Frequently Asked Questions

Direct Primary Care, or DPC, is a model of healthcare that puts patients first by getting rid of the red tape that constrains traditional practices. How? It's simple: we don't accept insurance, and – believe it or not – this actually saves you money in the long run. By removing the big buildings, administrators, excessive staff, government and insurance contracts - we actually save you money.

You won't have to pay a co-pay or co-insurance for office visits. If you have not met your deductible, you will not receive a bill or explanation of benefits with a remaining bill like you normally would after your visit.

When you are sick, we help you get back to work faster! Most urgent care concerns can be addressed same day and often by tele appointment. If you need medication, we have most of those on hand so that you can skip the pharmacy.

On a routine basis, we try to work with your schedule, stay healthy, and optimize your mental and physical health so you are more productive. Convenient timing, no waits at the office, and ability to use tele visits when needed to balance your health with your life. Some appointments actually can be handled entirely with a text and a picture.

We've negotiated amazing deals for prescription medications, blood tests, X-rays, sleep studies, and MRI/CT scans, even colonoscopies and vasectomies on your behalf. If we had contracts with insurance companies, we would be legally obligated to charge higher prices but we are free to charge cost pricing.

More importantly, since you are getting all this amazing care from us, you may be able to cut back on your insurance premiums. Most DPC patients find a high-deductible, low-premium insurance plan or a cost sharing plan so they're covered in the case of a major medical event. Cost sharing plans even charge less to DPC members knowing that DPC doctors can pay closer attention to your healthcare and prevent ER/Hospital visits.

Folks with HSA/FSA accounts can use pretax dollars to pay membership fees.

You can also apply your insurance for imaging, labs and medications if you prefer and are confident that you will incur a lower cost than you will with cash pricing. When insurance is used for imaging and medications, we will still process prior authorizations. The lab companies are responsible for applying insurance. Insurance can be difficult though. We do recommend that you call your insurance company to ask about coverage up front to avoid any added charges. If we need to appeal more than once, write a special letter or talk directly with your insurance company (called a peer to peer), a $25 fee applies.

Of course. This is a different kind of care - it is proactive and personalized designed to keep you healthy. Everyone benefits from individualized health care. There are no protocols or check boxes. We’re here for you if you're sick or hurt; we will get you back to work faster. But we also help you proactively maintain good overall health. Every visit with us will be thorough, relaxed, and un-rushed to address your health concerns. The longer you are our patient, the more we learn about your health and lifestyle, and the better we can help you tackle your health goals.

The terms are often mistakenly used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Both DPC and concierge practices charge a periodic fee, however, under the concierge model, this fee only gets you access; that is, it doesn't actually cover any of your care. They also bill your insurance for your visits and you still receive bills from your insurance company. Under DPC, the whole system is designed to be patient-centered, so your visits and other care are included in your fee plus you're provided with other incredible benefits like wholesale pricing for labs and radiology studies, deeply discounted prescription prices, wholesale supplement pricing, direct digital communication with your doctor, and all the rest.

Here’s a few articles that profile the Direct Primary Care approach to medicine:

• TED Direct Primary Care: Remaking the Health Cre System
• FORBES: Direct Primary Care: Restoring The Doctor-Patient Relationship
• TIME Medicine is About to Get Personal
• AAFP Direct Primary Care
• AARP The Doctor Will See You But Not Your Insurance

See our prices on our pricing page. We charge a flat affordable monthly fee, and we also have options for more in-depth programs to support goals that fall beyond the traditional scope of primary care. In exchange you get unlimited office visits, wholesale prices on prescription medication, your doctor's cell phone number, and a whole lot more. You will never receive a surprise bill.

The fee covers excellent primary care through preventive office visits, chronic care management, and urgent care with no copay. This includes the following: i360MD annual wellness exam, once annual lab work, sports physicals, school physicals, occupational physicals, chronic care office visits, mental health, non-opioid chronic pain, treatment of acute illness or minor injuries, all with minimal wait times in the office. The fee also covers direct communications with your doctor: phone, text, video chat or email.

*additional steeply discounted fees do apply for additional lab work, procedures, pathology testing, controlled substance management, house calls, after hours visits depending on Dr. Bowman's availability.

We treat all kinds of common everyday problems like colds, flu, strep, rashes and injuries. We also treat more complicated long term medical problems like adult diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, copd, pcos, osteoporosis, thyroid disorders, and so much more. We do have more intensive wellness packages for people who want to dive deeper into their health goals.

Having direct access to your doctor has been shown to prevent urgent care visits, emergency room visits, hospitalizations and specialty referrals in many cases. The DPC Membership does not cover emergency room visits, urgent care visits outside the practice, hospital admissions, or specialist care. Members are responsible for all costs associated with emergency or hospital services. In case of a life-threatening emergency, members should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. When those types of care are required, we will communicate with your care team during your hospital stay and work closely with specialists. We will also work to maintain accurate up to date records of your care. We do not have hospital privileges.

Yes! We are happy to accept the children. Children enrolling with a parent receive a discounted rate. See our pricing page for details. Dr. Bowman loves caring for infants, children and teenagers and has a special interest in pediatric mental health. She promotes healthy behaviors and medical participation for her youth patients.

