Acknowledgements

I would like take the opportunity to thank the following people who helped in many ways to make this manual possible. Their patience, input and understanding has been invaluable and for that I am truly thankful!

–My husband, son and daughter, Robert J. Corba, D.O., RJ and Kameron, who tolerated my disappearance into the “playroom” to use the computer(s) nightly for months, and laughed at my notes outlining this manual taped to the walls of the dining room.

–Sarah Colsten, Administrative Medical Assistant extraordinaire, who provided me unlimited technical assistance, allowed late night calls, and was always ready to help while still attending to the needs of my office. Sarah has been a valued employee in my practice for over 10 years and lived with me through the transition to Direct Primary Care. What a wonderful ride it has been!

–Jilllian Stone, of Stone Mountain Solutions, LLC,  a Web and Graphic Design company. There is no way this could have become an actual reality without her IT expertise, patience, understanding and perseverance.

–Attorney Dennis Hursh, much gratitude to  Dennis for his invaluable healthcare-related expertise and wonderful enthusiasm for this project. Dennis is the owner of Hursh & Hursh, P.C. concentrates his practice on representing physicians and has worked with the Pennsylvania Medical Society. His extensive experience in physician contracting inspired him to write a book on physician employment agreements, “The Final Hurdle – a Physician’s Guide to Negotiating a Fair Employment Agreement”. 

Dennis is a panel lawyer with The Pennsylvania Medical Society.  In that capacity he reviews physician employment contracts as part of their Contract Review Service.  He also serves as outside general counsel to their wholly-owned subsidiary, PMSCO – now doing business as the Care Centered Collaborative as well as  representing individual physicians in reviewing and negotiating their physician employment agreements.  Dennis understands the tremendous time, financial, regulatory and litigious pressures physicians face, and strives to reduce these pressures for his clients, so they can do what they do best – practice medicine.

–Cassandra Stamos, my social media/marketing sounding-board and consultant who’s fantastic market awareness and honest opinions/advice have helped to build the DPC brand in an area where it was completely new and unheard-of. Cassie is the owner of Cassie-Leigh Marketing.  cassie@cassieleighmarketing.com

–Gratitude to Susan Lee, Director-Quality and Regulatory Compliance at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, who took the time to learn about the unique needs of a Direct Primary Care Office and for providing on-going HIPAA support and annual audits/training updates to ensure our compliance.

And last but NEVER least, a HUGE thank you to the multiple DPC docs who gave me unfettered advice when asked; Dr. Lee Gross, Dr. Phil Eskew, Dr. Amy Walsh, Dr. Kim Nalda, Dr. Vance Lassey, Dr. Jack Forbush and Dr. Staci Benson.