A hospital board president told Dr. Jennifer Allen he would eat 40 kinds of crow if her Direct Primary Care practice worked. She now has three clinics, 14 employees, and around 2,000 patients across Hermann, Washington, and O'Fallon, Missouri. She was a nurse and nurse practitioner for 18 years first, and a patient paid her way through medical school.

Dr. Jose Buenrostro went on a Spanish language radio show in Turlock, California, and the clinic phone started ringing 10 to 12 times a day. Buen Vita Health is now near 800 members. Before the clinic he farmed 20 acres of almonds and built a wedding venue, and his old employer threatened to sue him for leaving 90 days early.

About 50 people pre-enrolled at Nspire Primary Care and roughly 10 actually joined. Dr. Jade Norris opened in Las Vegas weeks after having her second daughter, rents a single room inside another provider's wellness center where patients flip a light switch instead of talking to a receptionist, and still works urgent care two days a week so the practice never has to grow under pressure.