Of course! Physician access is one of the greatest benefits of the direct primary care model. Because illness and injury do not respect regular office hours, Dr. Bowman provides after-hours access for urgent medical concerns. This service is intended for time-sensitive issues that cannot wait until the next business day and do not require emergency department care. She observes quiet hours between 8PM and 6AM for all text/portal notifications so phone call is required to contact her for urgent concerns or questions during these timeframes. When you call the members-only phone number after hours you will select the option for urgent concern and the call will ring through directly to Dr. Bowman. If she is not immediately available, she will call back within 2 hours. For all emergencies, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. We understand many people communicate their health needs after-hours, you are welcome to route routine concerns via portal message or if you call you will simply be prompted to leave a voicemail for routine concerns.

Of course – this sort of care is "baked in" to the DPC model. Because you'll have your doctor's email and phone number, you can reach out to us whenever you need and wherever you are! Many illnesses can be diagnosed and treated with a simple conversation. We’ll also locate the nearest pharmacy and order the medications or nearest lab and order your sample when needed just based on what is most appropriate for your circumstances.

We maintain high standards of patient privacy. We will never provide your health information to any third party unless you specifically ask that we do so.

You will be informed of any charges before completing the care, which will simple be added and applied to your preferred method of payment.

We require an initial three month commitment. There are no long-term contracts. We expect to have an open, honest, respectful relationship with you. We encourage you to voice any concerns and will work to satisfy your needs within the scope of our business model. If you choose to terminate, you may do so for any reason with 30 days written notice. Because fragmented care does not best serve your health, Dr. Bowman discourages on and off again care. Re-enrollment is at Dr. Bowman's discretion, incurs additional fees, and enrollment capacity is not guaranteed.

No, fortunately for both you and us. Perhaps the most critical distinction in our model of care centers on a direct, personal relationship between you and your doctor. We forgo insurance payments in order to save our patients from the arbitrary, intrusive decisions that come with using insurance. Charging a direct monthly fee frees us from the typical contractual agreements that prevent non-DPC physicians from offering wholesale prices on laboratory tests, imaging, and medications.

Yes, we take care of any patient regardless of your insurance situation. Your prices will not be higher or lower based on your insurance coverage. However, we recommend that everyone have catastrophic insurance coverage or a share plan, which is still important in the event of a major medical event.

Yes. We recommend our patients continue a major medical plan with a high-deductible and health savings account OR a cost sharing plan (ie Zion). If you experience a major health issue resulting in emergency room, hospital care or specialty care, then you will still need insurance to help cover it. Since we work completely outside of the insurance system, none of the billing for care here is eligible for direct insurance reimbursement. Some patients do submit membership fees for HSA/FSA reimbursement.

Yes. You need only sign a one-time waiver declaring that neither you nor your doctor will directly bill Medicare/medicaid for our services. Even though your insurance will not pay us for any services you receive in our practice, your insurance benefits will otherwise remain unchanged and can continue to be used for all other medical care received outside of our practice. If you want to use your insurance for medications, labs or imaging, we will provide the information to the lab or imaging center - but we cannot agree the services will be covered.

As for Tricare - I can see any patients on Tricare and can place referrals for patients on tricare select/premium.

For people on Tricare Prime, I can still provide care but may not be able to place referrals to specialists.

Starting January 1, 2026, direct primary care memberships will be eligible for HSA reimbursement. Do check with your human resources department regarding the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) as possible payment options for your membership. If you are unable to use these funds to pay for the membership fee directly, there is a good chance that you can still use your HSA/FSA as reimbursement for certain services provided through our office.

Please confer with your tax consultant to clarify tax consequences in your particular circumstances.

As a veteran myself, I am committed to providing care to military service members, their families and retirees.

For people with Tricare Select and Premium, the DPC model does not affect their care. Tricare will not pay the membership fees, but I am free to order labs, imaging and referrals on your behalf.

For people with Tricare Prime, you would need a community PCM partner. Tricare Prime requires patients to have an in-network PCM primary care manager to coordinate orders for labs, imaging, and specialty referrals.

2026 Holidays - CLOSED

New Year's Day - Jan 1

MLK Day - Jan 19

President's Day - Feb 16

Memorial Day - May 25

Juneteenth - June 19

Independence Day - July 3

Labor Day - Sept 7

Veteran's Day - Nov 11

Thanksgiving - Nov 25-27

Christmas - Dec 24-25

NYE - Dec 31

VACATION

I will take 4 weeks of paid vacation where I will be unavailable for routine requests. You will receive 3 reminders to communicate all planned vacations 4 weeks in advance, 2 weeks in advance and 1 week in advance so that we can proactively coordinate all refill requests, form completion, and routine care to meet your needs. I will be available for urgent concerns during vacation. These concerns will be filtered by a member of the care team. If the concern is deemed urgent and appropriate for virtual care - then I will make reasonable efforts to arrange a same/next day 10min tele-care appointment. The timing and availability for these appointments is ultimately at my discretion and cannot be guaranteed. In circumstances where an in-person evaluation is in your best interest, our care team liaison will direct you to the local urgent care or nearby direct primary care physician resources. As demand increases, more clinicians will be joining the practice. We will likely implement a call schedule for urgent care during vacation weeks at that point.

SICKNESS/EMERGENCY

If I am temporarily and unexpectedly unavailable due to personal/family sickness or emergency, then my team will do their best to minimize your inconvenience. As a physician and caring mom, I do prioritize caring for my family when they are sick. You will be notified via HIPAA compliant text and phone call when these events occur so you can plan accordingly. We will make reasonable efforts to coordinate care within 2 weeks for routine concerns and as soon as possible for time-sensitive concerns. I will be available for urgent concerns during these events on a case-by-case basis.

**The timing and availability for all after hours, weekend, holiday and vacation appointments are ultimately at Dr. Bowman's discretion and cannot be guaranteed**