Direct Primary Care (DPC) & Concierge Care
Direct primary care (DPC) is the name given in the ACA (Affordable Care Act) to a physician-led model of outpatient medical care for cash. DPC is based on the idea that better care can be delivered much more affordably by separating primary care from traditional insurance.
Dr. Julie Gunther, founder of sparkMD, is a pioneer of the direct primary care movement with sparkMD having been designated one of the first 150 DPC clinics in the US (Information here). She helped lead the charge for independent cash-based healthcare leading to the passage of Senate Bill 1062 (SB 1062) and paving the way for membership-based healthcare models in Idaho. For nearly a decade she led a small team that provided comprehensive outpatient medical and procedural care for less than $89/month for adults and less than $20/month for children all the while traveling around the country helping other physicians open and grow their own, similar, practices.
In late 2023, Dr. Julie passed the reins of sparkMD to another DPC pioneer, Dr. Josh Leavitt. Dr. Josh founded his own independent DPC in Idaho in 2018. Together they decided to grow sparkMD and continue the legacy of a transparently priced, membership-driven, comprehensive-care model that provides home-grown compassionate medical care in a modern environment.
Dr. Josh and the sparkMD team are passionate about advocating for patients and streamlining medical care. Overtime this has become a daunting task. Dr. Josh believes that modern healthcare has operationalized so much of the patient-experience that the person in healthcare is lost. Dr. Josh and the team at sparkMD are committed to the work they set out to do to empower patients and physicians through independent medical care. They are passionate about caring for patients as people, for helping people live their best lives and for doing right by others.