Offcall Columbus Physician Spotlight: Meet Dr. Karthik Mulkanoor

Offcall's referral tool and network is live in Columbus! Any clinician in Columbus can learn more and download the app now to start sending and receiving referrals today. We'll be rolling out city by city soon. Everyone else can sign and share our Fixing Referrals open letter to show your support and bring Offcall to your city sooner.

As part of our mission to lift up Columbus clinicians, each week we feature a different clinician having an incredible impact in the community. This week, meet Dr. Karthik Mulkanoor from First Primary Care. Send him a message to connect directly on the Offcall app!

1. Karthik, tell us a little bit about your practice. At First Primary Care, we’ve built a model that brings healthcare back to what it should be — accessible, affordable, and centered on real relationships. We combine Direct Primary Care with our self-funded DPC-based health plans (WOOP) to give patients true first-dollar access to their physician, along with transparent navigation for labs, imaging, medications, and specialist referrals. Our goal is simple: give people a doctor they can actually reach, eliminate the layers of administrative waste, and deliver care that prevents illness instead of reacting to it.

2. Why are you so passionate about being independent? Independence is what allows me to practice medicine the way it was intended without insurers dictating how long I can spend with a patient or what box I have to check to get them the right care. As an independent physician, I can prioritize outcomes over paperwork, prevention over procedures, and build long-term relationships that actually change people’s health trajectories. Being independent also lets us innovate. We can build new care-delivery models, launch health plans that cut out the middlemen, and prove that better access reduces healthcare costs instead of driving them up. That freedom is what keeps me passionate and energized.

3. What’s your biggest hope for the future of the Columbus physician community? My hope is for a thriving, collaborative community of independent physicians in Columbus –