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You found the tick on a Saturday. By Monday there’s a ring around the bite you don’t much like the look of. You call the office. Next opening is three weeks out, and it’s an hour and a half up the road.
That’s more than an inconvenience. Tick-borne illness does far better when it’s caught early, so in Maine, being able to reach a doctor quickly is a medical question rather than a convenience one.
Direct primary care exists to close that gap. You pay a flat membership fee, and your doctor is available by video or phone whenever you need her. At SustainMD that’s Dr. Allison Barbee, a board-certified family medicine physician licensed in Maine.
Dr. Barbee is licensed in Maine and every visit is virtual, so members join us from Portland and the south, Bangor, Lewiston and Auburn, Augusta, and the rural, coastal and Downeast towns where the local practice has closed or stopped taking anyone new. No drive, no waiting room, and nothing to reschedule when a storm rolls through.
The other thing that defines primary care up here is how much people are carrying. Maine’s healthy aging data found that 55.3% of Mainers over 65 are living with at least four chronic conditions at once. In rural communities that climbs to 57.7%. Four at a time isn’t the exception here, it’s the average.
Nobody can look after four conditions properly in ten minutes. There’s no time to go through four medication lists, ask how the winter’s been treating you, and still get to the thing that actually worried you enough to make the appointment. So one item gets dealt with and the rest waits until the next opening.
Maine is the most rural state in the country and the oldest by median age, with about 40% of people living in one of the eleven rural counties. Add a genuine shortage of doctors and the math gets grim. When it’s ninety minutes each way in February, a lot of appointments just don’t happen, and the conditions that punish you for that are precisely the quiet ones. Blood pressure drifts. Blood sugar climbs. A tick bite gets harder to treat.
Maine logged 4,257 cases of Lyme disease in 2025. On top of that came 1,604 cases of anaplasmosis and 352 of babesiosis, both also records.
The Maine CDC now treats these as endemic and tells clinicians to test for them all year round, because the winters have gone soft enough that ticks never really clock off. The tick lab in Orono has been receiving samples in every month of the calendar.
What that means for you is simple enough. A bite in February is worth taking as seriously as a bite in July, and waiting three weeks for someone to look at it is not much of a plan. Early treatment is what makes the difference with these illnesses, so the speed of getting seen genuinely matters here.
Underneath the headline numbers, the day-to-day list is pretty ordinary:
Blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and thyroid conditions, usually several of them together
Tick bites and whatever follows them
Sore joints, breathing trouble, and everything the winter drags in
Low mood, anxiety, and the isolation a long Maine winter can pile on
Keeping a long medication list sensible and safe
Managing several conditions at once is one of the best things telehealth does, because what it takes is attention rather than hands. Over video your doctor can look after:
Tick bites work well this way too. Send a photo of the bite and the rash, describe how you’re feeling, and get an answer that day. If you need testing, the order goes in electronically through Fullscript and you get drawn at whichever lab is nearest, so you’re not driving ninety minutes to be told to come back another day for bloods. Professional-grade supplements can come through the same system, which keeps the pieces of your care in one place rather than scattered across the county.
Dr. Allison Barbee is a board-certified family medicine physician with over 20 years of clinical experience and additional training in obesity medicine. She is licensed to practice in Maine and provides direct primary care entirely by video and phone — from Portland and the south to Bangor, Lewiston and Auburn, Augusta, and the rural, coastal, and Downeast towns where finding a local doctor has become genuinely hard.
Her approach is simple: know your full history, take the time a ten-minute visit never allows, and be reachable the Saturday you find the tick — not three weeks later.
