For years, Direct Primary Care has been described as "the future of healthcare."

The new data suggests that Direct Primary Care is no longer a fringe model. It's becoming a meaningful part of the primary care landscape.

At Hint Summit 2026 in Nashville, Hint Health released the 2026 Direct Primary Care Trends Report, the most comprehensive analysis of the DPC movement to date. Drawing from data across more than 2,700 clinicians and 1.4 million members, the report tracks how the model has evolved over the last decade and where it appears to be headed next.

One thing is clear throughout the findings: DPC is no longer operating at the margins.

A Decade of Growth Is Starting to Compound

Between 2017 and 2025, DPC membership grew 837% per capita, significantly outpacing U.S. population growth, with DPC practices now operating across 50 states.

The growth itself is notable. But what may matter more is how that growth is happening.

The report shows:

• Clinician growth per capita increased 555%, but patient growth continues to outpace clinician growth, signaling rising demand for DPC physicians nationwide
• Patients are engaging with care more continuously, not just during annual visits

Taken together, the data paints a picture of a care model moving beyond early adoption and into operational maturity.

Employers Are No Longer Experimenting

One of the clearest shifts in this year’s report is the role employers now play in the DPC ecosystem, showing the majority of active memberships nationwide are paid for by employers. As healthcare costs continue to rise unpredictably, many organizations appear to be looking toward DPC not as a pilot program, but as a longer-term strategy for improving access to healthcare while stabilizing spend.

At the same time, employer-sponsored DPC pricing has remained remarkably consistent over the last five years, a contrast to the volatility seen across traditional insurance markets.

"What began as a movement is becoming a new operating model for healthcare," said Zak Holdsworth, CEO and Co-Founder of Hint Health. "This data shows that relationship-based care isn't just better for patients. It's a scalable, durable solution for an exhausted healthcare system. We're watching the blueprint for the next era of care take shape in real time."

The Human Side of the Data

The report also captures something harder to quantify but difficult to ignore: patients appear to be experiencing medicine differently inside the DPC model.

Across the data, a consistent pattern emerges: more frequent patient communication and stronger continuity of care. The picture that forms is of a model designed for ongoing relationships rather than episodic visits, and clinicians who are practicing closer to the way they trained to practice.

The result is a care model that looks increasingly less transactional and more longitudinal, shifting primary care from a once-a-year interaction into something more continuous and more human.

The Geography of DPC Is Changing

Historically, DPC growth tended to cluster in a handful of regions.

That pattern is changing.

While states like Colorado and Minnesota continue to show strong concentration, some of the fastest clinician growth is now occurring in large, dense healthcare markets including California, Illinois, and New York.

That shift may signal a new phase for the movement: expansion beyond early adopter markets into broader national relevance.

Building Infrastructure for What Comes Next

The release of the report coincided with the launch of Hint Marketplace, an app-store-like experience designed to unify the fragmented DPC ecosystem, connecting the clinical, operational, and business tools practices rely on through a single, integrated environment.

Together, the data and the infrastructure point in the same direction. As more practices scale and as direct care expands into adjacent specialties, the question is no longer whether the model works. It's what the model needs to keep growing.

The full report explores these trends in greater depth, including:

• Regional pricing benchmarks
• Legislative developments
• Membership growth patterns
• Employer adoption data
• Communication and utilization trends
• State-by-state expansion

Download the 2026 Direct Primary Care Trends Report to explore the data and analysis in full.

Watch Aimee Leidich present the full findings live from Hint Summit '26!