I do not recommend doing this, but today I attempted to listen to two Webinars at the same time. One was also tweeting the discussion and the other had very detailed slides which made it easier to follow but as studies show, we are not really capable of that kind of multi-tasking. The topic of the first suggested it would discuss Primary Care and its future. However, what the expert proposed was a "How to" plan for bringing more customers into a healthcare system. This was boiled down to a recommendation that these system open small clinics, run by NPs, in competition with drug store and grocery store clinics of similar ilk in order to funnel patients into the listeners' systems. The other Webinar was a discussion by three mobile health leaders (mHealth) on the future use of their products in the global mobile health arena (wow, that rhymed).
It's is a good idea to know what is going on in the minds of healthcare system development teams and as I listened to the expert's remarks I could not help but ponder on what, in my humble opinion, would build the kind of "team loyalty" that hospitals and other healthcare systems are dreaming of. What is it that patients want? I agree that they need healthcare access in their busy lives at more convenient times of the day than traditional physician offices offer. What my patients tell me (and what people tell me at cocktail parties) is that they would prefer access to their very own providers, those individuals who know them best. No insult intended to NPs because they are essential to the healthcare team, but they are physician extenders, not physician substitutes. What about developing systems that give patients greater access to their own providers? This would really engender loyalty to a healthcare system, especially one in which physicians are employees, more and more the norm these days. I believe mHealth can do that. What if you could access your physician after hours via Skype? Or text your doctor just for a quick conversation about whether you should seek immediate care or be seen the next day? Gee, what if the physician had access to their schedule and could book them on the spot?!? What I'm advocating here is a "concierge" type practice without the concierge price. Of course there would have to be some sort of reimbursement procedure to give already overworked primary care doctors the incentive to take care of patients in this way but wouldn't that be a cheaper investment than opening the equivalent of "Little Clinics" everywhere?
Along with the cost, the second complaint I routinely hear from patients about their medical care is its fragmentation. From a patient and a primary care perspective, no one on the health care team is talking to each other. In fact, frequently the word "team" is a misnomer. Using tools like Doximity physicians can employ a HIPPA compliant platform to discuss cases and improve care. Of course the phone always works, but with the ability to ask questions and respond in a timely but convenient fashion, doctors and other providers like NPs, PTs, etc. can reduce the fragmentation patients feel from their healthcare team.
Of course I realize that ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) are supposed to be developing this kind of care. But does the bureaucracy that surrounds these systems bother anyone else but me? Do we really have to wait for the lumbering movement of government sponsored programs in order to improve communication, fragmentation and access to care when the technology is already here today?
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