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Your First 15 Minutes

Get oriented in DPC Pro and complete the five essential setup steps: log in, fill out your practice profile, create a membership plan, add a patient, and send a test message. This walkthrough assumes you have a DPC Pro account but have not configured anything yet.

Before You Begin

You need:

  • Your DPC Pro login credentials (check your welcome email)
  • Your practice name, address, and phone number
  • A rough idea of your membership pricing (you can change this later)

Step 1: Log In and Orient Yourself

Time: ~2 minutes

  1. Open app.dpcpro.com in your browser.
  2. Enter your email address and password, then select Log In.
  3. If your practice uses single sign-on, select Log in with SSO and follow the prompts from your identity provider.
  4. After login, you land on the Dashboard. Take a moment to note the main navigation areas:
    • Dashboard — your daily overview of tasks, messages, and upcoming visits
    • Patients — your patient roster and records
    • Schedule — provider calendars and appointments
    • Billing — memberships, payments, and financial reports
    • Messages — secure communication with patients
    • Settings — practice configuration, staff, and account options

Practice Managers

If you are setting up the practice on behalf of a clinician, you will see every section listed above. Your provider can focus on the clinical areas later — the initial setup is mostly administrative.

Step 2: Complete Your Practice Profile

Time: ~3 minutes

  1. Navigate to Settings → Practice Profile.
  2. Enter your Practice Name as you want patients to see it.
  3. Add your Address, Phone Number, and Email for patient-facing communications.
  4. Upload your Practice Logo (optional but recommended — it appears on patient invoices and messages).
  5. Set your Time Zone and Office Hours.
  6. Select Save.

Your practice profile drives what patients see in their portal and on receipts, so accurate information matters here.

You can refine this later

The only fields required right now are your practice name and time zone. You can return to Settings → Practice Profile at any time to fill in the rest.

Step 3: Create Your First Membership Plan

Time: ~4 minutes

  1. Navigate to Billing → Membership Plans.
  2. Select Create Plan.
  3. Enter a Plan Name — something patients will recognize, such as "Adult Individual" or "Standard Membership."
  4. Set the Monthly Price.
  5. Choose the Billing Cycle (monthly is the most common for DPC practices).
  6. Add a brief Description that explains what is included in this plan.
  7. Under Eligibility, choose whether this plan is available for individuals, families, or both.
  8. Select Save Plan.

You now have a plan patients can be enrolled in. You can create additional plans (family, pediatric, employer) later — one is enough to get moving.

Clinicians

If your practice manager is handling billing setup, you can skip this step. You will see active plans reflected in patient records once they are created.

For detailed plan configuration including family and employer group options, see Creating Membership Plans.

Step 4: Add Your First Patient

Time: ~4 minutes

  1. Navigate to Patients → Add Patient.
  2. Enter the patient's First Name, Last Name, and Date of Birth.
  3. Enter their Email Address (required for portal access and secure messaging).
  4. Optionally, add a Phone Number for SMS notifications.
  5. Under Membership, select the plan you created in Step 3.
  6. Choose a Start Date for the membership (today's date is fine for a test).
  7. Select Save & Send Invitation.

DPC Pro sends the patient an email invitation to create their portal account. Once they accept, they can view their membership, send messages, and self-schedule visits.

Use yourself as a test patient

During setup, consider adding yourself (or a team member) as a test patient. This lets you experience the patient portal firsthand and verify that invitations, messaging, and billing work as expected before enrolling real patients.

Step 5: Send a Test Message

Time: ~2 minutes

  1. From the patient record you created in Step 4, select the Messages tab.
  2. Select New Message.
  3. Type a brief test message — something like "Welcome to the practice."
  4. Select Send.

The patient (or your test account) receives a notification via email and SMS (if a phone number is on file). This confirms that your messaging pipeline is active.

If you want to see the AI-drafted reply feature in action, wait for a response to your test message — DPC Pro's AI assistant will draft a suggested reply for your review.

What You Have Accomplished

In roughly 15 minutes, you have:

  • [x] Logged in and explored the dashboard
  • [x] Configured your practice profile
  • [x] Created your first membership plan
  • [x] Added and invited a patient
  • [x] Sent a secure message

Your practice is now functional at a basic level. The next steps take you deeper into each area.

What's Next

Next Step What You Will Do
Setting Up Your Practice Fine-tune office hours, notification preferences, and advanced practice settings
Adding Providers & Staff Invite clinicians and team members so they can access their own areas of DPC Pro
Creating Membership Plans Set up additional plans for families, employer groups, and specialized memberships
Inviting Your First Patient Learn the full patient enrollment workflow including family accounts
Go-Live Checklist Walk through the complete readiness checklist before opening to all patients

Need Help?

If something did not work as expected during these steps, check Common Issues or visit Getting Help to contact support.