Member Medical DPC: How Direct Primary Care Works in Elizabethtown

Key Takeaways

• Member Medical DPC is a Direct Primary Care practice in Elizabethtown — $75/month for adults, $40/month for kids, no copays, no insurance billing.
• A test that costs $2 to run is charged at $2 — not the $185 the industry says they can charge. Jim Owen explained the model directly: "Our incentive is healthier people."
• Members get their provider's actual cell phone number plus same-day or next-day visits, 45-minute first appointments, and 10–14 patients per provider per day (vs. 30–40 in traditional care).
• Business owners: occupational health, DOT physicals, drug screens, and workers' comp coordination — one client reduced workers' comp by 88%, ROI ranges from 3:1 to 7:1.
• Ribbon Cutting is Wednesday April 15, 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM at 1230 Woodland Drive, Suite 110, Elizabethtown. Chamber ribbon at noon, food trucks, open to the public.

Summary

Member Medical DPC has been operating quietly in Elizabethtown for eight years. CEO and Co-Founder Jim Owen joined Hardin Local Weekly along with Office Manager Hannah Warnshuis for a three-part conversation about Direct Primary Care, occupational health, and the kind of access members actually get.

The model is simple: cut the insurance middleman, charge a monthly membership, pass tests and care through at cost, and give patients the time and access they need. Rachel Brantingham — herself a Member Medical member — anchored the conversation from the patient's perspective. Phil Taul pressed on the business-owner case. Scott Lucas pushed on the patient-experience details.

The ribbon cutting Wednesday April 15 is the public moment. Anyone curious about how the model works should stop in, take the tour, and meet the team.

Full Article

Part 1 — The Why

Member Medical DPC started about nine years ago, when Jim Owen and his business partner Brandon McKinney sat down and looked at where health insurance was headed. "It was getting out of hand," Jim said. "And it's only increased and increased and increased since then. But we said there's got to be a solution out there for, one, the patients, [and] two, the providers that are working to serve us. And to get us healthier."

Direct Primary Care is the answer Member Medical built. The Head APRN and co-founder Christy Holder — pulmonary, critical care, sleep medicine, and family medicine background — had been working in traditional care and watching the same problem from the other side. Patient panels were running 2,500. Visits were too short. Patients were getting brought back over and over because there wasn't enough time the first visit to actually solve anything.

Jim framed the system flaw bluntly: "In traditional care, the sicker you are, the better patient you are. Our incentive is healthier people."

Then he gave the example that did more work than anything else in the segment. "If we do a test and that test costs us, you know, $2, but Healthcare Blue Book or the guidelines say we can charge $185, we're charging the $2. Whereas in traditional care, they're going to charge you the max. Right? It's really about how do we generate the most revenue for whatever our entity is. Ours is different. We charge a membership. We charge that monthly, similar to a gym. And with that, all of your care is covered in that membership."

Phil pulled out his own recent experience to anchor the contrast. A weekend strep and COVID test for him and his son at an urgent care ran him $400 out of pocket after insurance — on top of the $800/month his family already pays in premiums. The same care at Member Medical, after the membership, would have been around $40 total per person. "It was just kind of crazy to me," Phil said, "to think that I can't even go someplace quick just to have something simple done without them just charging so much."

Hannah Warnshuis came in to talk about how the model changes the actual visit. "With traditional health care, it's pretty much a number. Providers have a strict set number that they have to see a day. It could range anywhere from 30 to 40 patients a day. And when you have that time with your provider, it increases your outcomes. So you have better outcomes because your provider has a chance to get to know you. For us, you're not just a number. You're a person — like, I know you, because we get that time with you."

Part 2 — How It Works

Membership is $75 per month for adults, $40 per month for kids. Hannah walked through the first visit. New-patient paperwork goes out by email before the appointment, fully HIPAA-compliant, straight into the chart. When the patient arrives, Miss Dina greets them by name. The medical assistant takes the patient back immediately — no waiting room delay — and runs vitals. Then the provider has 30 to 45 uninterrupted minutes with the patient.

"You can ask all the questions that you want to ask," Hannah said. "There's no limit, really. Like, we're not going to tell you, oh, you can only talk about two concerns."

The math on capacity is part of why it works. "Like, our providers are maxed out at 12 to 13 patients a day," Hannah said. "Traditional is 25 to 30 patients." Member Medical's providers see 10 to 14. The provider has time. The patient has time.

Phil asked the obvious question — unlimited visits with no copays. What's the catch? Jim's answer was direct. "There is no catch. That's the hard thing, right? A lot of it is, OK, this sounds too good to be true. Even when we're presenting to companies, employees that have signed up, [they ask] what's the catch? I wish I could tell you we created some major algorithm or have some secret sauce, but it's really about our simplicity. We've cut out all the people that are involved in your care other than the provider and you, the patient."

