Blue Ridge Family Practice | Your primary care. The way it's meant to be.

y Welcome!

At Blue Ridge Family Practice, we care for adults and children of all ages, newborn on up. We provide care for both acute and chronic illnesses and also provide preventive services, including well child checks, sports physicals, and gynecologic exams. Our comfortable clinic is conveniently located on Route 250 in the Crozet area.

A Personal Relationship With Your Own Physician

Do you want a physician who will take the time to get to know you as a person and develop a treatment plan that is right for you? If you have urgent questions or concerns, would you like to be able to speak with your own physician? Would you like to know that you can see your own doctor in clinic when you need to be seen, for a non-rushed appointment that starts on time? Does this sound too good to be true? It is possible, through an innovative model of care known as Direct Primary Care.

Direct Primary Care is the Key

In the Direct Primary Care model, no insurance is billed for your primary care. For an affordable monthly membership fee, your routine primary care needs are covered and you have direct access to your own physician. By not billing insurance, our office is able to significantly decrease administrative costs, and most importantly, to make sure that decisions about your health are made by you and your doctor, not the insurance company.

Use Your Insurance for Labs, Imaging, Specialists, Hospitalizations, and other services

In the Direct Primary Care model, insurance is used for what insurance is intended to be used for–rare, potentially financially catastrophic events. Imagine how expensive your auto insurance would be if it also had to cover gas, oil changes, and routine maintenance. This is what has happened to traditional medical insurance. As medical insurance has expanded to include routine health needs, its cost to each individual has increased dramatically. The use of insurance in a primary care setting also means that many primary care practices need to spend about $40 out of every $100 just to pay for the administrative costs of billing insurance. At the same time, many insurances have also decreased their reimbursement rates to primary care practices. Practices have responded to this by trying to see more and more patients per day and billing higher and higher charges for each visit, just in order to break even. Direct Primary Care is an idea that is genius in its simplicity–eliminate the insurance middleman, and we can bring cost down significantly, while providing excellent service and quality. You can still use your insurance to pay for labs, imaging, specialist referrals, surgeries, hospitalizations, or other services as needed, which can be obtained at any local health system–the choice is yours to make with your doctor.

Direct and Reliable Communication with Your Physician and Nurse

We are an intentionally small practice with two physicians and one nurse. Each patient is followed by one physician who they see for routine and urgent visits. For medical questions or concerns, you can communicate with your physician and nurse through phone, email, text, or your secure electronic medical record, and you will receive a prompt response. Many primary care physicians in traditional insurance practice have 2500-3500 patients in their care (this is necessary to generate enough income to support most practices, given the enormous amount of overhead that goes to billing and documenting for insurance), and you can imagine that it would be quite difficult to provide this level of service for that many patients. In Direct Primary Care practices, since the overhead is so much lower, physicians are able to care for a smaller group of patients–hundreds instead of thousands–allowing us to provide a higher level of service to each individual patient.

Convenient Care

For medical conditions that can be safely managed over the phone, your own physician will promptly return your call or portal message, talk with you, and make treatment recommendations without you needing to take time away from work or home to come in to clinic. For in-person appointments, appointments are spaced throughout the day so that you can expect your appointment to start at the time it is scheduled. We leave openings in each day’s schedule so that we can accommodate urgent needs for our patients with same or next day appointment availability.

Affordable Monthly Fee

The monthly fee covers all in-office and phone visits at Blue Ridge Family Practice. It also gives you access to Blue Ridge Family Practice’s negotiated lab pricing which can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year on needed testing if you have a high-deductible plan or no insurance. Your monthly fee will be securely withdrawn through a checking account or credit card. You may end your participation in Blue Ridge Family Practice at any time after the initial 6 months. Say goodbye to confusing bills and not knowing costs ahead of time, and say hello to affordable, transparent pricing for your primary care!

OUR DOCTORS

Dr. Maura and Dr. Tim, pictured with their children before the practice opened in 2016.

