Capitation vs. DPC

Category: healthcare

Clarifying the difference between insurance capitation and the DPC relationship.

Capitation is where an *insurance company* pays a doctor a flat fee for a *network* of patients (which the doctor often hates). DPC is where a *patient* pays a doctor directly (which the doctor and patient love). The alignment is the difference.

Common Examples

• We always clarify the difference between capitation vs. DPC to emphasize that our practice remains entirely accountable to the patient, not a third party.
• The key to the DPC success is the removal of the insurer, which is fundamentally absent in traditional insurance capitation models.