Thanks to a cadre of fierce DPC champions, led by Jay Keese and the DPC Coalition, many years of relentless policy advocacy work have finally paid off and this tax code has at last been revised. Starting in 2026, anyone with an HSA plan can use these pre-tax dollars (up to $150/person or $300/family) to pay a DPC membership fee in exchange for high-quality, relationship-based, longitudinal primary care. This also means that employers who offer HSA-based health benefit plans can encourage their beneficiaries to seek out a DPC primary care relationship. By allowing patients who otherwise might not be able to afford DPC to use their HSA funds to pay for it, and by freeing employers to promote it, there will now be an estimated 60 million more Americans potentially flooding the DPC market. Imagine what happens when even more employers see the benefit and add HSAs to their plans!

Practicing Medicine on Our Terms: Voices from the Summit

This projected huge influx of patients seeking a DPC relationship is destined to attract hundreds more primary care clinicians into the DPC movement, fleeing the burnout and moral injury of the toxic insurance-based system and offering them a path to rejuvenate and reinvent their clinical careers. As my friend and colleague Dr. Jonathan Bushman put it recently, “when doctors feel forced to choose between what’s right and what’s reimbursed, something breaks”. DPC puts physicians and their patients back in the driver’s seat, with a payment model that aligns with the needs of the patient and the autonomy to decide together how, where, and when care is delivered. 

A Cause for Celebration: Connections and Community

One of my favorite highlights of these events is the opportunity to connect in person - often for the first time - with Elation customers as well as our partner vendors. Our sales team, led by Mark McDonald and Michael Cook, worked almost nonstop to meet the steady stream of interested prospects, many of whom were referred to us by current customers who sang Elation’s praises (thank you!) or were drawn in by our beautiful, glowing new video wall behind the booth. 

Dr. Sara Pastoor, Mark McDonald, and Michael Cook

Tremendous thanks to our many current customers who stopped by to say hello, ask us what’s new at Elation, and give us feedback. It was a joy to chat with Dr. Eleanor Glass, who mentioned that Elation’s Prescription Monitoring Program integration has reduced her process of checking the PMP from 28 clicks to 3, confessing to me “I love to count clicks!” At Elation, we love to eliminate clicks!  

I also was delighted to meet Dr. Jay Moore, who immediately offered me a hug to thank me for providing support in Elation customer social media forums. These forums have become an effective way for me to tune into the voice of Elation customers, provide information and support, and promote good will across our customer base.  

It was a pleasure to reconnect with Dr. Thomas White, Dr. Michael Hobbs, Mehul Agarwal (of Health Compiler), and my longtime friend Dr. Tim Caffrey, who was attending the summit for the first time and seemed genuinely flabbergasted by the free-flowing optimism and support from fellow attendees. My thanks to these and so many others who made a point to connect with us. We’re grateful to be your technology partner and incredibly excited about our shared future.

Dr. Sara Pastoor and Dr. Tim Caffrey (Ars Medica)

Dr. Sara Pastoor and Mehul Agarwal (Health Compiler)

Mentorship and the Next Generation: DPC’s Growing Roots

It was encouraging to meet DPC veterans who volunteered during the summit to serve as mentors for those who are DPC-curious or early in the DPC journey. A common refrain I hear is “someone mentored me, and now I want to give back to someone else”. This heart of service is the beautiful essence of the DPC movement and reflects the humble, diligent, servant leadership of primary care in general. We don’t do it for the money or the glamor; that’s not part of the bargain. We do it out of an innate drive to help people and support our communities. 

We were especially impressed by the residents and even medical students in attendance—one as early as second year of medical school—who plan to shape their careers around the DPC model from the outset. It’s incredible to see DPC developing a root system in medical education, despite the powerful undertow that steers them into the status quo.

Looking Forward: Building on Momentum

The energy and achievements coming out of this year’s DPC Summit prove that direct primary care is not just surviving, it’s thriving and reshaping what’s possible for clinicians and patients alike. With the passage of the Primary Care Enhancement Act, the doors are wide open for a new generation of practices, and the sense of community and purpose among DPC clinicians has never been stronger. The momentum is real, and Elation stands ready to champion every practice on this journey toward more accessible, relationship-driven care. Now is the time to join the conversation: share your own DPC story, connect with us to learn how Elation can support your practice’s growth, and be part of the thriving movement defining the future of primary care. Let’s build on this breakthrough together.