Strengthening Access: Lessons from Dr. Stephanie Lucero’s DPC Journey in Rural New Mexico
- alexandragobble
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
DPC Doctor
Dr. Stephanie Lucero stands as a trailblazer in New Mexico, where she launched Northern New Mexico’s first DPC clinic, Hometown Doc, LLC. Rooted in Santa Fe and the Pojoaque (Puh-Wah-Kee) Valley—where she was both raised and educated—her approach to DPC is uniquely shaped by her deep connection to her community and her experiences navigating rural healthcare’s distinct challenges. For practitioners looking to build or grow a DPC model, Dr. Lucero’s journey offers a rich case study in balancing autonomy, accessibility, and the realities of rural medicine.
She shares in her My DPC Story interview, candid insights on burnout, community engagement, pricing, and service development—helping you, the DPC entrepreneur or aspirant, to critically analyze your own approach and find inspiration in areas you may not have considered.
Embracing Autonomy: Redefining the Doctor-Patient Relationship
One of the hallmarks of DPC, and a foundational theme in Dr. Lucero’s narrative, is the restoration of autonomy and authentic doctor-patient relationships. Dr. Stephanie Lucero describes how, in traditional fee-for-service or corporate medical settings, the physician’s potential for meaningful, effective care is often stifled by systemic constraints—resulting in a “factory line” mentality. Burnout doesn’t come simply from high patient volume; as she points out, it’s the “ineffectiveness” of those encounters, the feeling that true healing and guidance are impeded by short visits and administrative red tape.
What DPC allows—and what Lucero prioritizes—is time, connection, and flexibility. This philosophy permeates practical aspects: whether it’s inviting patients to share a cup of coffee before an appointment or forging long-term, trust-based collaborations outside the clinic walls. As you reflect on your own DPC practice, consider:
Are you leveraging autonomy to build bonds, not just for workflow ease but for patient outcomes?
Are your systems set up to prioritize relationship as the foundation of care delivery?
For Lucero, autonomy is not just an individual advantage—it's a community asset.
Community Roots and Role Modeling: The Power of Familiar Faces
Dr. Lucero’s biography reads as a love letter to her community: childhood in the Pojoaque Valley, education at the University of New Mexico, training in Santa Fe, and ultimately, practice within walking distance of her childhood home. Many of her patients are people she grew up with—neighbors, friends, and local families.
How does this inform her practice strategy?
Word of Mouth: In small communities, trust spreads organically. Lucero’s initial patient base grew from people who already knew her reputation or her family.
Cultural Competence: Deep local roots mean that clinical care is delivered with contextual understanding—addressing not just individual patient histories but local nuances, such as economic hardship, accessibility issues, and even public transportation challenges.
Reflection for your own DPC: Are you building bridges with your community, not just as a physician “service provider” but as a neighbor, advocate, and collaborator? If you’re not local, how can you foster that depth of trust and integration?
Navigating Rurality: Healthcare Access Realities in New Mexico
New Mexico—like many rural states—faces crippling shortages of providers, specialty care, and infrastructure. As Dr. Stephanie Lucero highlights, the state is “low in all the good things, high in all the bad things” from education to tech access. Even basic needs such as reliable internet (Starlink has only recently made a difference she noted in her interview) and on-call specialist availability present significant hurdles.
How does Lucero’s DPC address these gaps?
Home Visits: For elderly, disabled, or transportation-challenged patients, she offers (often free) home care within her local catchment—a lifeline where public transit is inadequate.
Efficient Navigation: Patients benefit massively from her guidance through the “healthcare maze”—whether it’s getting specialty referrals accomplished efficiently, helping interpret insurance changes, or ensuring follow-through on labs and follow-ups.
Reflection for your own DPC: If your practice is in a similar setting, are you offering flexibility—home visits, telemedicine, community outreach—to compensate for infrastructure shortcomings? Are workflow and communication systems built for speed and patient-centricity?
Debunking Myths: DPC is NOT Concierge Medicine
A persistent misconception in policy and public discourse is the conflation of DPC with concierge medicine: exclusive, expensive, and serving only the affluent. Lucero counters this directly—her patient panel ranges from Medicaid recipients to well-off individuals, all seeking access, convenience, and personal rapport.
Her key talking points when introducing DPC to skeptical patients:
Clarity on Insurance: DPC’s key differentiator is not billing insurance, which keeps it affordable. Membership fees are carefully calibrated for local economic realities.
Value Proposition: “You’re not paying for medicine; you’re paying for convenience, trust, and relationship.” Even patients who only visit for annual physicals find immense value in time, thoroughness, and connectivity.
Reflection for your own DPC: Is your community educated about the DPC model, and are you proactively counteracting the “boutique/concierge” stereotype? How can you leverage patient testimonials and word-of-mouth to build understanding and acceptance?
Strategic Pricing: Aligning Affordability and Accessibility
Dr. Lucero’s simple, transparent pricing ($100/month, modest home visit fees based on service area, grandfathered rates for legacy patients) reflects her commitment to inclusivity. She intentionally keeps rates below market expectations to avoid pricing out lower-income residents, choosing an income model that supports her values over maximizing profit.
She notes: “If I raised my rates too high, it would self-select for people maybe that expected more of me—like a personal doctor at beck and call, which isn’t the DPC ethos I want.”
