New Direct Primary Care Clinic Opens In Brookfield

BROOKFIELD, WI—A longtime certified physician's assistant who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic felt inspired to create a new business to help others in need of medical care.

Kajal Malkan has opened Care4Me Clinics, a new direct primary care provider, at 280 Regency Court in Brookfield.

Malkan started Care4Me Clinics as a family medicine direct primary care clinic focused on affordable care. She said people who were furloughed or lost jobs often wait to seek medical care even if they need it. Malkan wanted to address that concern and help people focus on their health care instead of worrying about the cost.

Malkan has wanted to be in medicine since she was child, when she would often carry around a toy medical kit. The Brookfield native said she loves helping people, and her job allowed her to have a good schedule.

"I became a PA because I wanted that balance of taking care of people but also being there for my family," she told Patch.

She recently worked at the School District of South Milwaukee through Healthstat Inc. Because of her medical background, Malkan felt relief that she could care for family members who got sick.

For two weeks after she was laid off, Malkan applied for jobs at several different places, but wasn't satisfied with her options. The jobs available would have required her either to work overnight, work 12-hour shifts or work in a hospital setting. But because she had two young children at home, she needed flexibility.

Opening her own clinic was a perfect solution. "I knew not everybody would ... be as lucky as me. I wanted to open up a clinic to help those people," Malkan said.

Direct primary care

Malkan said she did her research and discovered a movement gaining traction called direct primary care.

According to the Primary Care Coalition website:

"Direct Primary Care (DPC) is an innovative alternative payment model improving access to high functioning healthcare with a simple, flat, affordable membership fee. No fee-for-service payments. No third party billing.

The defining element of DPC is an enduring and trusting relationship between a patient and his or her primary care provider. Patients have extraordinary access to a physician of their choice, often for as little as $70 per month, and physicians are accountable first and foremost [to] their patients."

Care4Me Clinics provides health care for patients without the worries of insurance claims and administrative paperwork. The emphasis is on transparent care with transparent pricing.

Patients are billed directly, and they pay a monthly membership fee at the clinic. The clinic offers a low-cost monthly subscription for families and small businesses. "For adult and child primary care, patients pay $80 a month," Malkan said.

She uses the example of having car insurance with her patients. Car insurance is there to protect a person in case they are in a car accident. What it doesn't cover is oil changes, tire rotations and other work.

"That is how we are trying to bring health care," she said. "The primary care stuff, which is 80 percent of routine care, should not be something insurance takes a little profit off of it." Malkan added that insurance should be there if you need it for emergency room care or a surgery.

Services offered

Malkan said most health care providers see 2,000 to 2,500 patients a year. The clinic caps its medical practice patient load at one-fourth of that, Malkan said.

"Due to our schedules, you call and say you aren't feeling well, [and] we can see you that day or, worst case, the next day. You wouldn't be waiting for more than that," she said.

The clinic offers comprehensive primary care through clinic visits, telemedicine visits, lab testing, wellness coaching and more. Wellness coaching includes education on weight loss and nutrition, as well as CPR classes. "Its very wide range," she said.

The clinic offers acute care for sinus infections, the flu, strep throat and other conditions. If the clinic does have to prescribe medication or do lab testing, it lets patients know the cost right away, Malkan said.

The clinic provides physical exams and flu shots, as well as referrals to specialists for advanced care. The clinic also offers COVID-19 testing.

For more information, visit the clinic website.