Oklahoma Had 3 DPC Doctors in 2016. Now It Has Nearly 150.

Industry News by DPC Insider
#Oklahoma#DPC growth#Primary Health Partners#HSA#OBBBA#employer adoption#state growth
Sources: Like a Gym Membership: Oklahoma Provider Explains Growing Primary Care Model · The 1% Threshold: Why 2026 is the Tipping Point for Direct Primary Care · Federal Changes Allow Payment for Direct Primary Care Via Health Savings Accounts · Direct Primary Care in Wisconsin Sees Increased Demand as Health Insurance Prices Skyrocket

When Dr. Kyle Rickner co-founded Primary Health Partners in January 2016, he was one of three or four DPC physicians in the entire state of Oklahoma. Today, that number is approaching 150 and growing every month.

That’s not a typo. One state went from a handful of DPC doctors to nearly 150 in under a decade.

The Oklahoma Story

Rickner describes DPC as a “medical gym membership.” Patients pay a flat monthly fee, averaging about $90 nationally, for unlimited primary care access. No copays, no claims, no insurance middlemen. In return, doctors maintain panels roughly one-third to one-quarter the size of a traditional practice and offer 24/7 availability.

What makes Oklahoma’s growth notable isn’t just the numbers. It’s who’s signing up. According to Rickner, 22% of Primary Health Partners’ patients are on Medicare, and roughly 15% are children under 18. This isn’t a niche model for young, healthy tech workers skipping insurance. It’s attracting patients across ages, income levels, and insurance status.

Critics sometimes argue that DPC pulls physicians away from the traditional system, reducing access for everyone else. Rickner pushes back on that. The U.S. already faces a serious primary care physician shortage. His argument: removing the administrative burden of insurance-based practice actually extends physicians’ careers and makes primary care attractive to medical students who might otherwise choose higher-paying specialties.

A National Pattern

Oklahoma’s trajectory mirrors what’s happening across the country. Nationally, DPC practices have grown from about 1,200 in 2020 to roughly 2,827 in 2026, a 135% increase. Active memberships have climbed from 500,000 to approximately 1.4 million, and about 10% of AAFP members now participate in some form of DPC.

That puts DPC on the doorstep of serving 1% of the American population. For a model that barely existed 15 years ago, reaching that threshold matters. As Dr. Andrew Anderson wrote for DPC News, this is the moment when “Direct Primary Care becomes a standard competitive offering, not an alternative experiment.”

Three things are driving the acceleration:

Employer adoption is surging. About 58% of DPC practices now work with employers in some capacity. Small and mid-sized businesses facing 7-9% annual premium increases are finding that pairing DPC memberships with high-deductible health plans gives employees access to primary care without the sticker shock.

HSA compatibility removes a major financial barrier. Starting January 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allows HSA funds to cover DPC memberships, up to $150/month for individuals or $300 for families. Previously, joining a DPC practice could disqualify patients from HSA eligibility entirely. That barrier is gone.

Insurance costs keep climbing. In Wisconsin, average ACA premiums jumped more than 17% for 2026. At one Wisconsin DPC practice, 40% of patients don’t carry any health insurance at all. They earn too much for Medicaid but don’t have employer coverage. DPC gives them a doctor for a predictable monthly cost.

The Limiting Factor

The data suggests that patient demand isn’t the bottleneck anymore. As Anderson puts it, “the limiting factor is no longer patient interest; it is physician supply.”

DPC practices with panels around 600 patients report 66% fewer emergency department visits and a 20% reduction in specialist referrals compared to traditional fee-for-service models. The outcomes are there. The patient interest is there. The question is whether enough physicians will make the leap.

What This Means

Oklahoma’s story is a preview of what DPC growth looks like when the conditions are right: a state without heavy regulatory barriers, physician entrepreneurs willing to go first, and a patient population that responds to the model once they understand it.

If you’re a physician considering DPC, the data is worth paying attention to. A decade ago, you could count Oklahoma’s DPC doctors on one hand. Today you’d need a spreadsheet. That growth didn’t happen because of a marketing campaign. It happened because patients kept showing up, employers kept signing on, and doctors kept telling other doctors it was working.

The national numbers suggest this pattern is repeating in state after state. Industry projections put DPC at 3.5 million patients by 2030. Whether that happens depends less on patient demand and more on whether enough physicians decide the model is worth trying.