Dr. Maura McLaughlin grew up in a small town in Illinois. She attended college at Georgetown University and received her medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. Following medical school, she pursued a Family Medicine residency at the University of Virginia, where she served as Chief Resident from 2005-2006. After residency graduation, she completed a Faculty Development Fellowship at UVA. Dr. Maura then stayed on as faculty at UVA, caring for patients of all ages at Stoney Creek Family Medicine, and teaching UVA medical students and residents. She received the Steven Meixel Teaching Award from the UVA Family Medicine residents in 2013. Dr. Maura, with much support from her husband and family, opened Blue Ridge Family Practice in January 2016.

Dr. Tim McLaughlin grew up in Western Albemarle county, where he attended Henley Middle School and Western Albemarle High School. He then attended the University of Virginia, where he studied Biology and Environmental Sciences. After graduation, he worked for two years as an environmental consultant in northern Virginia. He then returned to this area to attend UVA for medical school and Family Medicine residency. Following residency graduation, he worked at UVA Stuarts Draft Family Practice for seven years, and then at the UVA Family Medicine clinic in Crozet for eight years. Dr. Tim joined his wife as a physician at Blue Ridge Family Practice in January 2020.

Drs. Maura and Tim met when they were both Family Medicine residents at UVA. They love this area and were fortunate to be able to remain here following residency. They are blessed with two wonderful boys who keep them active and laughing, most of the time. They are also fortunate to have both sets of their parents in Crozet. A beagle pup joined their family in 2016. They love spending time outdoors as a family. Dr. Maura enjoys running, live music, good food, and reading almost anything. Dr. Tim enjoys bicycling, hiking, fishing, and acoustic music. They are very grateful to be able to work together in the community in which they live, and look forward to caring for you and your family.

OUR NURSE

Michelle Huggins, RN, pictured center in the orange sweater, surrounded by her family.

In October 2020, we were thrilled to welcome Nurse Michelle to our team. Dr. Tim and Nurse Michelle worked closely together for eight years at the UVA Family Medicine Clinic in Crozet before they both joined Blue Ridge Family Practice. Michelle is an extremely knowledgeable, experienced, and compassionate nurse. While at UVA, she won the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Prior to working at UVA Family Medicine, Michelle worked in the Emergency Department at Augusta Health. She is very skilled at drawing blood, and many of our patients have told us that her blood draw was the most comfortable they have every had.

Michelle enjoys crafting of any kind, hiking, gardening, being at the ocean, and spending time with family. She and her husband have raised two wonderful sons. Her sons are now married, and so Michelle and her husband now also have two wonderful daughters, and have welcomed two granddaughters to the family.

A LETTER TO OUR PATIENTS

To our dear patients, past, present, and future,

Thank you for allowing us to care for you. Being a physician is a privilege and a responsibility that we each take very seriously, and it has been one of the great joys of our life. We strive to provide thorough, compassionate, evidence-based medical care that is tailored to meet the individual needs of each person. We firmly believe that primary care is best delivered in the context of a personal relationship between a patient and their physician, where there is time for us to get to know each other, talk, listen, answer questions, and think. Direct Primary Care is an innovative care model that allows us to practice in this way. We are very grateful to be able to work together at Blue Ridge Family Practice, where we are able to practice family medicine–the way it’s meant to be.

As one of our sons said to the other, one afternoon as they were playing with Legos, “Let’s start building our world!”

With gratitude,

Maura R. McLaughlin, MD and Tim McLaughlin, MD

WHAT IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE?

As explained by the Direct Primary Care Coalition, “The defining element of Direct Primary Care is an enduring and trusting relationship between a patient and his or her primary care provider. In Direct Primary Care, unwanted fee-for-service incentives are replaced with a simple flat monthly fee. This empowers the doctor-patient relationship and is the key to achieving superior health outcomes, lower costs and an enhanced patient experience.”

