(p) 402-256-5856
GOOD LIFE MEDICINE DPC
At Good Life Medicine DPC, we are dedicated to deliver a better primary care experience with improved access with multiple visit options, direct communication with your primary care physician, transparent pricing, discounted labs and imaging. Our goal is to help patients live their best lives by preventing chronic diseases through multiple approaches. We serve individuals and families of all ages who are motivated to invest time, energy and resources to improve and maintain their own health. We will help guide you through a sometimes difficult healthcare landscape. We believe that open communication and transparent pricing will lead to a better primary care experience.
ABOUT US
I formed Good Life Medicine DPC to help address the chronic problems associated with the corporate medical industry. I had been part of corporate medicine for 10 years after my Family Medicine residency. While there are some benefits of large-scale healthcare, both for patients and physicians, I have come to realize if we are to heal our healthcare nation, there must be a change in how primary care is delivered.
Family Medicine is a specialty focused on the health of the individual in the wider context of the family structure. It was perfect to have my wife, Melissa, be a part of Good Life Medicine DPC as well. Just like any relationship, we complement each other, each bringing our own strengths and weaknesses. We hope that together we can help you and your family make the best health care decisions possible.
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--Brent Holmquist, MD
OUR TEAM
FAQ
Find Your Answers Here
WHAT IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE (DPC)?
Direct Primary Care is a model of delivering primary care that allows a patient to directly contract with the physician to provide the highest level of care. A DPC physician does not bill or utilize a patient's insurance for payment. Instead the patient directly pays a monthly, quarterly or yearly fee to cover services
HOW IS THIS MODEL DIFFERENT FROM MY CURRENT INSURANCE?
Insurance is meant to be a safety net in case of catastrophic events (ie. think of car insurance or life insurance). We don't use car insurance to pay for the maintenance work to keep our cars in good running shape. Our current primary care system is reliant on third parties (insurance) to pay for services, and as a result, the insurance companies have say in healthcare decisions that should stay in the exam room between the patient and physician. Since patients contract directly with the physician for services, there are no third parties that can deny care.
SHOULD I STILL HAVE INSURANCE?
Absolutely!! Insurance, when used correctly, is an important tool for all of us to have; reducing financial risk during significant medical events such as surgery, an ER visit, or hospitalization. Therefore, most PPO, high deductible and catastrophic insurance plans work well with this model. As a DPC, we eliminate the need for insurance at the primary care level. There are no co-pays, deductables to attain and no hidden fees. By reducing fees and being upfront with care plan costs, we are able to focus our time on your health and well-being. Just as it should be.
HOW DOESÂ GOOD LIFE MEDICINE DPC DIFFER FROM AÂ TRADITIONAL PRIMARY CARE CLINIC?
Think to your last couple of primary care visits, whether they were for an acute visit for an injury, follow up on a chronic medical condition such as high blood pressure or an annual physical exam and ask yourself a few questions:
Was the scheduling process easy?
What was the length of time (days to months) between scheduling appointment to actual office visit?
Did you get to see your preferred primary care physician?
How long was your office wait time once checked in?
How long did your physician spend with you?
Were all of your questions answered to your satisfaction?
Were you involved in your healthcare decision making process?
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If you were satisfied with the answers to those questions, then you are in the minority of patient experiences. Most people would like to have a better healthcare experience, but sadly, our current "fee for service" insurance based system is not organized or incentivized to produce optimal patient experiences.
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The majority of patients are not able to see their doctor of choice in a timeframe that fits their schedule. A typical primary care doctor has a base of 2000-3500 patients. Most acute patient visits are scheduled for 15 minutes, an annual exam may be 30 minutes. In that 15 minute appointment, the physician needs to not only review your chart before going in, get a good history of what the problem(s) is(are), do a physical exam, make appropriate conclusions, decide whether labs, imaging or consultations are needed, and communicate all of that to the patient to make a mutual plan of care. Then the physician has to document this with a note in the chart. 15 minutes is simply an inadequate amount of time to appropriately provide good, quality care.
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Unfortunately shortcuts are sometimes used to cut time from this process. Examples may include: taking a shorter medical history than necessary, leading to possible mis-diagnoses or utilizing imaging such as x-rays, CT scan, MRIs for diagnosing, rather than allotting more time for a deeper history/more thorough exam that could reach similar conclusions at a less expensive price tag.
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DPC saves the vast majority of patients money with a markedly improved patient experience. DPC physicians limit the size of their patient panel to approximately 500-600 total. This model allows the patient and physician more time during visits (typically 30-90 minute visits depending on complexity) with easier access--same or next day office visits or phone/video/text communication. The current insurance fee for service structure does not pay physicians for phone or email/text visits. For many problems, a physician will ask that the patient be seen in office, in order to receive compensation. However; not all patient problems need to be physically seen in the office. The DPC model offers all forms of patient communications included in the monthly fee. Therefore, a problem can be resolved via phone whereas in the traditional system this problem would require an in-office visit and costing the patient additional funds .
I'M INTERESTED, BUT WOULD LIKE TO TALK MORE ABOUT MY SITUATION. HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?
You can call the office at 402-256-5856 and discuss directly or you can email us at thegoodmd@goodlifemedicinedpc.com to start a discussion. We can also set up a time to discuss our direct primary care model to see if this may be a good fit for you and your family. We understand managing your healthcare is a big decision and one that requires a lot of information.
Our goal at Good Life Medicine DPC is to provide you and your family the best patient experience possible in an affordable and transparent way. If you are ready to become a part of our healthcare family and wish for us to help you navigate the (sometimes complex) world of medicine with yours, please click here to sign up directly.
