Not long ago, many services such as tax accounting were delivered episodically and in-person, as most health care still is today. Periodically, a client and accountant would meet, review financial materials and status and, at the end of the encounter, make an appointment for the next meeting. Increasingly, in-person accountant visits have been replaced by phone or web meetings and do-it-yourself software like TurboTax. There is still a need for accountants and face-to-face meetings, but typically accountants now require such visits for only the more complicated cases that can’t be managed with software or a call.
How to Reduce Primary Care Doctors’ Workloads While Improving Care
While some aspects of care clearly require doctor and patient to be in the same place at the same time, many demonstrably don’t. Nonetheless, even types of care that could be freed from the primary care doctor’s office remain tied to it, with schedules optimized for doctors’ productivity rather than what’s best for the patient. The result is overworked physicians and suboptimal care. This article examines the barriers slowing the transition from inconvenient, costly, periodic, face-to-face primary care to innovative models and technologies that separate care from location and that empower patients to take on more of their own care. These new models can reduce overburdened primary care doctors’ workloads and improve the quality of care at the same time.