“The idea is deceptively simple: Pay frontline doctors a fixed monthly fee directly instead of through the byzantine insurance bureaucracy. Make the patient, rather than the paperwork, the focus of the doctor’s day. The result will be happier doctors, healthier patients and a striking reduction in wasted expense.” David Von Drehle, “Medicine Is About to Get Personal,” Time, Dec 2014

“Harried by busy schedules and paid on a piecework model, many doctors rush from visit to visit, avoid phone calls and emails that don’t generate payments, and often fail to address the complex social issues that hamper people’s health. This misalignment of financial incentives is a huge problem for patients, who often can’t get the care they need.” Direct Primary Care offers a better way. Margot Sanger-Katx, “Company Thinks It Has Answer for Lower Health Costs: Customer Service,” New York Times, March 27, 2015

“There is a lot to learn from organizations demonstrating the Triple Aim (lower costs, improved outcomes, better consumer experience). I’ve yet to see any model that more consistently delivers on the Triple Aim than Direct Primary Care.” Dave Chase, “Health Plan Rorschach Test: Direct Primary Care,” Forbes, July 2013

BLUE RIDGE FAMILY PRACTICE IN THE NEWS

“The individual reasons are varied, but the reason that DPC is different can be summed up in one word: time. In the DPC model, I have time to schedule longer visits, see patients with urgent concerns the same day, start appointments on time, look at the patient instead of the computer, answer the office phone myself, give my cell phone number to all patients, call patients to check on them, and make home visits. This is the kind of family doctor I always wanted to be.” Maura McLaughlin, “Modern Medicine Delivered the Old-Fashioned Way,” Crozet Gazette, Jun 2016

“Similar to concierge medicine for the rich, direct primary care can appeal to middle and low-income patients who struggle with high deductibles or can’t afford insurance at all. . . The change from typical primary care has been “wonderful,” McLaughlin said: She can focus on fewer patients, spend more time with each one, and worry less about dealing with insurance companies. Other doctors are taking notice, she says, including young ones, who might otherwise avoid going into primary care.” Alan Suderman, “Virginia health care: Pay by the month, get unlimited visits,” AP, May 2016

” . . . [D]octors in this country are doing something new. Tired of the expense and time required to process insurance claims, they’re charging patients a modest monthly fee and bypassing insurance entirely. This model is called direct primary care. . . McLaughlin delights in doing all the jobs of a medical office, even answering the phone. ‘To be able to just answer the phone and talk to the patient and then get them in quickly if they need to get seen or sometimes be able to give some suggestions over the phone really is helpful for the patient, and I enjoy it as well.’ ” Sandy Hausman, “Healthcare Without the Middleman: The Ups and Downs of Direct Primary Care,” Virginia Public Radio, Feb 2017

“More doctors are choosing to not accept insurance and instead charge monthly fees. It’s called Direct Primary Care and many patients, like Chuck Gulat, have already made the switch. The Charlottesville resident said he is no longer rushed when he sees his primary care doctor. He comes as often as he wants and doesn’t need insurance to pay for it. . . For Gulat, having the membership has made all the difference. ‘Hands down, it’s made me physically healthier, and financially healthier,’ he told CBS News. He’s now saving about $1,300 a year.” More doctors embracing Direct Primary Care,” CBS News Wire, Nov 2017

Maura McLaughlin still remembers the day in January 2015 she heard about a revolutionary way to practice medicine—like doctors used to do decades ago. Now she spends as much time as she needs with patients, who can come see her as often as they like at a reasonable cost. A key component: She doesn’t take health insurance at her two-year-old medical practice in Crozet. The model is called direct primary care, and it’s spreading across the country. . . For the solo practitioner, there’s been no looking back. ‘This model of care,’ she says, ‘allows me to be the kind of family doctor I always wanted to be.’ ” Lisa Provence, “Doctors ditch health insurance,” Cville weekly, Nov 2017