WHY GOOD LIFE MEDICINE?
At Good Life Medicine our goal is to literally help you live 'the good life" as the interstate signs boast as you enter our state! Our tag-line, "Medicine. Redefined" is based upon re-evaluating and reformulating flawed healthcare standards/models. Good Life Medicine focuses on delivering high-quality care, thorough patient education, overall improved health and well being, while maintaining the most cost-effective, and patient-centered care possible. Melissa and I come from science backgrounds, and that colors our perspectives on a lot of the decisions we make in life and how we care for others. We ask, is there good, quality information about medications, interventions, processes, vaccinations, diagnostic tests, screening tests, etc? This is called Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). There were therapies and medical concepts 10-15 years ago that are truly antiquated now because new information has come out. But at the time, that therapy may have been the gold standard. As new, quality information becomes available, our thoughts about the older therapies change. This is the absolute beauty of science.
I HAVE MEDICARE...CAN I STILL BE A MEMBER AT GOOD LIFE MEDICINE DPC?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is a bit complicated. In order for a Medicare patient to directly contract with a DPC provider, that provider has to opt out of Medicare. When we are opted into Medicare, we cannot contract with Medicare patients with DPC. The normal default state in the insurance driven health care industry is for a provider to be opted into Medicare. Then when opted in, when we see a patient with Medicare, legally we have to bill Medicare.
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I will be opted into Medicare until end of March 2022, at which time I will opt out. Then starting in April 2022, I will be able to directly contract with patients that have Medicare. If you have Medicare and would like to be a member of Good Life Medicine DPC, please email me and let me know so I can put you on a wait list. Then starting in April 2022, we can start the enrollment process.
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Once you are enrolled, then we would sign a contract stating that we would not bill Medicare for our services and the patient would not seek reimbursement from Medicare for services.
MEDICAL SERVICES
PREVENTATIVE HEALTH MAINTENANCE
Preventing bad outcomes by making good early decisions is key for many areas of life, but it is particularly important when considering our health. Having a solid foundation of good health decisions starts early in life. This is what primary care and particularly family medicine excels at.
CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT
Even with good decisions about our health, sometimes we deal with diseases and conditions that affect our long term health. For most common, chronic diseases, we do not need to see specialists for management. At Good Life Medicine DPC, we have a dedicated primary care physician that has enough time and patience to manage multiple conditions
ACUTE CARE
All of us experience injuries and illnesses from time to time. Minor to moderate issues can usually be taken care of in YOUR primary care office, not a crowded ER or unknown urgent care. Wouldn’t it be nice to know you can get in quickly with someone you know and trust to take care of that without any further cost?
LAB WORK
There are a variety of reasons for drawing labs, from screening for diabetes to more complex diagnostics, we offer lab work that drawn in office. While the price of these labs are not included in the monthly fee, we are able to offer the labs at a markedly lower cash/self pay cost than when the labs are run through insurance.
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Current cash price list for the most common labs that we draw for members only (as of 1/2022):
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Complete Blood Count (CBC) With Differential $2.50
Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP) $2.70
Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP) $3.30
HgbA1c $2.75
Insulin $4.00
Lipid Panel $3.00
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) $4.00
Total Testosterone $4.50
Free T4 $3.25
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) $3.00
Urine Culture $6.50
Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy $11.50
Vitamin B12 $4.50
Rapid in office influenza A/B $25
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We also offer for both members and non-members:
Non-rapid Covid PCR testing (currently 2-4 day turnaround) through LabCorp $125
Rapid in office Covid Antigen testing (approx 15-20 min) $25
For these two Covid tests, since insurance or the government is covering the costs of these, we will provide an invoice and receipt for you to turn into your insurance company if you'd like.
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REDUCED COST IMAGING
Many people do not know that getting imaging through the hospital systems using insurance costs the consumer several times more than non-insurance paid imaging at an outpatient imaging center.
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We utilize Nebraska Health Imaging at 7819 Dodge St. as our outpatient imaging center.
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Here is a list of their cash prices:
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MRI without contrast $425
MRI with contrast $475
CT without contrast $250
CT with contrast $300
Ultrasound (any exam) $150
Ultrasound pelvic with transvaginal $225
X-ray $60
Aspiration/Injection $175
Fluoroscopy/US guidance $175
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50% discount for each additional exam incl contrast performed on the same day. The highest charge procedure is 1st, then subsequent lower charges are 50% off.
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If you prefer to utilize your insurance for imaging studies, I can order these at any CHI hospital radiology department. Be aware that the cost going through your insurance will likely be markedly higher. Please consult with your insurance company to get an estimated cost.
IN OFFICE PROCEDURES
From simple laceration repair to removing a suspicious looking mole to a joint injection, there are many simple office procedures that are included in your membership. You will only pay for the cost of any medications used in procedures.
BOTOX
Ask us about our Cosmetic Botox.Â
$10 per unit for DPC members
$12Â per unit for non-members
PRICE LIST
Prices are monthly.Â
Option to pay quarterly or yearly at a discount.
HOURS
Office Hours
Monday 830 am- 4 pm
Tuesday 830 am - 4 pm
Wednesday 830 am - 4 pm
Thursday 830 am - 4 pm
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If you need an office/home/virtual visit outside of office hours,
we will absolutely work with your schedule.
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CONTACT US
Good Life Medicine DPC is committed to providing quality and comprehensive healthcare. To learn more about our clinic and how we can help you, get in touch with us today.
1021 S 178th St #101
Omaha, NE 68118
Located within Makovicka PT at Pacific Springs
(p) 402-256-5856
(f) 531-200-7565