Member Medical serves three groups, and Jim was clear about each. Individuals and families who want better care often adjust their insurance — raise the deductible, lower the premium, add Member Medical for primary and urgent care, save significant money over the year. Small businesses with 10 to 15 employees that can't afford full insurance use Member Medical as a benefit they can actually offer their team. Self-insured employers and fully-insured companies under 100 employees add Member Medical to handle occupational, work comp, and routine care because Member Medical absorbs costs the company would otherwise pay directly.

The occupational-health side is where the dollar figures get real for business owners. Pre-employment physicals are no cost to companies under contract. DOT physicals and drug screens cost the company $10 for the test materials — not the multi-hundred-dollar price tag of traditional providers. And on workers' comp: "We've helped a company reduce their workers' comp by 88 percent," Jim said. Across the customer base, every dollar a company pays Member Medical is generating three to seven dollars back in healthcare and workers' comp savings.

A common question on the employer side is whether employees have to leave their current providers to use Member Medical. They don't. But Jim noted that most do switch over time anyway. "We see a large number of people do make that change because their current provider can't get them in. You're sick on a Monday and they say we can get you in on Thursday. Well, who wants to wait that long to get other care or better care?"

When Phil asked what the first step is for a business owner who wants to bring Member Medical on, Jim kept it simple: "Just give it our office a call. There's a place to sign up on the website. But we're very person-to-person. So if you want to give us a call, we think that's the best way to get started."

Part 3 — Access, Partnerships, and the Ribbon Cutting

The access piece is the one that surprised the hosts most. Rachel — already a Member Medical patient — told the audience: "I have Christy and Sarah's personal cell numbers and I can contact them 24/7."

Hannah explained the system. The providers carry a HIPAA-compliant app on their phones with a number assigned to each provider. At the first visit, the provider hands the patient that number. "She'll say, hey, this is Christy. Thanks for letting me see you today. Here's my cell phone number. If you have any issues, just give me a call or a text. And so after hours, if you need anything, that cell phone number is there and you just reach out to them and they'll get back to you."

Hannah added a real-world note that mattered: "We've had to tell people, like, you know, you wake up at 2 AM and you're like, oh, I forgot to fill my blood pressure medication — just wait until the morning to make that call. We've had those calls."

Jim contrasted the model with traditional telehealth. "We call telehealth Dr. Roulette. When you do a traditional telehealth, you don't know who's going to be on the other end of that call. So with this, you may get Christy, Sarah, or Paula that's in our office that have a familiarity with you. And it's going to be somebody local. So it's not somebody across the country or across the world even trying to address your care that has no knowledge of your medical history."

Member Medical's partnerships extend cost savings beyond the four walls of the practice. Rachel had used them recently for follow-up imaging and got connected directly with Heartland Imaging for "at-cost imaging for our patients." Hannah explained: "It's a lot lower than what you would see if you were to go to a traditional provider for those images." PC Pros handles physical therapy, often same-day or next-day. Mental health partners offer cash-pay options.

The providers themselves are NPs, supervised by a medical director: Dr. Tom Hustad, formerly medical director of Baptist Health Hardin, now collaborating with Member Medical's NP team.

Two members called in during the segment to vouch — Carrie Ann and Gage both messaged in. Then Rachel closed the hour with the part the audience needed to act on this week.

Member Medical DPC Ribbon Cutting & Member Celebration

• Wednesday, April 15, 2026
• 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM
• 1230 Woodland Drive, Suite 110, Elizabethtown
• Chamber ribbon cutting at noon
• Food trucks: Bluegrass Meats & Catering, Sam's Gyros, Bussin Bites, Lil Cheezers, Unbridled Grounds
• Members eat free; open to the public
• Tag #ILoveMemberMedical for prize drawings
• Tours of the facility, meet the nurse practitioners, see the patient rooms and the lab

Jim said the strength of the practice is the team. "I think our greatest strength is our team. We've got a fantastic team. Rachel, you've been there. You've seen them. They know you by name. That's something they really strive to do." Hannah noted that the entire staff would be on hand for the ribbon cutting with their schedules cleared. "We're going to talk to everybody."

Rachel's parting recommendation was the kind this brand doesn't give lightly. "I am a very proud Member Medical member. And everywhere I go — like I was in my office for the day and one of the girls was like, oh, I got a sore throat — I'm like, Member Medical. I very rarely recommend places because I'm always a bit nervous that people won't experience the same things I do. But I'm very proud to drop your name and push you guys."

If you've ever felt like a number at the doctor's office, this is the practice that's been operating differently for eight years right here in Hardin County. Walk in Wednesday. Or call. Or visit the website. The team is waiting.