As the costs of doctor’s visits, prescription medications and surgeries rise and the number of insured individuals with high-deductible plans increases, more and more health care providers in the Charlottesville area are trying to increase options and lower the costs of care. “This model lets people have a monthly fee they can budget in, and then they have care when they need it,” McLaughlin said. She still recommends that patients have insurance for emergencies, but if a patient has a high-deductible plan, where a regular doctor’s visit can cost anywhere from $50 to $250, McLaughlin’s monthly fee is pretty attractive. And because she doesn’t spend time billing insurance companies, McLaughlin feels less pressure to see patients on a rapid schedule, has fewer overhead costs and can offer more personalized care.” Ruth Serven, “As health care costs rise, Charlottesville-area practitioners test new options,” The Daily Progress, Dec 2017

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do you accept patients with Medicare / Medicaid /private insurance /no insurance?

Yes, we accept patients with Medicare and Medicaid, and patients with all other forms of insurance, and patients with no insurance. We do not bill any insurance. You can still use your insurance for any labs, imaging, specialty referrals, surgeries, or hospitalizations that you may need.

What type of insurance plans pair well with Blue Ridge Family Practice / Direct Primary Care?

If you have a high-deductible insurance plan, this pairs very well with a Direct Primary Care membership. These plans typically have a less expensive monthly premium, but a higher out of pocket deductible (over $7000 per person per year in some plans) which must be paid by the patient before the insurance kicks in. For many patients, a Direct Primary Care membership can be an affordable way for them to be able to access convenient and thorough primary care. The lab savings at our practice have saved many patients with high-deductible insurance thousands of dollars per year, as our lab pricing is significantly discounted, with most lab tests $20 or less.

Many patients also find that healthcare sharing groups, such as Sedera, Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries, and Samaritan Ministries, pair very well with membership in Blue Ridge Family Practice.

Our patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or private medical insurance find that the additional service, availability, and quality of care that they receive through Blue Ridge Family Practice is well worth the membership fee. As one person explained it, “It is a 10% increase in my cost of medical services for a 100% increase in my satisfaction with my care.”

Do I still need insurance?

We recommend that all our patients have insurance, in case of an unforeseen medical event such as a surgery or hospitalization. Often, patients are able to purchase or choose an insurance plan that is less expensive (such as a high-deductible plan) and pair it with a Direct Primary Care membership. Other patients are choosing healthcare sharing groups, such as Sedera, Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries, Samaritan Ministries, to manage their health expenses. While we encourage all patients to have medical insurance to cover unanticipated large medical expenses, we also understand that people, for various reasons, may not have access to insurance, and we welcome patients without insurance to our practice as well.

Can you help with the cost of lab testing?

When you have high-deductible insurance, or no insurance, and are essentially paying an insurance-inflated cost of lab testing, the costs can add up quickly. Blue Ridge Family Practice is proud to be able to offer our members significantly reduced pricing for lab testing for those who wish to pay directly for their labs. Members may choose whether to use this pricing or have the lab submit a bill to their insurance. For members who wish to use their insurance for labs, Blue Ridge Family Practice will send the insurance information to the lab for them, and the lab will then bill their insurance.

Labs are typically drawn at our office by Nurse Michelle. They can also be drawn at a local lab with our order.

An example list of common tests, current as of October 2024, is shown below. The full price list for available testing is available to our members in clinic. Pricing is typically updated by the lab annually in January.

Test	BRFP pricing	Out-of-pocket lab charge	Savings per test
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (liver, kidneys, sugar, electrolytes)	$15	$295	$280
Lipid Panel (cholesterol)	$20	$142	$122
Hemoglobin A1c (3 month blood sugar average)	$15	$86	$71
CBC with differential (complete blood count)	$10	$153	$143
TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone)	$20	$131	$111

Can you help with medication costs?

