Dr. Peter Lazzopina is a board-certified family medicine physician leading a movement to redefine healthcare. In 2018, Dr. Lazz stepped out in faith to begin direct primary care in Harlingen, Texas. Operating then as Frontier Direct Primary Care, Dr. Lazz saw patients in a shared medical office, performed evaluations and procedures on a massage table, and executed administrative tasks on a picnic table. When he and his wife, Stacey, could juggle all the tasks no more, Dr. Lazz recruited his first employee and former nurse, Sandy. There was no question–Dr. Lazz was helping restore and renew the patient-physician relationship. He focused on bringing healing to people rather than on generating data and profits. And the hard work paid off!
2020 truly tested the direct primary care model, showing that even the coronavirus couldn’t slow down the movement. Dr. Lazz opened up the Harlingen location on historic Jackson Street, hired another physician, and hired an operations team to take the administrative burden off the medical team.
During his time as physician, DPC-advocate, and Frontier spokesperson, Dr. Lazz has had the privilege to speak before the Texas Legislature in support of House Bill 484, a pilot program that would allow Medicaid recipients to use their government benefits to pay for DPC memberships. Though the proposed Bill was killed, it was a large step forward for the entire DPC community. In September 2021, Dr. Lazz was featured on Patients Rising podcast, discussing the savings that come out of DPC membership. In April 2022, Frontier Direct Care was featured in the Texas Public Policy Foundation article “Losing Hope–and Finding Care.”
