One of the main reasons patients are frustrated and angry is their clinic access. There are numerous barriers to overcome to connect with one’s doctor. But it’s important to make it easy to see the doctor to ensure proper patient access.
The physician is buried behind a huge administrative wall in the mainstream healthcare model. This is unpleasant to the patient and the physician.
Here at Digital Nomad Health, we make it simple and easy for our patients to connect with us. The goal is to always communicate with the physician and minimize any administrative barriers.
Removing Appointment Barriers
We don’t want our patients to get prior authorization to visit with us or jump through a phone call and email and wait for an appointment.
Our patient panel rarely ever exceeds 150, far shy of the 3,000 many primary care physicians have. So, this makes appointments available almost always on the same day.
Our patients have a booking link and schedule themselves onto the doctor’s schedule whenever they feel they want or should be seen.
No-wait appointments are a crucial part of any practice, especially in the US healthcare system.
Asking the Doctor Directly
Imagine there’s a new pain, some rash, or an odd sensation; you could Google it or ChatGPT it, but why not ask the doctor directly?
If something is wrong with my car and I can call up my mechanic, then I don’t have to guess what it could be. And my time is valuable, so a misdirected online search would be frustrating.
After the chat with the doctor, you two can observe and monitor how things progress. Updates can be made through text, email, voice messages, or through the health portal.
Following Up With Ease
Once you begin a new treatment or a new intervention, you can follow up with the physician regularly to assess the improvements or lack of it.
If you run out of medication or need a blood test, you message Dr. Mo, and you connect.
Once we see a patient, it’s very important that they can follow up with the doctor easily. These days, the wait times average 26 days – that’s unimaginable.
Communicating Digitally
Mainstream medicine complicates the patient-doctor relationship by limiting digital forms of communication.
Here at DNH, healthcare access is our top priority. Removing any barriers is important to us, which is why we communicate with patients using all available technology.
Our patients can send us videos, photos, voice messages, text messages, emails, documents, and nearly anything else imaginable to help with communication.
We have experimented with Spruce Health and WhatsApp and have our go-to favorites. Not all are HIPAA-compliant options, but we list all the pros and cons and let the patient choose.