Why are Multi-Specialty Clinics Becoming so Popular

1. Why are Multi-Specialty Clinics Becoming so Popular? We like things being easy and convenient. Is that a false statement? I don’t think so. We all would like to get to our #fitnessgoals immediately, rather than spending months dieting and exercising. We all would like to make money without having to work as hard. We, as a species, are looking to get the most amount of comfort, while putting in the least amount of work. So why wouldn’t this mindset extend towards taking care of our health? Most of you can relate to this scenario: 1.  You go to your primary care physician because of some health issue. They tell you that this or that seems o? and they need you to get a test. This test can only be done by a specialist. 2.  Now you have to make an appointment with the specialist, for which you probably have to take another day o? from work, have the expensive test done and then wait for the results to be transferred back to your primary care physician. 3.  Then, you have to go see your primary care physician again, to find out the results of your test. If you’re lucky, it’s most likely nothing. If not, then it’s back to the specialist. Doesn’t that sound tiresome?

2. What if you could have met with your primary care physician, consulted with the specialist, had your tests done and, due to the specialist and the primary care physician communicating quickly, found out what your health issue was and gotten treatment immediately, or even all in one day? That would be great! And, this type of care provision is available! If you Google “multi specialty care centers”, you will most likely find a decent number of them near you. If you Google it in six months, you’ll find even more. Why is that? Why are physicians flocking towards this type of integrated care model value based care technology of practice? Well, it’s simple. As Physicians Practice writer Susan Madden said, “practices are able to retain their autonomy while achieving e?ciencies of scale that help to decrease costs. For example, several of our clients’ medical malpractice insurance rates went down because there are more physicians to dilute risk, employee payroll costs and healthcare benefits become cheaper, and practices are able to secure better prices from suppliers.”((“What are the benefits for Doctors of joining a Group Medical Practice?.” Accessed 27 Aug. 2019.)) That’s already a lot of incentives, but depending on the practice, there are even more benefits. For instance, psychiatrists and therapists tend to stay away from using EHR systems, hiring administrative sta? and accepting insurance. This has, in turn, led to them not being able to provide care to as many people, or gain as much revenue, as they potentially could. For them, joining a multi-specialty practice would be a game changer. [Read: Benefits of an Integrated EHR and Medical Billing System] Due to the combined revenue and the reduced expenditure due to the practice structure, hiring administrative sta? is not a concern anymore. Thanks to having administrative sta?, they can also start accepting insurance, since they themselves would not have to spend additional time filing claims. Most importantly, they can start using EHRs, which would make it easier for them to: 1.  Schedule patients 2.  Prescribe and keep track of medication, dosage, allergies, medication interactions 3.  Accept and file insurance 4.  Save patient data securely The question then becomes, how is this EHR meeting all the demands of the mental health provider, while meeting all the demands of the other providers? There’s the first option, which is that there is an o?-the-shelf, all in one EHR system in place. But ..Read more Originally clinics-becoming-so-popular/ on 11 October 2019 published at https://bluebrix.health/blogs/why-are-multi-specialty-