At Blue Ridge Family Practice, we are very conscious of the potential expense of medications. We are fortunate in Crozet to have Parkway Pharmacy, which offers friendly service and excellent pricing including for patients who are not using insurance for their prescriptions. Patients of ours have also been very happy with Honest Rx Pharmacy in Staunton, a cash-only pharmacy that offers transparent pricing. We routinely use GoodRx to access coupons to help our patients obtain medications for a discount at local pharmacies. Some medications will actually cost you less if pay the cash price instead of billing them through your insurance. We can also help with accessing prescription assistance programs for patients who qualify. If you have insurance that covers medications, you can use your insurance to help cover your prescription costs, just as you always have.

Can you help with imaging costs?

Yes! Pricing for imaging such as xray, CT, or MRI can vary widely, even within central Virginia. We routinely help patients to access less expensive imaging through MDSave. We can help you to find the least expensive options available locally, whether you are using insurance or paying cash. If imaging is needed, this can save you a significant amount of money. We priced a chest CT for a patient in 2016 at four different imaging centers, and the pricing ranged from $495 to $2500, for the exact same test with the exact same codes!

What if I need specialist care?

If you have insurance, you can use that for specialist care. If specialist care is needed, your doctor will discuss options with you, and refer you to a specialist that best meets your individual needs, taking any financial concerns into account as well. If you have insurance that you wish to use when seeing the specialist, your doctor will pass that information along when placing the referral, and the specialist’s office will bill your insurance for the visit. The specialist’s office will then send Blue Ridge Family Practice the recommendations from your visit, and your doctor can speak on the phone with the specialist when needed with any questions or concerns that arise.

If I need to be admitted to the hospital, where do I go?

You can be admitted to whichever hospital best suits your individual needs, which you can discuss with your physician. All of the local hospitals now have hospitalists, physicians who have expertise in managing hospitalized patients and are readily available throughout your hospital stay, who will care for you during your hospital stay. Your doctor at Blue Ridge Family Practice will be able to follow your hospital stay and be prepared to see you in clinic for follow-up after your hospital discharge.

What if I want to be a patient at Blue Ridge Family Practice, but cannot afford the monthly fee?

We are strongly committed to finding ways to make this model affordable for all. While we have tried very hard to price this at a level that is affordable, we recognize that this may be more than some people are able to pay. If you are interested in becoming a patient, but cannot afford the standard fee, please call us to discuss your situation. From time to time, we are able to offer some reduced-price memberships, and we would be happy to discuss this with you and add you to the practice or place you on a waiting list for this.

Can I give a Blue Ridge Family Practice membership to someone else?

Yes, you can! You may gift a membership to either a specific person, or to support someone on our waiting list who is not able to pay the full membership fee. You can choose if you would like your gift to be recognized by name or anonymous. If you are interested and able to help, we would love to discuss this with you.

Can local businesses work with Blue Ridge Family practice to provide healthcare for their employees?

Across the country, many businesses, large and small, are working with Direct Primary Care Clinics to save money while providing high-quality care to their employees. In Washington state, a Direct Primary Care group Qliance, who worked with Expedia, Comcast, and the Seattle Firefighters’ Union, demonstrated a 20% decrease in medical claims, along with an increase in patient satisfaction. These savings are a big deal, as as many times healthcare costs for a business increase each year. Direct Primary Care can actually decrease overall medical spending. We are happy to work with local businesses to help provide excellent healthcare to their employees at an affordable cost. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more.

LOCATION

Blue Ridge Family Practice

325 Four Leaf Lane, Suite 11 A

Charlottesville, VA 22903

phone: 434-478-0787

We are located in the Shoppes at Clover Lawn, on Route 250 in the Crozet area, directly across from Cardinal Home Center and Harris Teeter. We are in the building to the right as you enter off 250, the same building as Denise Ramey Real Estate and Domino’s Pizza. Drive around to the BACK of the building to park near our entrance. We have handicapped parking spaces available there. Enter through the door with the green awning. As soon as you enter the building, you can take either the stairs or the elevator up to the second floor. Blue Ridge Family Practice will be the first office door that you see. We typically have the door propped open. We share our clinic space with Dr. Elaine Allen of Crozet Foot and Ankle, so you may see her in the office, too.

