About DPCA
We stopped billing insurance for primary care.
Everything else about this practice follows from that one decision.
The seven minute visit is not a personality problem.
Providers do not rush because they want to. A practice that runs on insurance reimbursement has to see a certain number of patients a day to keep the lights on, and every one of those visits carries coding, prior authorizations, and a billing department. The math produces the seven minute visit whether anybody wants it or not.
Brian Fretwell spent 27 years in emergency, family, and occupational medicine watching that math get worse. DPCA was built to run on different math.
You pay us directly, once a month. We do not file a claim for our care. That removes the billing overhead and the volume pressure, so our providers keep small panels and have time. The price is on the website because there is nothing to negotiate.
Mission, vision, values
Mission
Make medicine simple.
Three words, because the longer version was a paragraph and nobody repeats a paragraph. What it means in practice is the rest of this page.
Vision
To change how communities access and pay for healthcare.
Values
- Integrity
- Kindness
- Courage
- Elevate the team
- Champion the mission
What actually happens
01
You pay a flat monthly membership.
$89 for an adult, $35 for a child on a family account, $248 family maximum, plus a one time $75 enrollment fee per family. That is the price list.
02
You get a provider, not a rotation.
Small panels mean the person you see knows your history without reading it off a screen.
03
You reach them directly.
Call, text, or email. Most questions never become an appointment.
04
We coordinate what we do not cover.
Hospital, specialist, imaging, surgery. Membership does not cover those. We help you get to them at a rate that is not insane, and we recommend you carry coverage for major medical events.
Where we are
Four clinics: Cleveland, Athens, and Loudon in Tennessee, and Dalton in Georgia, serving Bradley, McMinn, Loudon, and Whitfield counties and the surrounding areas.
Cleveland, TN
2626 Peerless Road NW
423.650.4831HOURS · Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM · Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Clinic detailsAthens, TN
620 Congress Parkway N
423.405.1990HOURS · Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM · Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Clinic detailsDalton, GA
708 S. Glenwood Ave
706.229.8333HOURS · Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM · Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Clinic detailsLoudon, TN
901 Grove Street
865.275.7255HOURS · Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM · Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Clinic detailsDPCA also runs an onsite clinic for Ascent Chemicals in South Carolina. That is Direct Onsite Care for one employer's workforce rather than a clinic open to the public, which is why it does not appear on this map.
Who runs it
Brian Fretwell PA-C, MPH
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Brian founded DPCA to fix the thing he had watched break for 27 years. He started as a field and flight paramedic, then earned dual degrees in physician assistant studies and public health at Nova Southeastern University, and has practiced across emergency, family, and occupational medicine. Originally from Vero Beach, Florida, he now lives in Cleveland.
Family time, travel, civic work, conservation, hunting, fishing, and Tennessee football.
Beth Prine MBA
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Beth practiced physical therapy for over 20 years across outpatient and occupational medicine, carrying management responsibility alongside patient care. She graduated from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis and earned her MBA from Bryan College. She runs DPCA's operations.
Weekend gatherings, cooking, gardening, boating, and lake days with her husband Jeff.
Cathy Thompson Peterson
Controller
Cathy is a Cleveland native with over 20 years in financial and business management. She started working with DPCA shortly after it opened, as a consultant through Fiscal Solutions, and joined the team as Controller in 2021.
It is a privilege to be a part of a team of individuals whom I greatly admire and who are dedicated to providing the best care for their patients.
Family, friends, kayaking, hiking, and dancing.
Jamie Rogers
Account Manager
Jamie graduated from Lee University in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration. Originally from Atlanta, he chose Lee for the family ties that already had him visiting Cleveland regularly. He learned about DPCA in 2021 and set out to work there. He joined in January 2023 and handles new client relationships.
People deserve great care at an affordable price.
His dog Erik Church, running, and summers wakeboarding and boating on Parksville Lake.
It's not insurance. It's health care.
That line has been on this practice's material since the beginning and it is still the shortest true description of what we do.