Updated November 10, 2026 · Prices checked on each vendor's own site
The Best Phone and Texting System for a DPC Clinic
Direct access is the promise of DPC, which means patients will call, text and message you. The tool you choose here decides how calm your team feels at four in the afternoon.
The short answer
Spruce is the default pick for DPC, with phone, text, video, fax and a shared team inbox from $24 per user a month and a signed BAA on every plan. OhMD fits clinics that want their existing office line text-enabled, and Weave fits clinics that want reviews and text-to-pay from the same vendor. If your EMR's portal messaging covers what patients need, you may not need a separate tool at all.
Phone and texting tools compared
| Tool | Published price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Spruce | $24/user/mo (Basic), $49/user/mo (Communicator) | One shared inbox for calls, texts, faxes and video |
| OhMD | From $300/mo (Core), $500/mo (Automate) | Texting on your existing office line |
| Weave | From $199/mo | Phones plus reviews and text-to-pay |
| EMR portal messaging | Usually included | Clinics happy with portal-only messaging |
Spruce
Spruce puts phone, text, video, fax and internal team chat in one place, with auto-replies and a shared inbox. Basic is $24 per user a month and Communicator is $49 per user a month, adding custom call flows, urgent escalation, after-hours triage and integrations. Every teammate counts as a user and everyone shares one plan, so a team of four on Basic is about $96 a month. There's a one-time $19.50 fee to turn on outbound texting, and a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Spruce syncs texts and voicemails into the Elation chart and reads Hint's membership tags. Full Spruce review.
OhMD
OhMD text-enables the office number you already have, with two-way texting and voice and video calling on its Core plan from $300 a month. The Automate plan, from $500 a month, adds automated call handling and appointment scheduling, with calling usage billed separately. Full OhMD review.
Weave
Weave covers phone, text and email with patients, collects and manages reviews, and sends text-to-pay requests and payment reminders, starting from $199 a month. It's a good fit if online reviews matter to your growth and you want them in the same place as your phones. Full Weave review.
Messaging built into your EMR
Hint includes secure messaging, phone, SMS and fax tied to the patient record. Akute includes portal messaging and adds a virtual phone line for $15 a month. Atlas.md integrates fax, phone, email and text with automatic tracking of patient correspondence. If that covers your patients, start there and add Spruce only when the team needs one inbox for everything.
The part most comparisons skip
A phone system gets the message to your team. Then the text about a refill has to become a task in the chart, someone has to review it, and the patient needs a reply. That handoff between your phone tool and your EMR is where messages wait the longest.
That's the job Tabflows does. Tabflows is a dedicated tech team for DPC clinics. We connect the tools you already chose and give your team one place for chat, tasks and patient context, with managed workflows for the repeat work like refills, lab follow-ups and onboarding. We set it up around the way your clinic already runs, and you keep every tool you picked.
Works alongside the tools on this page. No switching required.
Frequently asked questions
What phone system do DPC clinics use?
Spruce is the most common choice, at $24 per user a month for Basic and $49 for Communicator, with phone, text, video, fax and a shared inbox. OhMD and Weave are the main alternatives, and many clinics also use their EMR's portal messaging.
Is Spruce HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Spruce includes a signed BAA on every trial and paid plan.
How much does Spruce cost for a DPC clinic?
Spruce Basic is $24 per user a month and every teammate counts as a user, so a four-person team is about $96 a month. Communicator is $49 per user a month. Outbound texting has a one-time $19.50 registration fee.
Can patients text my existing office number?
Yes, with OhMD, which text-enables your existing office line from $300 a month.