Consumerism in Healthcare: How Can it Benefit My Practice?

“Consumerism” is a hot topic in healthcare with patients seeking a more patient-friendly experience when seeing the doctor. Digital tools for patient engagement, appointments, telehealth, and pricing transparency are the cornerstones. Given the rising costs of health insurance, and increased patient responsibility for payment, it’s no surprise pricing transparency ranks at the top of the list of patient demands. Coupled with new requirements for Good Faith Estimates, managers must navigate the path to transparency and adopt payment models suited to today’s health consumer Unfortunately, most practices are anything but consumer friendly. Many clinics make it impossible for patients to get a timely appointment and often turn away direct pay patients. By “closing the door”, we have literally opened another door to competitors. With 1,000’s of locations major retailers are offering primary care alternatives. New technologies for virtual visits have replaced office visits. These retail and digital practices “own the patient” and have the power to make specialist referrals. Patients are being siphoned away to these companies where the doctor patient relationship is being supplanted by virtual care. How do we retain these patients and partner with these new healthcare entities to our benefit? This session will explore this changing healthcare landscape to help implement strategies that can position your practice to succeed and become the destination for retail and digital referrals. Digital tools for patient engagement, appointments, and pricing transparency will be discussed. Learn actionable strategies and best practices to pave the way to implement consumerism in your practice.