Meet Kara Farley | Direct Primary Care Physician & Veteran Naval Flight Surgeon

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kara Farley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kara, how do you think about risk?
A mentor once told me there are three characteristics that can lead to professional success: hard work, education and risk taking. Success is driven by hard work and a strong foundation of an education. However if I wanted to achieve the highest level of professional success, I would have to take risks, because without risks there is no innovation or reward. I worked hard to graduate magna cum laude from Baylor University as a scholarship athlete. I took a risk and accepted a scholarship from the United States Navy for Medical School and served as a Naval Flight Surgeon for nine years. I worked hard in medical school and residency, so I could be the best physician for my patients. I continue to work hard to give my patients a higher level of care and take every opportunity to continue to grow my medical education. When it came time for me to end my military career, the COVID-19 pandemic had just started. I took another risk and created a COVID-19 screening application for small businesses that allows them to safely remain open. At the same time, I was looking into options for my civilian medical career. I came across Direct Primary Care. This model allows patients to pay a small monthly fee, usually the cost of a cell phone bill or gym membership. This covers all patient-doctor visits, no-copay or hidden fees and cash pay pricing for labs and imaging is available. The great thing about this model is it allows the primary care physician to have a fraction of the patient panel size of a traditional fee for service practice. This gives the patients longer appointment times and better access to care. This model will eventually lead to a healthier and happier patient population. In October of 2020 as a Navy Veteran and physician I opened my own DPC practice to help provide the type of care to my patients that they deserve. I’ve never been happier as a physician. Taking risks made me a Naval Flight Surgeon and Veteran and it also gave me the opportunity to own my own practice and practice medicine the way I have always wanted to.What should our readers know about your business?
Blue Ocean Health Services provides two different services. First, we offer a COVID-19 screening application for small business. This offers a simple and effective way for employees to screen themselves for COVID-19 symptoms everyday from home. Second, we are a direct primary care practice. We focus on restoring the doctor patient relationship and provide a personalized and holistic approach to primary care. Direct primary care practices do not accept insurance. Instead, patients pay a small monthly fee to be a member of the practice. This covers all doctor-patient interactions. We even have a texting application so you can text your doctor at anytime. We can use insurance for ordering labs and imaging, but we also have great cash pay pricing as well. This model strives to heal our broken primary care model and to help create better access to care and in turn a healthier population in the United States. Another wonderful aspect of this model is it saves our patients money! Even our patients who have insurance. With high deductible plans becoming more and more popular, our model allows you to get primary care at the fraction of the cost! I started my career in medicine in the military. I served as a primary care physician for pilots and aircrew. The Navy also gave me my wings of gold and taught me to fly. After serving in the military my biggest challenge was finding a model in primary care medicine where I could truly be happy. Urgent care or a busy practices seeing over twenty patients a day with only 10-15 minutes a visit was not how I imagined my career as a physician. When I found out about direct primary care, I knew this could be the answer to our lack of adequate access to primary care and preventative medicine. So I jumped right in!Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have had the pleasure of living in DFW for the past four years. We moved here in spring of 2017, when I was eight month pregnant with my first child. Since then I have fallen in love with DFW. When I finished my last tour at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, we couldn’t picture raising our children anywhere else! If I were to take a friend around town, I would absolutely have to visit the zoo. It is one of my favorite places to visit! Of course the rest of the country agrees, since it is the number one zoo in the US! We would have to eat at Tei Tei Robata in Dallas, which is my favorite restaurant. We would also frequent the parks for walks and lots time outdoors. Finally, a trip to north park mall for some shoe shopping, my guilty pleasure. Even though this girl wore flight boots for five years, I still love my high heels!Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shout out to my wonderful husband and children. Without his support of my dream to become a doctor and his sacrifice as I served our country as a flight surgeon, I would not be the physician I am today. My children have given me so much joy even in the sometimes trying days of my profession.

Website: https://blueoceanhealthservices.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-farley-md-11660b6b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blueoceanhealthservices