Measuring What Matters: How DPC Practices Can Use the PCPCM Survey to Benchmark Patient Experience

Title slide: Text about using a survey to benchmark patient experience; illustration of a hand tapping a checklist on a phone.

Direct Primary Care has always been built around relationship-based medicine. Smaller panels. Direct access. Continuity.

But as DPC matures, one question becomes more important:

How do DPC practices measure patient experience in a way that is credible, standardized, and benchmarkable?

Testimonials and Net Promoter Scores are helpful, but they do not fully capture what makes primary care powerful. That is where the Person Centered Primary Care Measure (PCPCM) comes in.

What Is the PCPCM?

The person centered primary care measure (PCPCM) is a validated patient-reported survey designed specifically to evaluate the core functions of primary care.

It was developed in 2016 by Dr. Stange, Dr. Etz, and colleagues at the Larry A. Green Center. The tool was built through collaboration with patients, clinicians, employers, and healthcare experts, which is part of why it resonates so strongly with DPC.

Importantly, PCPCM is:

The only patient-reported measure focused specifically on the 4Cs of primary care
Recognized nationally as a clinical quality measure by CMS
Structured to assess the physician-patient relationship over time

This is not just a satisfaction survey. It is a primary care patient survey grounded in evidence.

The 4Cs of Primary Care — What PCPCM Actually Measures

At its core, PCPCM evaluates the 4Cs of primary care:

First Contact (Access) – Is it easy to get care when needed?
Comprehensiveness – Does the practice address most health needs?
Continuity – Does the doctor know the patient as a person over time?
Coordination – Does the practice guide care across settings?

The survey consists of 11 scored questions using a 1–4 scale (1 = Not at all, 4 = Definitely).

Examples include:

“The practice makes it easy for me to get care.”
“This doctor or practice knows me as a person.”
“Over time, my practice helps me stay healthy.”

These questions move beyond episodic satisfaction and instead assess long-term relationship quality.

What Does the Hint DPC Benchmark Show?

According to the 2026 DPC Patient Experience Benchmark Report by Hint, the aggregated results from 12 DPC clinics across eight states showed:

89% Total PCPCM Performance Score
97% Contact/Access score
90% Comprehensiveness
88% Coordination
82% Continuity
Net Promoter Score of 85

The 97% score in access is particularly notable. It reinforces what many DPC physicians already believe: reliable access is the foundation that allows comprehensiveness, coordination, and continuity to thrive.

The report also highlights that PCPCM scores increase with longer patient tenure. In other words, trust compounds. Continuity is measurable.

For DPC practices wondering what is a good PCPCM score for DPC, the benchmark provides important context. While performance varies by population and tenure, an overall score of 89% or above reflects strong alignment with the relationship-based model.

Turning PCPCM Results Into Primary Care Quality Metrics

Collecting survey data is step one. Making it actionable is step two.

When PCPCM data is integrated with broader primary care quality metrics, practices can:

Identify trends across clinicians
Compare performance across tenure groups
Understand how patient health status affects experience scores
Strengthen employer reporting conversations
Track improvements year over year

For example, the Hint benchmark shows modestly higher scores among patients who report better health and among older age groups. That type of insight can guide targeted engagement strategies.

Measurement becomes strategy.

Why PCPCM Matters as DPC Scales

As DPC expands into employer partnerships and broader populations, experience measurement becomes more than optional.

Employers increasingly want:

Structured quality reporting
Standardized metrics
Demonstrable outcomes

PCPCM provides a nationally recognized framework that aligns with both the philosophy of DPC and the accountability expectations of employer groups.

It allows DPC practices to prove what they have always believed: relationship-based care produces measurable impact.

Final Thoughts: Measuring Without Losing Meaning

DPC was never about volume. It was about trust, continuity, and holistic care.

The PCPCM simply provides structure to measure those elements.

If you would like to review the full benchmark data and methodology, you can access the Hint 2026 DPC Patient Experience Benchmark Report here.

At Health Compiler, we help DPC practices transform patient experience data and operational metrics into clear, employer-ready insights.Because in primary care, experience is not a soft metric. It is a quality signal. And quality deserves measurement.