There is great discussion currently about the role of Primary Care Doctors, who are the key to maximizing health and saving money in the long run for the American Health Care System. There are studies to support this concept, but there is not enough support for primary care doctors from the health care industry. If the government begins to support more, where will that money come from, and what will be the 'strings' attached to such support?
For the past several years, the catch phrase in the industry has been the 'Patient Centered Medical Home'. The idea is that patients must navigate through the complex Health Care System. They need a place that knows them best, helps coordinate each person and their family members, throughout their lives, as they maintain wellness, get sick, find insurance, get medicine from multiple pharmacies, get labs, get xrays, get referred to specialists, who order more tests, go to emergency rooms, physical therapy, skilled nursing, change jobs, change spouses, change insurance, and more.
The current system is a model of inefficiency, poor coordination, poor communication, often inhumane, unecessarily expensive, and is currently in the process of failing unless we do things differently. We do need a doctors office who knows us, knows our children, knows our parents, looks out for us, coordinates care, strives to improve quality, saves money, and whom we can return to throughout our lifespan.
At the Family Health Pro Clinic, we are laying the foundation for the Medical Airport, and the Medical Air Traffic Control.
The Medical Home is proving to be a difficult concept to build or sustain for individual doctors. Individual doctors cannot afford the extra time and expense, effort, training, and management to provide care coordination and quality improvement, in addition to managing a business, staying in compliance with HIPPA, OSHA, TWC, FTC, HHS, TSBME, CME, ACLS, ICD, increased paperwork, decreased reimbursement, keeping people alive and healthy (this is the only thing we signed up for!), keeping up, following through, and somehow keeping themselves healthy and their families intact. Doctors are already getting paid more or less by some insurance companies based on their performance and outcomes. It makes global financial sense, but are doctors going to begin accepting only 'healthy' patients, and push away those who make unhealthy choices or have bad habits?
Patients, doctors, and everyone involved in the health care industry, are in need of an Air Traffic Control, to facilitate the flow of information across Medical Airports (individual practices) as they shuttle the patients and their families safely back and forth, navigating the obstacles and storms inherent with the existing health care system.
By building gold-standard clinic management procedures and policies, transparent and efficient business systems, higher levels of training and support, building relationships based on strong values, equal respect of all people at all levels of participation, and increasing value of personal health and family, we will increase satisfaction, improve outcomes, help other individual doctors stay financially viable, and at the same time, support personal choice and freedom.
We don't necessarily need to socialize medicine. We need accessible medicine, and accessible insurance. We don't need insurance obtained through jobs. There are too many people living the nightmare of not only losing their livlihood, they are losing their medical protection as well. We don't need to get rid of the insurance companies, but we do need to simplify the system, and reward those individuals and corporations who are more altruistic.
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