The life cycle of direct primary care was founded by Dr Chelsea Mooreland to make health care more accessible.
When patients in the life of direct primary care of the life cycle meet the Chelsea Mooreland or Whitney Christian doctors for the first time, they can often not hide their excitement.
“I am so happy to see someone who looks like me”, it is a very common reaction that I receive, “explains Mooreland, who founded the practice in 2021.” The patients will say: “I went to see all these other doctors who do not resemble me, they do not listen to me, they do not see where I come from, and they do not take me or my concerns seriously.” “”
The life cycle of direct primary care is a practice belonging to a black woman with the mission of providing personalized care to patients from historically marginalized communities while approaching systemic health disparities. The practice uses a direct primary care model, which invoices patients of monthly costs covering all visits and procedures. Treatments are provided in person and by phone, SMS, e-mail and virtual visits. This maintains low costs while preserving quality, says Mooreland.
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The practice serves all ages, with maternal health and weight management among the most frequently requested services. An internal laboratory and a pharmacy can help patients save money by paying in advance for laboratories at reduced prices, imagery and drugs in relation to billing insurance and having a co-payment.
While more and more members are joining, Mooreland hopes that practice can further reduce costs. Now, the life cycle serves around 500 patients to its two locations in New Albany and Bethel Road, with a capacity of 1,800. In comparison, traditional practices can have 3,500 to 5,500 patients.
What is culturally competent care?
Having a doctor of the same racial and ethnic environment is often more than just personal preference. “Studies show that when you have a doctor like you, the results are better,” explains Christian. “When you have a primary care doctor in a community, the mortality rates of people of color in this community fall. Things improve when we are more to take care of our community, so we try to provide this here. ”
According to the association of American Medical, 5.7% of doctors in the United States are black, according to the association of American medicine colleges, while 12% of the total population identifies as black. Community organizations often fill gaps to provide culturally competent care, a framework that recognizes how patient health can be affected by race, ethnicity, language, sex, sexuality, socioeconomic status and other factors.
“Culturally competent health care is improving the results for health, patient confidence and commitment to African-Americans,” explains Donavin Edwards, executive director of African American Male Wellness Agency, an organization based in Columbus which strives to reduce health disparities and improve long-term health results for African-American men. The agency offers free health projections and education for black men thanks to events such as the annual day of blacks in men’s well-being every month in August.
Culturally competent care can also help reduce mistrust with regard to the health care system among historically marginalized patients, whether by personal experiences to feel ignored or stigmatized by health care providers, or historical injustices such as the study of syphilis syphilis of the US Public Service, which has not been able to obtain an enlightened consent for black participants or offer treatment. Mooreland, who has worked for years in community health environments, saw how prejudice, stigma and distrust have often made patients reluctant to engage in the health care system. Other obstacles included financial problems, such as a lack of insurance or an inability to find providers who accepted Medicaid and time. Many of his patients had not paid a reliable labor vacation, forcing them to jump routine controls and projections.
This is a great reason why Mooreland chose the direct primary care model when she launched the life cycle – she did not want time or financial obstacles to block access to care. She plans to create partnerships with other community organizations and add more providers to her practice, including doctors, mental health advisor and nutritionist. Mooreland claims that students are invited to visit and spend time with life cycles suppliers to find out more about the medical profession, which she hopes to be able to build a pipeline to increase the percentage of black students who pursue medication.
Christian, who joined the practice in 2024, met Mooreland when they were at the Ohio State University medical school. After working for years in a larger health care system, Christian said that she had become frustrated by the lack of time she had to spend with her patients, and that she wanted more opportunities to dig more deeply, ask questions, listen and provide better answers.
Christian says that the life cycle was a perfect fit.
“For so long, many people in the communities from which we have not obtained the care they deserve or need,” she said. “I see my family in my patients all the time, and I would like someone to treat my mother as I treat my patients.”
This story appeared in the April 2025 issue of Columbus Monthly. Subscribe here.