Dr. Michael D. Shaw takes us to the heart of what Direct Primary Care is all about in his recent contribution to HealthNewsDigest.com.
“The doctor/patient relationship has deteriorated precisely because the patient is no longer the client.”
The moment physicians are forced to turn their attention from a patient, hold up one finger as if to say, “Hold on.” and become engaged elsewhere is the very moment the doctor patient relationship begins to break down. It’s all traced back to the fact that physicians must see so many patients in such a short amount of time… and are therefore forced to spend on average a mere 7 minutes with them during the appointment.
Third parties. Insurance. Bureaucracy.
It’s the red tape that gets in the way of reading between the lines of what a patient is saying. It’s the brain barrier that doesn’t allow docs time to research new and innovative ways to handle cases. It’s the time suck that chains physicians to their desk long after the lights go off just to keep up with all the paperwork.
When the red tape disappears, so many good things begin to happen! Among them:
- Health insurance is used how it was intended: for catastrophic coverage rather than routine healthcare issues.
- Overhead costs are eliminated with the exclusion of insurance billing – those savings are passed right on down to the patient.
- Wait time is slashed – DPC often offers same-day scheduling and home visits.
But perhaps best result of cut red tape is that the doctor/patient relationship is allowed to be just that: a relationship.