Episode Details

Dr. Emily Holt returns to the podcast one year after opening Poppy Direct Care in New Orleans, and the landscape around her has changed dramatically.

When Maryal last spoke with Dr. Holt, Poppy was just months old and DPC Summit attendees were touring her 100-year-old clinic house. A year later, her panel has more than doubled, she's about to opt out of Medicare, and she's a named plaintiff in a lawsuit against Louisiana's Attorney General over the state's classification of mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances.

This conversation goes deep on what it actually looks like to build a mission-driven DPC in a state that keeps making reproductive healthcare harder to deliver.

In this episode, Dr. Holt shares:

• How word of mouth (plus authentic Instagram and TikTok) became her entire growth engine
• Why her practice is intentionally slow-rolling, and how she and her husband decided what "enough" looks like
• The patient shift happening as 2026 insurance premiums skyrocket and Medicaid eligibility stays restrictive
• What it means that every Planned Parenthood in Louisiana has closed, and how Poppy is trying to fill the gap
• Her free Tuesday night clinic for birth control and rapid STI testing, and the new Louisiana Health Department rules designed to shut clinics like hers out
• Why being a Baija Charitable Alliance affiliate mattered for 340B pricing, and what the new program changes mean for small DPCs serving uninsured patients
• The reality of trying to provide IUDs for emergency contraception when no nearby pharmacy stocks them
• How being her own boss let her join a lawsuit that employed physicians told her they couldn't touch
• What Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) offers clinicians
• Her vision for turning Poppy into a training ground for med students and residents shut out of reproductive health experience in-state

Memorable moments:

• "If you can't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
• The state offering one dollar per patient to reimburse rapid STI testing supplies that cost forty-five dollars
• Three generations of plumbers getting Poppy ready for Monday patients
• Why patients tell her, unprompted, that they trust her to trust them

Resources mentioned:

• Dr. Emily Holt's GoFundMe for an autoclave at Poppy Direct Care
• Take Me Home Program — free at-home HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis testing mailed nationwide
• Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP)
• Dr. Byron Jasper and Byja Charitable Alliance
• AAFP DPC Member Interest Group
• The July My DPC Story live event in New Orleans, pairing Dr. Esther Katibi's nonprofit with Dr. Holt's work at Poppy

Dr. Holt's advice for DPC physicians thinking about reproductive health access in their own communities: find the helpers, get connected to local groups already doing the work, and don't wait until you have everything figured out to start.

Lean more about Hint Clinical today!

Learn more about VIVID VAULT HEALTH SOLUTIONS TODAY!

The DPC Directory: If you're a DPC doctor, you’ll find resources to grow your practice! If you serve the DPC world, grab a FREE listing today and get discovered by doctors who need your services. 👉 Visit thedpcdirectory.com and become part of the movement shaping the future of healthcare!

Earn money WHILE running your DPC! Join SERMO for FREE today!

Listen Now