FAQs

One of the biggest benefits of direct primary care is access to your doctor--appointments when you need them, not when there is an available appointment weeks from now; longer appointment times to address all of your concerns, not time-restricted appointments so that clinics can stay on time and keep the number of patients seen/day high; phone calls answered when you make them, not multiple messages sent back and forth between office staff. Also, a monthly DPC membership fee is often much less than the total of all of your office visit co-pays added up at the end of the year.

No, health insurance is not required to become a Direct Primary Care (DPC) member. DPC offers an affordable way for uninsured patients to access consistent, high-quality primary care. While insurance can be used for additional charges like lab fees or imaging, we provide many affordable options and recommendations for diagnostic testing and medications for those without insurance.

YES! Please refer to our pricing page for prices on family plans. Direct Primary care is also a great option for small businesses to offer medical benefits to their employees affordably. Again, our pricing page has a link for small businesses if you are interested.

No, we do not bill any insurance plans for our services. However, we do accept patients with insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid. Direct Primary Care (DPC) members often save more money with their monthly membership payment compared to paying for uncovered services, copays, and coinsurance fees until deductibles are met.

In providing the best care possible with outstanding access and availability, we do everything we can to limit hospitalizations and the need for referrals to specialists. On the rare occasion that you are hospitalized, we rely on our local hospitalists to provide the care needed while in the hospital. We will work closely with the hospitalist providing care as well as with the specialist if they are asked to consult.

Cardona DPC sees patients 11 years old and above.

Yes, at this time we do allow one-time, non-member visits, on a case-by-case nature. We are not an urgent care clinic. We are a primary care clinic first, however if there is space and time allows, we will see patients in this capacity. If the medical need is deemed to be beyond the capabilities of the clinic, we reserve the right to refer you directly to the emergency room.

During office hours, the best way to contact us is by calling 904-551-4625 or sending a message through your Akute patient portal (if you do not have access yet, please call us for your patient access code) or the Spruce app. Outside of office hours, you can still call the office phone number and leave a message if it's non-urgent, or send a message through your Akute portal or Spruce app. For urgent issues outside of office hours, call the office phone number and leave an urgent message, or send a message through the Spruce app and label it as urgent.