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A woman in Ohio paid $40 last week for a doctor's note saying she could return to work.

The doctor spent six minutes with her. The visit was billed at $312. None of those numbers were chosen by anyone in the room.

This is the most ordinary type of thing in American healthcare. It is also sort of insane.

That's what this newsletter is about.

I'm Adam. I run Tabflows. Welcome to Care to Know — the most caring thing in your inbox.

Here's the thought that wouldn't leave me alone: Caring for someone in America is the most ordinary thing we do - and somehow one of the strangest.

I've spent the last decade in healthcare. Before that, I was an Olympic athlete. Different worlds, same lesson: the people doing the work are almost always trying harder than the system gives them credit for.

So this is a newsletter about that. Healthcare, culture, and the delightful weirdness of trying to care for humans in America.

What it isn't: another "the system is broken" take. You already know those.

What I actually believe: people want to care.

The will was never the problem. The how is.

The best, most human ways people look after each other usually stay hidden. So every Saturday, I go find them and pass them on.

Coffee-length. Once a week.

I'll be upfront about the bias - I think DPC is the most important movement in American healthcare right now.

Thousands of clinicians are quietly walking away from the assembly line to build something better. A model where the patient relationship is the product, not an afterthought.

What it looks like:

A flat monthly membership. As much time as you need. A doctor who actually texts back.

Stop and notice - you already have this relationship with your trainer. Your hairdresser. Your therapist. Your dog walker. Somehow the one person whose actual job is keeping you alive is last on the list.

DPC is healthcare finally catching up to how Americans already live.

And if they don't truly care for you? You cancel. They call it direct for a reason.

The whole thing runs on one old idea: be good to people, and they'll stay.

Costco now sells Ozempic-adjacent prescriptions through Sesame for $29. The most middle-American institution in the country just became a clinic. Worth watching.

One small, real moment each week. This week, from a DPC doctor — Dr. Nicolas Platamone at EuDoc:

Notice what he's really saying. Not "great tool"… "more time to live your life."

That's the whole game in DPC: the stuff that fades into the background so the doctor gets their minutes and their life back.

Because care isn't only the warm moment in the room.

It's having enough time and headspace to actually be in it.

And this is just one of many DPC doctors saying the same thing.

There’s a lot more I’m happy to share with you all — this is only the beginning.

More coming soon!

If you care for people for a living or you just care, you'll like it here.

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