Everything old is new again is a phrase that I grew up with. Clothing, politics, movies, music — one of the joys of being the parent of a 26 and 25 year old is the ability to see the world through the eyes of the boys when they were infants, as they became teenagers, and then when they become adults (or at least they think they are “grown-ups.”)
As the recession progresses a great attention has been focused on enhancing strategic growth where and whenever possible. In a recent expert opinion from a thought leader with Sg2, Strategies to Support Physician Referral Relationships—Coordination of Care (Expert Insight) the author found that among best practice for growing physician panels is offering a single point of contact for colleagues and patients. Additional best practice includes timely communication of patient status and returning patients to their primary care physician following treatment. None of this should be new to any consumer.
Restaurants offering seated service, gracious wait staff, and knowledgeable wine stewards are categorized as fine dining. McDonald’s objective is not to have the most knowledgeable staff – it is fast, efficient, and the same menu if you are eating in Indianapolis, Indiana or Paris. Each of these offerings is true to their business model. They understand their clientele; recognize their value proposition, and most importantly, each is true to its vision.
The issue is that the majority of physician offices are working within a business model grounded in fee for service with consumers who consider the cost of their care as the amount of their deductible. This generation-old model is changing, albeit slowly changing, into a more consumer driven model. Therefore, the consumer’s value proposition is changing as well. Those consumers who have manageable deductible and moderate co-pays expect their healthcare when they want it and how they want it. Consumers with health savings accounts are looking more closely at the overall cost of each care episode.
Sounds very similar to fine dining and fast food!
The notion that a patient wants a relationship with their caregiver makes as much sense as the consumer who can walk into a restaurant and the server anticipates an order of “the usual.” When ill, the physician that communicates easily and knows the patient’s history may be preferred; for others, the retail experience of a convenience clinic may be preferred. The physician in the role of a business owner needs to recognize the business model that suits their practice and meets the volume, revenue, and market share objectives aligned with their financial objectives. Once this achieved, the process of growing the panel simply falls into place.
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