Direct primary care gains traction as providers look for a better way to treat patients

In Bangor, Maine, Geoff Clarke has something a lot of Americans do not: high praise for his recent health care checkup.

"If I was doing it in a dream, it was exactly like my dream," Clarke told CBS News.

Clarke is a new patient of Alley and Brad Tuttle, a husband and wife team who've started Apotheosis Health, offering what's known as direct primary care. In this alternative care model, patients pay a regular fee in exchange for unlimited access to certain medical services, while cutting out insurance as a middleman.

Direct primary care has exploded in the last decade, going from 140 practices to nearly 3,000 in the United States, according to data from the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine and DPC mapper.

For less than $100 a month, Apotheosis Health patients get the ba