Most organizations aren’t trying to replace their benefits. They’re trying to make them work.
Healthcare benefits are rarely built from scratch. They evolve over time. Plans are layered, adjusted, and renewed year after year.
What tends to change is not the structure, but the questions leadership starts asking:
- Are employees actually using the benefits we offer?
- Why does access still feel difficult?
- Why are costs rising without a clear improvement in experience?
These are not abstract concerns. They show up in missed work, delayed care, and employees defaulting to urgent care or the ER because it is the easiest option.
Direct primary care is increasingly being introduced at this point in the conversation. Not as a replacement, but to address the part of the system that is not working well today.
A growing number of employers are approaching primary care differently
This shift is not theoretical anymore.
Employer adoption of Direct Primary Care has accelerated significantly over the past several years. According to the Hint Health Trends in DPC 2026 report, employer-sponsored memberships have grown from just 18% of total memberships in 2017 to nearly 60% in 2025.
That change reflects something practical. Organizations are not replacing their plans. They are adding a layer that improves how employees access care within those plans.
At the same time, pricing for employer-sponsored Direct Primary Care has remained relatively stable, typically falling in the $70–$90 per member per month range, even as traditional premiums continue to rise.
For leadership teams, that combination of increased utilization and predictable cost is what makes the model worth evaluating.
Where traditional benefits fall short
Most healthcare strategies are built to handle large, unpredictable events well. Hospitalizations, surgeries, and specialist care are covered.
Where they tend to struggle is in everyday use.
Primary care, in theory, should be the front door to the system. In practice, it often isn’t. Appointments can take weeks. Visits feel rushed. Costs are not always clear. Over time, employees disengage from that part of care altogether.
The result is not less care. It is different care. More reactive, more fragmented, and often more expensive. This is the gap direct primary care is designed to fill.
A healthcare benefit your team will use.
At its core, Direct Primary Care is simple. It is a membership model that provides access to primary and often urgent care for a flat monthly fee.
What matters more than the structure is how it changes behavior.
Care becomes easier to access. Same-day or next-day appointments are common. Employees can reach their provider outside of visits, often through phone, text, or email. Over time, that creates a more consistent relationship with care.
The data reflects this shift clearly. Direct Primary Care models report 97% access satisfaction, a near-perfect score tied directly to how easy it is for members to get care when they need it.
And importantly, most interactions do not happen in an exam room. According to the Hint Health Trends in DPC 2026 report shows that 93% of members communicate with their provider at least once per year, often outside of traditional visits.
That is what changes utilization. Not incentives, but access.
Care that fits working lives.
For teams, the difference is not philosophical. It’s practical.
When care is accessible, people use it earlier. They ask questions before something becomes urgent. They follow up. They build a relationship with a provider who understands their history over time.
This is where language like “accessible, personable, and built around real life” becomes meaningful in practice. It is not about offering more services. It is about making care easier to engage within the context of a working schedule.
When that happens, the benefits extend beyond individual interactions. Teams stay healthier, miss fewer days of work, and feel more supported in managing their health.
How direct primary care works alongside insurance
One of the more common concerns is whether adopting direct primary care requires broader changes to an existing plan.
It does not.
Direct primary care is designed to sit alongside traditional coverage. Insurance continues to serve its role in covering high-cost events such as hospitalizations, surgeries, and specialist care.
Direct primary care becomes the first point of contact for most day-to-day needs. Preventive care, chronic condition management, and urgent concerns are handled at the primary care level, where they can often be resolved more efficiently.
This separation tends to improve how the overall system is used. Instead of defaulting to higher-cost settings, employees have a reliable, accessible place to start.
What organizations tend to see over time
When access improves, utilization patterns change.
Organizations that implement direct primary care often see a reduction in avoidable use of higher-cost services. This includes fewer emergency room visits and more appropriate use of outpatient and specialist care.
The outcomes cited in employer programs are consistent with this shift. Internal Hy-Vee Health Exemplar Care data shows:
- A 40% reduction in ER visits
- A 22% decrease in outpatient visits
- A 20% decrease in overall claims costs
These results are not driven by limiting access. They are driven by changing where care happens first.
A benefit that supports recruitment, retention, and day-to-day experience.
Healthcare is one of the most visible benefits employees evaluate.
But it is also one of the most frustrating when it is difficult to use.
When access improves and experiences become more consistent, it has an impact beyond clinical outcomes. Employees feel supported. Friction is reduced. Trust in the benefit increases.
This is where direct primary care tends to show up in a broader organizational context. Not just as a cost strategy, but as a way to strengthen recruitment, retention, and overall employee experience.
It becomes a benefit that people talk about, not one they avoid.
Flexible to implement, without waiting for open enrollment
Another practical advantage is how Direct Primary Care can be introduced.
Because it is structured as a membership, it does not need to follow traditional enrollment timelines. Organizations can launch at any point during the year, whether as a pilot, a phased rollout, or a broader offering.
This allows leadership teams to evaluate the model without committing to a full redesign of their benefits strategy.
In most cases, leadership initiates the exploration, and HR plays a critical role in implementation. That includes integrating the offering into the benefits structure and ensuring employees understand how and when to use it.
A practical addition to insurance, not a replacement.
For most organizations, the goal is not to change everything.
It is to address what is not working.
Direct Primary Care fits into that approach. It improves access, simplifies the experience, and supports better use of the broader healthcare system without requiring a complete overhaul.
It is not a different benefits strategy. It is a more complete one.
To learn more about how Hy-Vee Health Exemplar Care works with organizations, visit this page.