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FEES & SERVICES

Fees:

Ages newborn-59 years: $100/month, discounted to $50 for ages 3-17 when enrolled with a parent or guardian

Ages 60 years and up: $125/month

A one-time registration fee of $100 is charged at that time of your first visit.

Because we believe the building long-term relationships is important in providing high-quality primary care, we require a six-month agreement at sign up. After that time, you may end your membership at any time. Most of our patients choose to stay with us long-term, and we hope that you will too!

To end your membership at Blue Ridge Family Practice, we simply request notification in writing (email or text is fine).

It’s that simple! No more confusing medical bills or wondering how much you will be charged for each visit. Billing begins on the day of your first visit, and continues on the same day each month while you are a member of the practice. Your monthly fee will be securely withdrawn through a checking account or credit card. Being part of the practice grants you access to all of the services below.

Services included:

Visits to Blue Ridge Family Practice for care of chronic conditions and acute illnesses
Extended visit times
Preventive care, including adult health maintenance visits, well child checks, and school physicals
Gynecologic care, including pap smears, done by Dr. Maura for both Dr. Maura and Dr. Tim’s patients
Access to our reduced pricing for labs (for most tests, $20 or less). Those with Medicare, Medicaid, or traditional insurance may bill their insurance for labs instead if they wish.
When needed for urgent medical concerns, visits typically available same or next business day
Treatment is available by phone visit when medically appropriate
Secure electronic communication with your physician via the patient portal and option of communication with your physician via phone, text, and email
Office procedures, such as laceration repair with stitches or skin glue; hip bursa injections; removal of skin tags; freezing of warts: $50 fee applies.
Evening, weekend, and holiday phone visits for urgent medical needs: $50 fee applies

Please note: Blue Ridge Family Practice does not prescribe opioid (narcotic) medications for chronic pain, long-term benzodiazepine (such as Ativan and Xanax) medications for anxiety, stimulant medications for ADHD or other conditions, weight loss medications, or testosterone or other hormone replacement therapy. We can work with our patients to find an appropriate specialist for management of these medications if needed.

CONTACT US or SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT

Dr. Maura’s panel is full and she is not accepting new patients at this time. Dr. Tim is currently accepting patients 12 years and up. If you are interested in scheduling a new patient appointment with him or have any questions about establishing care at Blue Ridge Family Practice, please contact nurse Michelle at 434-478-0787 or hello@brfp.sprucecare.com

Current patients may contact us by phone, text, or email to schedule an appointment. In-person and phone appointments are available.

email for current patients: hello@brfp.sprucecare.com

administrative email: info@blueridgefamilypractice.org

phone: 434-478-0787

fax: 1-434-333-7095 (please include 1 even when sending from a 434 area code to ensure delivery, as this is an electronic fax)

325 Four Leaf Lane, Suite 11A, Charlottesville, VA 22903

Conveniently located in the Crozet area on Route 250, across from Cardinal Home Center and Harris Teeter

CLINIC HOURS, HOLIDAYS, & PROTOCOLS

CLINIC HOURS

Mon-Thursday: 8 am-4:30 pm

Friday: 8 am-noon

by appointment only

CLINIC HOLIDAYS

2024: Jan 1, May 27, July 4, Sept 2, Nov 28 & 29, Dec 24 & 25

2025: Jan 1, May 26, July 4, Sept 1, Nov 27 & 28, Dec 25 & 26

INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS: UPDATE OCTOBER 7, 2024

Masks are optional for patients at this time. If you have a cough, sneezing, runny nose, or other “cold” symptoms, please wear a mask in clinic. We can provide you with a mask if you do not have one. The physicians in our clinic are wearing N95 or KN95 masks. CO2 meters are present in all rooms to help monitor ventilation. When weather allows, we are opening windows to allow fresh air in the office. HEPA filters are running in all rooms to help clean the air. Telephone visits, when medically appropriate, are also available for those who prefer not to come in-person.

We look forward to seeing you!