Direct Primary Care, or DPC, is a healthcare delivery model that provides an opportunity to restore and improve upon the traditional patient-physician relationship. By eliminating time constraints, documentation requirements, and other red tape imposed by insurance companies, we can provide quality care to a small patient panel with same and next business day appointments and direct access to your physician through a monthly membership fee.

Dr. Kuhfahl is an internal medicine physician. She provides primary care to adult patients 18 years and older. Your membership fee includes preventative care, chronic disease management, sick visits, convenient direct communication, basic in-office testing listed below, and several procedures common to primary care. There are no complicated membership tiers and Dr. Kuhfahl hopes to provide comprehensive primary care services for your monthly fee. You can expect preventative care including vision, hearing, and skin cancer screening. She provides chronic disease management for conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, asthma, COPD, anxiety, and depression, for example. She is passionate about nutrition and exercise and is happy to share tips regarding building healthy habits that she herself uses. And you may find that her more in-depth knowledge of internal medicine means less specialist referrals. In-office testing included in your membership fee includes EKGs, glucose, simple urinalysis, stool occult blood, rapid Strep testing, urine pregnancy, and spirometry. Dr. Kuhfahl completed a combined internship in emergency and internal medicine and can perform procedures such as suturing of simple lacerations, incision and drainage of abscesses, skin lesion removal*, and joint aspiration and injection*. *membership fee does not include the cost of pathology or medications used for procedures A full listing of included services can be found in the Delta Health and Wellness Services Guide located in the Terms of Service under the "Get Started" section or by contacting us. Dr. Kuhfahl also hopes to add more services as our practice matures.

Good question. Direct Primary Care and Concierge practices share some similarities, including a limited patient panel size and a monthly or annual membership fee. However, most Concierge practices still contract with and bill insurance companies and often have much higher membership fees. Instead, Direct Primary Care practices work directly with the patient, reduce administrative costs, and pass on benefits of wholesale pricing of medications and labs to our patients that often cannot be provided in insurance-based practices.

Dr. Kuhfahl is available during office hours for your routine, follow-up, and sick care needs. She strives to be available via phone for urgent matters that cannot wait until the office re-opens. If you have an emergency, call 911.

No. After spending a decade advocating for patients with insurance companies as a career, Dr. Kuhfahl is proud to work directly with patients in order to reduce administrative burdens and provide accessible, convenient, and quality patient care. Delta Health and Wellness is considered an out-of-network provider, but most non-HMO insurance plans will still cover tests and consultations ordered by out-of-network providers.

Yes, it is still recommended to have some type of health insurance or health share plan. While Delta Health and Wellness can provide primary and sick care, there are times when you may require emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, or specialist care that is not covered in your membership fee. A DPC membership often works well with a high-deductible insurance plan with a health savings account.

Yes! You will need to sign a waiver declaring that neither you nor our office will directly bill Medicare for our services. Medicare will still cover any laboratory testing, imaging, and medications prescribed by our office, as well as specialty care and hospitalizations. Although, you may find that our discounted pricing on labs and prescription medications is even cheaper.

When you register online, you will be charged a one-time non-refundable registration fee through our billing software. You will not be able to receive any medical care before completing an in-person comprehensive physical examination. Your monthly billing will begin on the day of your first visit with Dr. Kuhfahl. In order to reduce administrative burdens, we require monthly membership fee payment via automated means by automatic bank draft (ACH) or credit/debit card. Any additional charges for incidentals such as prescription medications, laboratory studies, or durable medical equipment, etc. can be made by automatic bank draft, credit/debit card, or check at the time of service. For safety reasons, no cash will be accepted or stored in the office. There is no long-term contract and membership will be billed monthly beginning with your first visit. If you are not satisfied with your care, you are free to terminate your membership and physician-patient relationship at any time. However, we believe in open and honest communication and invite you to raise any concerns about your care to Dr. Kuhfahl immediately. If you cancel your membership or your payments lapse, the cost to re-register is $375.

No controlled substances will be stored in the office. Additionally, Dr. Kuhfahl does not believe in routinely prescribing controlled substances, such as benzodiazepines and narcotics/opioids. She believes that most chronic pain requiring narcotics is best managed by a Pain Management specialist. However, she is happy to work with you on other options to manage your pain and other medical conditions including non-controlled substance medications, stress/anxiety management, sleep hygiene, etc.

One of the benefits of being a member of Delta Health and Wellness is being able to receive medical care when you're away from home through secure telecommunications. If necessary, we can even order prescriptions at your nearest pharmacy.

Just ask! Your health and satisfaction are important to us.