Patient12
Dr. Barbee listens to your concerns, is empathetic and knowledgable. Not once has she made me feel ashamed or less than. She gives practical, reasonable and most importantly, doable recommendations. She uses lifestyle interventions instead of immediately jumping to medications, but will also use medications if you and she believe
Patient11
Dr. Barbee has been a remarkable weight loss physician for me. She distinguished herself by customizing her approach to suit my individual needs. Throughout our sessions, she was incredibly attentive, understanding my specific health concerns and weight loss goals. Dr. Barbee excelled in explaining the details of the medications she
Patient10
Dr. Barbee is an extremely knowledgeable physician who I rely on with all my medical needs. Her bedside manner is impeccable and very friendly. She listens to all of my issues and gets to the bottom of any problem you may have. I honestly cannot say enough good things about
Patient9
Dr Barbee actually listened to me and was able to diagnose my symptoms and actually treat and control the issue. I can not thank her enough! She was super patient and kind. Something you don’t really see now a days.
A.M.
Dr. Barbee understands that health is not one-size-fits-all. She takes the time to listen, remembers details, and works collaboratively with me as things evolve. The most meaningful part of working with her is feeling truly heard and supported, not just during appointments but overall in my care.
Andrea
The best! I have been a patient of Dr. Barbee’s for years! She has guided and treated me in my worst and best days. Her professionalism is top notch, along with her knowledge of health. You cannot ask for any better care than Dr. Barbee!
Suzanne Layser
Truly a compassionate Doctor- I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Barbee. I felt truly cared for. Dr. Barbee was incredibly compassionate, took the time to really listen, and never made me feel rushed. She asked thoughtful questions and genuinely wanted to understand what I was experiencing. What impressed
Patient8
Dr. Barbee is an extremely knowledgeable physician who I rely on with all my medical needs. Her bedside manner is impeccable and very friendly. She listens to all of my issues and gets to the bottom of any problem you may have. I honestly cannot say enough good things about
Patient7
Great doctor- Dr. Barbee is a kind and caring doctor. She is the type of person you can talk to and really will listen. She understands your problems and will work with you to solve them. She is very thorough and make sure everything is looked at does not miss
Patient6
Thoughtful, caring and truly helpful-I have been a patient of Dr. Barbee for many years. I have always found her honest and helpful. She works hard to look at root causes, which can take a while to figure out. She is persistent, yet kind. As we age, our bodies change.
SustainMD’s membership is called the SimplyWell DPC Plan, and in Maine what it buys you is fairly obvious. Your doctor is there on the Saturday you find the tick, not three weeks afterwards.
It also means your appointment isn’t rationed. If you’re living with four conditions, you get a visit long enough to talk about four conditions. It’s a flat fee, we don’t bill insurance, and there’s no copay sitting between you and mentioning something that’s been bothering you since November.
Direct primary care isn’t health insurance. Plenty of members keep a plan for hospital care, surgery, and specialists, and use the membership for everything else.
You pay your doctor a flat membership fee for direct, unhurried access to everyday care, rather than billing each visit to insurance.
Yes, plenty of members are uninsured or self-pay, and we don’t bill insurance for anything.
Yes, Maine passed a law recognizing direct primary care agreements back in 2017.
Yes, send a photo and get an answer that day, and if testing is needed the order goes to a lab near you.
That’s rather the point, since a longer visit lets you cover all of them instead of one per appointment.
The order goes in electronically, you get drawn at a lab near you, and you go over the results together.
Both give you closer access, though direct primary care is usually simpler and cheaper, and it sticks to everyday care.
Physician Credentials
Care is provided by Dr. Allison Pope Barbee, MD, a board certified family medicine physician with advanced training in obesity medicine and metabolic health.
Educational Disclaimer
Information on this page is provided for educational purposes and should not replace medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
Not Emergency Care
SustainMD telehealth services are not intended for emergency medical situations.
Privacy and Security
All virtual visits are conducted using secure, HIPAA compliant telehealth platforms to protect patient privacy.
Take the first step towards a healthier, happier you. Whether you’re interested in our comprehensive medical weight loss program, our dedicated obesity management services, or our revolutionary direct primary care model, SustainMD is here to help.
