AI, Branding, and Your First Patients: DPC Marketing in 2026

AI, Branding, and Your First Patients: DPC Marketing in 2026

Today I'm sitting down with Alexa Torres of Care Identity, a brand and web designer who has spent close to a decade working specifically with Direct Primary Care physicians. Alexa has built over 100 DPC websites and cash pay practice brands, and she has more clarity about how DPC docs actually attract patients than almost anyone I've talked to. We get into niching down, why in-person networking is still the fastest way to grow, the psychology behind a buyer who visited her site 52 times before purchasing, and the AI twin work she's been doing for her own brand and her clients. If you're early stage and feeling like your marketing isn’t working, this is the conversation you need to hear. IN THIS EPISODE * Why niching down tripled Alexa's business and what that looks like for a DPC practice * The hill Alexa will die on: in-person connection is still the fastest way to grow a DPC practice * The 52-touchpoint story: what one buyer's journey teaches us about patience and online content * Sales as a service: how I think about leading with patient pain points instead of DPC features * How Alexa is using an AI twin to create on-brand content without burning out on photo shoots ABOUT THE GUEST Business: Care Identity (DPC brand and web design) Focus: Brand identity, websites, and marketing for DPC physicians Track Record: Over 100 DPC and cash pay practice websites Years in DPC: Close to 10 years working with DPC practices CONNECT WITH ALEXA Care Identity : www.careid.us [http://www.careid.us] Klinishen’s Atelier : https://www.theklinishensatelier.com [https://www.theklinishensatelier.com/] I Need Patients Yesterday: https://www.theklinishensatelier.shop/inpy [https://www.theklinishensatelier.shop/aitwin/] Create Your AI Twin: https://www.theklinishensatelier.shop/aitwin [https://www.theklinishensatelier.shop/inpy/] ENJOY THIS EPISODE? * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify * Share with any DPC physician who feels stuck on the marketing side of building their practice * Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode on automations and using AI in your workflows Join the DPC Lifer Club today 💙 First live call starts this Wednesday, June 3. Monthly calls, real DPC conversations, and a community that grows with you. Join here: https://dpclife.com/club [https://dpclife.com/club]

Marketing a DPC When You Hate Social Media, Coaching Call with Dr. Moizah Saad (Part 2)

After almost two years of paying for DPC marketing companies that did not deliver, Dr. Moizah Saad finally decided to take control of her own growth. In Part 2 of our live coaching call, we walk through the exact networking strategies, elevator pitch formula, and social media mindset shifts she is using to grow her DPC + hybrid clinic in Princeton, New Jersey. We also unpack the “Mamdani moment” that changed how she sees showing up online and why it matters more than she realized. If you’re a DPC doctor who feels burned by agencies or flustered by marketing, this one is for you. In this episode * The DPC elevator pitch formula I share with every doctor I coach * Why most paid DPC marketing companies fail us, and what to do instead * The “Mamdani moment” that flipped how Dr. Saad thinks about social media * “Fortune is in the follow up” and how to stop letting warm leads die in a drawer * Why building a regional DPC support group might be the move for New Jersey About Dr. Saad Practice: DPC + Hybrid Clinic, Princeton NJ Specialty: Internal Medicine Years in DPC: ~2 years (and counting) Patient Focus: Adults in their 40s who feel unheard by traditional medicine Enjoyed this episode? * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify * Share with any DPC physician, aspiring DPC owner, or burned out doctor who needs the reminder that the marketing learning curve is universal * Subscribe so you don’t miss the next coaching call on DPC Life 📈 Thinking about opening your own DPC? Find out if your systems are ready. Take the free 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘇👇 🔗 Starter System Quiz [pre-launch.harmonyopshealth.com/starter-systems-intro]

