How evolving your health system's primary care offerings in response to community need can capture new patients and revenue

Alan Condon -

To succeed in the next normal, healthcare organizations must be more innovative in how they meet patient demand, and enhancing primary care portfolios is one way to achieve this.

During a May 3 webinar sponsored by MDVIP and hosted by Becker's Hospital Review, industry leaders discussed how patients' attitudes continue to shift as their expectations for more convenience, personalization and customer service rise. A volume-based approach to medicine does not deliver this desired healthcare experience. A solution: create a membership-care service arm that attracts new patients and diversifies your revenue mix with a predictable source not primarily dependent on insurance.

MDVIP participants were:

  • Bret Jorgensen, chairman and CEO
  • Andrea Klemes, DO, chief medical officer
  • Chris Lillich, chief marketing officer
  • John Schmidt, executive director of health systems

Key takeaways:

1. What patients want. Patients are increasingly looking for physicians who listen to them. They're also seeking more lifestyle coaching, including diet and exercise. However, a recent national poll found that "75 percent of patients haven't discussed any self-care with their physicians within the past two years."

2. Patients reprioritizing their health. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many patients to reprioritize their health and sparked unprecedented growth in MDVIP-affiliated practices where physicians have time to develop better physician-patient relationships and focus on prevention. Dr. Klemes emphasized that MDVIP studies published in multiple peer-reviewed journals show improved outcomes, including significant reductions in hospital readmissions and impressive results in cardiovascular health. Additionally, the model minimizes physician burnout and extends their careers.

3. Barriers to care. Many primary care physicians cite lack of time as the biggest challenge to addressing all patient needs during appointments. This can be attributed to constraints of traditional volume medicine. Mr. Lillich explained, "Patients simply aren't getting their most important needs for more time and better guidance met." Business success is contingent on giving consumers what they want, and MDVIP's success for over 20 years is proof that people are willing to pay for patient-centered care.

4. Add more patients. The U.S. has about 70 million baby boomers, 20 million of whom mimic patients in MDVIP-affiliated practices, according to Mr. Schmidt. MDVIP's sophisticated analysis uses patient and demographic data coupled with proprietary machine learning to determine the size and scope of opportunity for membership-based primary care within a given market. "Integrating MDVIP's personalized healthcare model into your system's delivery options generates a consistent revenue stream that's currently unrecognized," Mr. Schmidt said.

5. Explore a partnership opportunity. Health systems are leveraging MDVIP's no-cost, predictive assessment and turnkey implementation to create a valuable new patient entry point. It's a growth, retention and diversification strategy that supports organizations' missions and financial goals. As the industry leader, MDVIP's enterprise solution saves start-up time and resources and is virtually risk-free. At present, the company provides services to over 350,000 patients and 1,100 affiliated physicians across the country.

Click here to learn more about MDVIP and here to view the full webinar.

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