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Loudoun City Council approves contract with Direct Primary Care Associates to serve city and utility employees
Summary
The council approved a $461,000 initiative to contract with Direct Primary Care Associates to provide primary-care services for city and utility employees, to be paid from the city’s medical benefits fund; staff said the initial cost split is "pretty doggone close to half."
Loudoun City — The Loudoun City Council voted to approve a contract with Direct Primary Care Associates PLLC to provide direct primary-care services to city and utility employees, council members said at the February meeting.
City staff told the council the set-up cost discussed in the meeting is $461,000 and that the expense will be paid from the medical benefits fund rather than the general fund. Kevin (city staff) said the initial split between the city and the utility would be close to even: "It's pretty doggone close to half... it's not exactly 50 50, but it's pretty close." The contract was presented in the council packet and approved by voice vote.
Representatives from the provider said they will supply monthly invoices and quarterly summary reports that will show utilization and the number of active members but not identify individual patients. Brian, the provider representative, said: "On the quarterly report, you will not ... be able to see who specifically. It will be how many people we saw, what we saw them for, and the breakdown of labs, medications" so the city can monitor program impact while preserving patient privacy.
Council members pressed staff on several operational points before the vote, including a concern that the provider may need up to 60 days to begin operations. One council member noted a caution that the city should not execute the contract before the provider is ready: "they don't wanna sit there and pay $38,000 a month and they're not taking, you know, employees in," a council member said during discussion.
City staff also asked the provider to calculate the breakeven point — how many employees and dependents would need to use the service for the city to recoup the initial investment — and to provide a breakdown of the initial cost-share between city and utility. Staff said utilization and additional partners joining the program would lower per-member costs over time.
The council approved the motion with no recorded roll-call tally in the minutes beyond the standard "Aye" voice vote. Next steps include finalizing the contract execution schedule (staff indicated the contract will not be executed until the provider is ready), receiving the exact cost-split numbers from staff, and receiving the quarterly utilization summaries once the program is underway.
