Cutting out the health insurance middleman, Ann Arbor direct primary care clinic expands – Concentrate
Nearly three years after opening, an Ann Arbor-based medical clinic that offers unlimited visits for a flat monthly fee is expanding to accommodate growing interest in its unconventional model.
Beyond Primary Care, located at 955 Eisenhower Circle, Ste. E in Ann Arbor, provides direct primary care, a newer membership-based model of health care. Patients deal directly with their doctor, and insurance companies are left out of the equation. Patients pay a monthly fee for unlimited visits at the clinic, ranging from $50-$80 depending on the patient’s age. Wholesale medications are dispensed on the premises and wholesale blood work is also available.
The clinic is the brainchild of Dr. Jeff O’Boyle, a family medicine and addiction medicine doctor in Ann Arbor. When the clinic’s doors first opened in 2018, it was a one-man show with two patients. Today, the clinic has 400 patients. O’Boyle has made several recent changes to serve present and future patients better – like adding a second family practitioner, Dr. Janelle Lindow.
“We were growing at such a great rate. Last year I recognized I needed to bring another person on, and that also there’s a subset of the population that would prefer a female physician,” O’Boyle says. “Dr. Janelle is also pursuing a fellowship in integrative medicine in adults, so she’s approaching health care from a more holistic perspective than most physicians out there.”
Another significant change is the clinic’s location. Until August of last year, Beyond Primary Care was located at 2500 Packard St. in Ann Arbor. It had a single exam room, and its bathroom was shared with other tenants housed in the property.
“The new office is still intimate, and has four exam rooms rather than one, so we can do more at the same time,” O’Boyle says. “Having our own bathroom is huge for us, because it was very awkward sharing a communal bathroom sometimes.”
Other changes include the purchase of some equipment, including a new pill counter that will streamline the dispensing of any of the 55,000 units of medications that are housed onsite.
“It’s just a really nice thing for patients to be able to, say, come in for a diabetic visit and get blood work done and then be set up with three to six months of medication before they even leave the clinic, within a one-hour appointment,” O’Boyle says.
He envisions more expansion in the future, including possibly adding behavioral health therapy and dietary counseling services.
“Our mission to provide affordable and accessible health care that is personalized to the folks of Ann Arbor, and to the communities beyond Ann Arbor, will always remain the same,” O’Boyle says. “It’s what I remind myself of every time that I’m thinking of an update and improvement to the clinic.”
Jaishree Drepaul-Bruder is a freelance writer and editor currently based in Ann Arbor. She can be reached at jaishreeedit@gmail.com.
Photo by Christy Malene with Open Box Photography.