Uncovering Your Ideal Patient Avatar: Coaching Session with Dr. Moizah Saad

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Moizah Saad, an internal medicine physician who left California corporate medicine, moved to New Jersey, and opened her hybrid DPC clinic, Jersey Family Health. She thought: “If I open my doors and put up a website, patients will come.”Reality: crickets. On this live coaching call, we unpack the marketing blind spots corporate medicine never teaches you and walk step by step through one core shift: stopping the “everyone is my patient” mindset so she can finally speak directly to the exact patients who are already looking for her. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why “build it and they will come” is a lie: How corporate jobs hide the business side, and why a website and a logo are not a patient acquisition plan. * “All adults” is not a niche: How trying to talk to everyone guarantees no one feels like you’re talking to them. * How to find your true patient avatar: We mine Dr. Saad’s most meaningful cases to identify her real sweet spot: mid-life women with complex, “unsolved” medical issues who feel brushed off by the system. * Using channels that actually fit you: What happened when she stopped forcing herself onto every social platform and leaned into local community WhatsApp groups instead. Meet the guest: Dr. Moizah Saad * Internal Medicine physician * Founder, Jersey Family Health (hybrid DPC, New Jersey) * Focus: complex medical mysteries and mid‑life women with chronic fatigue and long-ignored symptoms * Current challenge: unlearning corporate assumptions about “if you accept insurance, patients appear” and rebuilding real-world marketing skills from scratch. From Dr. Anne I’m building something specifically for DPC Life listeners and I want it to be actually useful, not theoretical.There’s a short 2-minute form linked below: what you’re stuck on, what’s helped you most so far, and what you want to hear about next. Everyone who fills it out gets a free, brandable DPC slide deck you can customize for Rotary, employer groups, or any community talk. You can also check the box if you want early access when the DPC Life community launches. Form + free slides: dpcfoundations.com [http://dpcfoundations.com] If you enjoyed this episode: * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify * Share it with any primary care doc, hospitalist, ER doc, or specialist who needs to hear about DPC  * Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of DPC Life

Episode #1 of the Hospitalist to DPC Series with Dr. Brian Bost

After 16 years as a med-peds hospitalist, Dr. Brian Bost launched B2 Direct Care in Denver, but he didn’t completely give up hospital work, unlike most DPC docs. He kept his hospital shifts, started telemedicine-only at $75/month, and is taking a deliberately slow rollout. In this first call of an ongoing series, he and Dr. Anne Gonzalez review his hybrid model practice, pricing, imposter syndrome, and his developing hospital-to-home program. IN THIS EPISODE * Why the "all in or all out" advice doesn't work for every physician * How to launch DPC slowly while keeping a hospitalist W-2 income * Pricing: $75/month telemedicine and the $140/$220/$300 brick-and-mortar plan * The hospital-to-home program he's building for post-discharge patients * The Hospitalist-to-DPC Facebook group he started that’s growing fast, with 198 members in under a month GUEST Practice: B2 Direct Care, Denver CO Specialty: Med-Peds  ·  16 years Hospitalist Launched: February 2026 (telemedicine soft launch) Members: ~15 (word-of-mouth only) HOSPITALIST TO DPC SERIES This is the first in an ongoing series. Dr. Anne and Dr. Bost will reconnect every 6 weeks to track his real-time progress: brick and mortar timeline, wait list growth, hospital-to-home program build-out, and how the hybrid hospitalist-DPC model holds up. FROM DR. ANNE I'm building something for DPC Life listeners and I want to make sure it's actually useful to you. There's a short form linked below - three questions, two minutes. What are you stuck on, what's helped you most, what do you want to hear more about. Everyone who fills it out gets a free brandable DPC presentation you can customize for Rotary clubs, employer groups, or any community talk. And check the box if you want to be notified when the DPC Life community launches!. https://dpcfoundations.com/ [https://dpcfoundations.com/] ENJOY THIS EPISODE? * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify * Share with any hospitalist, ER doc, or specialist who's been told DPC is all-or-nothing * Subscribe so you don't miss the next Hospitalist to DPC call with Dr. Bost in 6 weeks KEY TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open — "You're either all in or you're all out" 02:00 Why a 16-year hospitalist decided to open a DPC — the family member story that changed everything 04:00 How DPC found him: LinkedIn, Facebook, and a community of physicians who actually welcomed him in 05:30 Pushing back on the all-or-nothing message: the soft launch strategy 10:30 Why he's choosing night shifts as a hospitalist to keep both worlds open 14:00 The $75 telemedicine price — and the $140/$220/$300 model coming with brick and mortar 17:00 Why he hasn't opted out of Medicare yet (and when he plans to) 21:00 The hospital-to-home program — his passion project and what it could become 28:30 Hospitalist-to-DPC Facebook group: 198 members in under a month 31:00 What's next: brick and mortar in 2 months, growing the wait list, hiring web help 38:00 Five-year vision: full-time DPC, opted out of Medicare, possibly the traditional 5-day office