For DPC clinicians, this raises crucial strategic questions:
Are your prices set based on actual local economics, or are they patterned after out-of-region models?
Is there flexibility (e.g., sliding scale, scholarships, community subsidies) to adapt as the needs of your panel evolve?
Will your pricing model support sustainability as you grow, especially if you’re solo or without staff?
Don’t be afraid to choose a price that meets both community needs and personal work/life sustainability.
Service Design: Evolving Offerings and Workflow Hacks
Lucero’s practice started lean and grew responsive to both clinical realities and patient feedback. Her process for adding services is pragmatic: start with essentials; learn by doing; expand thoughtfully.
Examples from her experience:
Diagnostics: Learning to administer EKGs personally; aspiring to add spirometry and adopting home overnight pulse oximetry as technology improved.
On-hand Meds: In an area with no pharmacy within 25 minutes, she stocks commonly needed antibiotics and urgent meds so sick patients aren’t forced to travel when unwell.
Procedural Scope: Suture kits, skin biopsy supplies—all ordered according to actual patient need and personal comfort with procedures. She trialed Botox, found it was not her calling, and discontinued accordingly.
Efficient Communication: Her patient portal is the backbone; she personally orients even non-tech-savvy older patients to its use. For those who struggle, direct phone contact remains an option—but all communication remains direct for clarity and speed.
Reflection for your own DPC: Are you customizing your offerings based on real local needs, not just what you want to do or what trendy DPCs across the country include? Are you investing energy in patient education—on tech tools, clinical services, and access?
The Realities of Entrepreneurship: Burnout, Boundaries, and Business Acumen
One of Lucero’s most impactful insights is the challenge—and necessity—of setting personal boundaries. Despite high local demand, she limits her panel size and scope because, as she puts it, “If you don’t have yourself, you cannot take care of anybody else.” DPC’s success in her community means there’s a waitlist, but self-preservation takes priority.
From a wider perspective, Lucero warns against the mythology that doctors can’t survive in private (especially solo) practice—a narrative drilled into trainees for decades. With DPC models, solo practice is absolutely attainable, provided you blend clinical skill with adaptable business sense, careful service structure, and boundaries.
Practical takeaways:
Be realistic about your panel size and time. Know what you can offer—alone or with staff—and build systems to prevent overextension.
Tune your marketing and networking to your personality—some thrive on visibility; some prefer organic, one-on-one growth.
Accept that not every patient can be seen—focus on quality; advocate for system-wide support (e.g., grants, subsidies, policy changes) to increase reach.
Advocacy and System Change: The DPC Role in Broader Solutions
Throughout the conversation, Lucero and Dr. Maryal Concepcion highlight how DPC doctors must speak up for policy improvement, educating not only their patients but also policymakers about barriers—from restrictive non-compete clauses to grant and subsidy limitations.
Their vision:
If DPC salaries or operational costs could be subsidized/granted (especially in rural or underserved settings), more doctors could adopt the model, more patients could access affordable care, and primary care could be rebuilt as the system’s true foundation.
DPC offers myriad models for urgent community needs: drive-by vaccine clinics, school physical programs, efficient TB testing, and direct procedure/wellness services without insurance bottlenecks.
Reflection for your own DPC: Are you maximizing your voice in local/state advocacy? Can you collaborate with nonprofits or other community partners to access grants, improve outreach, and expand preventive care? JOIN My DPC Story & The DPC Coalition for a LIVE Q&A and Webinar on DPC, HSAs and the impact DPC can have going forward November 25th, 2025 12pm noon PST. Register at dpcare.org.
Building Your Ecosystem: Networking with Allied Providers
Finally, Dr. Lucero’s approach to building a trusted referral network is “old-fashioned” in the best way—based on personal experience and continuous patient feedback. She tries services herself (acupuncture, PT, OT), listens closely to patients’ reports about care quality, and adjusts her recommendations accordingly. In a small community, bad experiences travel fast, and so does trust.
Are you building out your referral roster with the same diligence—testing allied services, establishing feedback loops, and creating transparency with patients about what to expect?
Conclusion: Reflection and Renewal for DPC Practitioners
Dr. Stephanie Lucero’s DPC journey is one of deep community engagement, continuous evolution of services, and a strong sense of personal and professional boundaries. By sharing her story, she offers a roadmap for others: start with service, keep it affordable, invest in relationships, and advocate for change at every level.
As you consider or refine your own DPC model, take inspiration from Lucero’s willingness to question assumptions, adapt to real local needs, and commit to both your patients and your own well-being. In communities everywhere—urban, rural, underserved or otherwise—these principles can spark not just clinic growth, but systemic renewal.
Some Key Questions for Self-Reflection
Are you truly leveraging autonomy in your DPC model to build lasting relationships?
How well are you serving and integrating with your local community’s unique needs?
Is your pricing affordable for your target population, and does it reflect your values?
What systems can you improve for efficient, patient-centric service?
Are you safeguarding your own work/life balance and boundaries as you grow?
How can you advocate for system-wide change—so more doctors and patients can benefit from DPC?
By taking time to reflect, adapt, and share your story, you’ll not only build a stronger practice—you’ll help lead the movement toward a healthier, more equitable healthcare landscape.