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DPC Model, Eating the Frog, and Courage
Ashley Chambers
February 02, 2024
Hello! Welcome back to The Friday Sign Out - a newsletter for primary care physicians and advanced practice providers.
Happy February! This month gets a bad rep for being dreary, dark and snowy, but in fact, it’s not always so bad. A couple mild sunny days are usually sprinkled in, people are pulling out pink and red sweaters, and everyone is daydreaming of spring. It feels, dare I say, lighter? The busyness of work has lessened a bit this past week. Many of my snowbirds have left for Florida resulting in calmer clinic days. Relishing this while I can!
Here’s what I’m reading and thinking about this week.
In the News
Dr. Jared Dashevsky writes a newsletter called the Healthcare Huddle to share updates on policy, technology and finances for physicians. A couple weeks ago, he wrote about the Direct Primary Care Model (DPC). It’s a healthcare model in which the traditional fee-for-service structure is bypassed and patients instead pay membership fee to cover primary care services. Read more below. I love learning more about other healthcare models and structure. It’s easy to believe there is only one way to give care - but that’s obviously not the case!
In Your Practice
Mark Twain said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” Twain is encouraging us to do the most difficult task first. Get this tough things out of the way and make the rest of the day easy.
What is your “frog” at work? Is it the inbox? Or your paperwork? Or unfinished notes? For me, it’s the result portion of the inbox. I dread it and tend to leave it as my last to-do item. However, it’s the toughest for me and requires the most brain power. Twain’s advice seems obvious here - get it out of the way! Especially in the morning when I’m fresh and caffeinated 🙂 I am committed to working on this over the next couple months.
I would love to hear how you “eat the frog”!
In Your Heart
Ethnobotanist and mystic Terence McKenna on courage:
"Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a feather bed."
Source: Unfolding the Stone (edited lightly for clarity)
I love this quote. It’s a gentle reassurance that whatever happens, it will work out as long as you go forth with courage and confidence. The line “hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed” is beautiful.
We’ve got this!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ashley