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In business strategy, one of the cornerstones of long-term success is creating a model that competitors cannot easily imitate. The more inimitable your practice is, the more sustainable your advantage becomes. For pediatricians in direct primary care (DPC), the challenge is balancing two opposing needs: you want your practice to be unique enough that it […]

A few years into running a DPC practice, almost every pediatrician has the same moment. You’re no longer just covering rent and payroll. You’re paying yourself consistently. The practice checking account doesn’t feel fragile anymore. And suddenly your CPA says, “It might be time to consider an S-corp election.” That suggestion alone can create confusion,

In my corporate strategy course with Professor Todd Zenger, we explored what makes for a good corporate theory—that is, the set of ideas that helps a company create and capture value over time. Zenger argued that any enduring corporate strategy must be grounded in three key features: insight, foresight, and cross-sight. While these principles are

I often tell parents that children possess an extraordinary internal world—a landscape where imagination is both vivid and powerful. And every so often, I am reminded just how much we adults can learn from them. Not long ago, I met a seven-year-old girl I’ll call Sarah. She had lived most of her young life under

Starting a direct primary care (DPC) practice—especially in pediatrics—can feel like drinking from a firehose. There are dozens of decisions to make before you even open your doors, and it’s tempting to believe that if you just get each one perfect, everything else will fall into place. Should you invest in that sleek otoscope you

In most businesses, inventory means boxes on a shelf. But in DPC, your inventory is time. Every patient uses a slice of it — not just for visits, but also for messages, school forms, phone calls, refills, and emotional labor. While a typical well or sick visit might last 20–30 minutes, the total time spent

One of the most powerful shifts that comes with leaving insurance-based pediatrics and moving into Direct Primary Care (DPC) is learning to think like an entrepreneur. That means not just asking: How do I provide good care? but also: How do I create and capture value in a sustainable way? These two concepts—value creation and

The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) includes long-awaited provisions affecting direct primary care (DPC). Below, we answer the most common questions pediatric DPC physicians may have about what the law actually says, when it takes effect, and how it impacts our practices and patients. Q: What does OBBB actually do for direct primary

In our last article, we walked through how to design your panel size and pricing using a realistic time-per-patient estimate of about 4 hours per year. That model works beautifully for many general pediatric practices offering traditional well and sick care, along with some messaging and care coordination. But what if your practice is different?

Spoiler alert: Yes—especially if you’re not already a local celebrity. Why This Question Matters Many pediatricians launching a direct primary care (DPC) practice focus their startup budget on essentials: exam tables, EMRs, vaccines, rent. But marketing? It’s often an afterthought—tucked into the category of “I’ll get to it once I have more patients.” But the