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Tag: patient experience

  • What is Concierge Medicine?

    What is Concierge Medicine?

    Concierge medicine is a growing trend in the healthcare community, a business model that gives the patient more control over their healthcare and the physician more time to deal with them directly. Simply put, it’s the practice of keeping a medical professional on retainer, usually with an annual or monthly fee, allowing them to address whatever medical needs might arise at any given time. The doctor doesn’t work for the hospital, churning through sixty waiting room attendees before finally giving you fifteen minutes of harried attention. They work for you, and as such, have a vested, personal interest in your health and well-being so that business may continue.

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    The Downsides of Concierge Medicine

    The downside? It’s expensive. Basic healthcare isn’t cheap on its own in the United States, with healthcare premiums for the average family rounding out to over $16,000 a year (KFF.org, 2014), and a concierge doctor’s fees can add anywhere from $1000 to $25,000 a year on top of that (Himmel, 2010). These fees usually cover an annual checkup and ensure quick and effective care, but more intensive procedures will often incur additional fees.

    As such, concierge medicine remains a middle to upper class phenomenon. The USA Network TV series Royal Pains satirizes this aspect of the job, portraying down-to-earth doctors often bumping heads with snooty, upper crust clients. This class barrier is a common criticism of the concierge business model. Doctors are in short supply, and with America’s population becoming older and more obese, able physicians dropping poorer clients so that they might cater to the lucrative elite has struck many in the medical profession as morally dubious at best.

    The Hybrid Model Solution

    It’s a messy situation, but solutions are being proposed. One such method that has gained traction in the past few years has been the “hybrid model” of medicine, wherein doctors can continue to treat their longstanding patients while still offering concierge-style perks to a smaller percentage who want it. The end result is doctors making more money, seeing fewer patients per day, and becoming less stressed as a result. These hybrid programs are still largely experimental, but so far, responses from both patients and caregivers have been positive.

    Dr. Cynthia Williams is one such physician who found a hybrid model of medicine to be ideal. “This isn’t a disruptive model,” she wrote. “I continue to take insurance and patients don’t have to look for another provider… I’m not taking on new patients I don’t really have the time to see and can dedicate myself to all the patients I do have while bringing on new patients through normal practice attrition when it makes sense” (Williams, 2015).

    None of this should suggest, by the way, that traditional medicine is on the way out. As mentioned before, the extra cost of concierge medicine means it will likely remain an option only for more affluent patients. But if the result is better paid doctors able to take on more reasonable workloads, then we all benefit.

    References

    Section One: Cost of Health Insurance (2014). Retrieved on 6/28/15 from http://kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2014-section-one-cost-of-health-insurance/

    Himmel, D. (2010). Chicago Health Online. Retrieved on 6/30/2015 from http://chicagohealthonline.com/at-your-service-concierge-medicine/

    Williams, C. (2015). Modern Healthcare. Retrieved on 6/30/2015 from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150117/MAGAZINE/301179978

  • Improving Patient Experience: Can We Learn from Disney?

    Improving Patient Experience: Can We Learn from Disney?

    Disney World, despite being an enormous facility that receives vast numbers of visitors every hour of the day, somehow manages to earn praise for superior customer service. About 70% of Disney customers are so pleased, in fact, that they return to the theme park for future vacations. When thinking about improving patient experience, providers can learn by observing how Disney handles its customers.

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    Here are four of the top ideas that can guide healthcare professionals toward increased goodwill and better customer service evaluations.

    Frontline Resources

    Disney supports those who interact directly with customers with sufficient tools and technologies to solve problems and answer questions quickly and decisively. There is also direct access to managers and decision makers, so that if a frontline employee cannot resolve a problem or answer a question, they can find someone who can without unnecessary and frustrating delays.

    Courtesy

    All employees are trained to make courtesy a priority, regardless of how difficult a situation may be, in order to put customers at ease and ensure that they feel respected, listened to, and appreciated. Employees are also offered special customer service training, including role playing of various scenarios, so that they fully understand how to execute their responsibilities in a professional manner.

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    Scripted Responses

    Everyone at Disney is on the same page, so that the brand message and image projected is reliably constant and consistent. Part of the reason that kind of continuity and teamwork is so effective is that employees have scripts they can follow when greeting customers, answering questions, resolving problems, or responding to emergency situations. Rather than feeling unprepared, they are already knowledgeable about what to say and how to respond, and they can then focus their energy and attention in a calm and poised way to ensure that the customer’s needs are met.

    Exit Success

    Disney also makes sure that exiting its facility is a smooth transition, even creating systems to help keep track of where people parked so that they don’t have trouble locating their cars. You may not need to help patients find their vehicles, of course, but the idea or philosophy represented by that story is that when customers have a good exit experience they leave with a good feeling. When improving patient experience, healthcare facilities should make the communication of final instructions, answering of questions, and filling out of exit paperwork as efficient and easy as possible.