Post Author: Dana Y. Lujan, MBA
Dana Y. Lujan is a health care strategist and operator with more than twenty years of experience across payers, providers, and health systems. She is the founder of Wellthlinks, a consulting firm that helps employers and providers redesign care models through concierge and direct primary care. Lujan has led multi-state network development, payer contracting, financial modeling, and compliance initiatives that strengthen provider sustainability and employer value. She previously served as president of the Nevada chapter of HFMA and is pursuing a JD to expand her expertise in health care law and compliance. An active author on Medium, where she writes on health care innovation, direct primary care, concierge medicine, employer contracting, and compliance, she also has forthcoming publications in KevinMD, MedCity News, and BenefitsPRO. Additional professional updates can be found on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Dana Y. Lujan is a health care strategist and operator with more than twenty years of experience across payers, providers, and health systems. She is the founder of Wellthlinks, a consulting firm that helps employers and providers redesign care models through concierge and direct primary care. Lujan has led multi-state network development, payer contracting, financial modeling, and compliance initiatives that strengthen provider sustainability and employer value. She previously served as president of the Nevada chapter of HFMA and is pursuing a JD to expand her expertise in health care law and compliance. An active author on Medium, where she writes on health care innovation, direct primary care, concierge medicine, employer contracting, and compliance, she also has forthcoming publications in KevinMD, MedCity News, and BenefitsPRO. Additional professional updates can be found on LinkedIn and Instagram.
In my previous article, I examined why direct primary care (DPC) practices fail, focusing on financial modeling, compliance risks, and the gap between what’s legal and what’s sustainable. But there’s a more fundamental issue that precedes all of those concerns: market-model fit.
The direct primary care community loves to debate panel size, membership pricing, and model purity. We dissect what went wrong when practices fail. We blame insufficient commitment, poor …
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I didn’t understand why, especially since I had just spoken with him before his travels. The day my son’s father, Joseph, died, I was sitting in a nail salon. A friend from the military called, offering condolences. I didn’t understand why; until I checked social media and saw the news of an airplane crash. My heart knew before my mind could process it.
Six years later, same month, just five days …
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I’m going to say something controversial: the DPC community’s obsession with “purity” is missing the point. After two decades designing health care financial models, negotiating payer & vendor contracts, and building compliance frameworks, I’ve learned that most alternative payment models don’t fail because they’re impure. They fail because someone forgot to do the math.
When $1 million can’t save a bad idea
The University of Houston medical school launched a direct primary …
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Physicians tell me they want out of the insurance grind, but they’re terrified to actually do it. That fear is costing them years of autonomy they could already have.
As someone who supports both DPC and concierge physicians, I believe in the purity of the DPC model, but I also believe in practical pathways to get there. Hybrid models aren’t the compromise position; they’re the strategic bridge that makes the transition …
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For years, concierge medicine and direct primary care (DPC) were viewed as fringe alternatives, reserved for affluent patients or entrepreneurial physicians willing to step outside the insurance system. But in my opinion, these models are no longer “nice-to-have” side projects. They’re becoming essential pathways for physicians to reclaim careers, reduce burnout, and meet patient expectations in an evolving health care landscape.
Burnout is pushing physicians to the edge.
The pandemic only magnified …
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