The Pine Ridge Family Story

Dr. Vecchiarelli had been a Family Physician in private practice in Colorado Springs since 1991. He founded Pine Ridge Family Medicine in 2008.  Over the years, he became more disillusioned with the practice of Medicine as it became more complicated and impersonal. Insurance companies and government interference made it almost impossible to deliver compassionate and thorough medical care. That is, until he discovered an exciting new practice model called Direct primary Care (or DPC). In August, 2015 Dr. V. took a giant leap of faith and withdrew from all of his insurance contracts and opted out of Medicare so he could contract directly with his patients. This allowed him to spend more time with his patients and find innovative ways to cut the cost of medical care for everybody. 

At first, it was very difficult because his patient base went from ~4,000 to 250 of his most loyal patients. These patients discovered how much better medical care can be without insurance company interference, so they began telling their friends, and enrollment in the Pine Ridge DPC began to grow rapidly. Previous patients who initially transferred to another primary care office, found themselves waiting weeks to get in for a 5-10 minute impersonal appointment, and they began coming back to Dr. V’s practice.