From Hospital Rounds to Garden Clubs: How Dr. Nadia Sirdar Built the DPC Practice Nobody Said She Could — Part 2

You can be the most skilled physician in your city, but if nobody knows you exist, your practice won't grow. In Part 2, the real strategy comes out. Dr. Nadia Sirdar walks through the exact patient acquisition tactics that got her to 50 members- including the farmer's market funnel that outperformed everything else (and the story of Mitch, a man in his 80s who may be her most effective referral source), the fireside chats that spread through garden clubs, and the speaking engagements that led her to the Maryland General Assembly advocating for menopause care legislation. She also gets into something worth recognizing: physician visibility as an ethical obligation. In an era of rampant health misinformation, showing up as a trusted, evidence-based voice isn't optional anymore. It's part of the job. KEY TAKEAWAYS * Visibility is a clinical responsibility. Patients are being targeted by grifters. A trusted physician voice in the room matters. * The farmer's market was Dr. Sirdar's top acquisition channel- not because it was clever, but because the conversations were real and deep in a way no digital ad can replicate. * Patients need multiple touchpoints before they sign up. Consistent presence across multiple community spaces compounds over time. * One core talk can fuel five different engagements. Recycling content leverages your efforts and protects your time.  * A CRM is the difference between a patient connection that converts and one that disappears. MEMORABLE QUOTES "My patient said: 'My garden club sent me and I'm the first one. If this goes well, I'm telling my garden club.” RESOURCES & REFERENCES MENTIONED * Sibley Hospital (Johns Hopkins Community) — Dr. Sirdar invited to keynote the Foundation's Young Professionals luncheon * Maryland Medical Society — Dr. Sirdar invited to co-chair the Women in Medicine committee * Maryland General Assembly — Doctor of the Day program; site of menopause care insurance coverage legislation ABOUT DR. NADIA SIRDAR Specialty: Internal Medicine (ABIM Board Certified) Background: Former Hospitalist Practice: Bethesda Modern Primary Care Location: Bethesda, Maryland Focus: Adult Primary Care | Menopause & Perimenopause Website: bethesdadoctor.com Instagram: @drnadiasirdar Facebook: Dr. Nadia Sirdar LISTEN, SHARE & CONNECT * Missed Part 1? Go back and hear how a hospitalist defied everyone who said she couldn't do this — and built a thriving practice anyway. * Rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — your review helps other physicians find this show * Share with any physician who thinks DPC isn't for their background * Tag us and @drnadiasirdar with your biggest takeaway FROM DR. ANNE I'm building something for DPC Life listeners and I want to make sure it's actually useful to you. There's a short form linked below - three questions, two minutes. What are you stuck on, what's helped you most, what do you want to hear more about. Everyone who fills it out gets a free brandable DPC presentation you can customize for Rotary clubs, employer groups, or any community talk. And if you want to be notified when the DPC Life community launches, there's a checkbox for that too. Link to form: Click here [https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/form/lrhcx9ltRqPWDHM0CKul] KEY TIMESTAMPS 04:00 The rule of three touchpoints: patients say "I saw you three times before I signed up" 05:30 Why education has value even when patients don't sign up directly with you 06:00 Garden clubs, Mahjong groups, and how women's community circles became a referral network 10:00 The farmer's market as the #1 funnel — the full origin story (including Mitch) 13:00 What farmer's market conversations actually look like: deep, not fluffy 17:00 Funnel ranking: Farmer's Market → Fireside Chats → Larger Speaking Events