Tag: HealthCare

Doctor Patient Relationship – An Ever Evolving Mystery!

The doctor-patient relationship is dated back to 5000 years. Back then, in ancient Egypt, it resembled a priest-supplicant type engagement – a relationship involving healers to stage themselves as MAGICIANS who have mastered sickness and death through magic, mysticism and spiritual healing. For the most part, this relationship can be categorised under ‘beneficent paternalism’. Wherein, not only the healers were seen taking responsibility for their patients’ health but procured the right to make health decisions for them. Somehow managing a unique but functional relationship; Functional but not ideal!

On the other hand, In India reputation of doctors were beholden next to GOD and labelled under social and humanitarian line of work – a profession yet to be introduced in the business realms of the service world. 

It was a different scenario back in the ancient times, when majority of medicine practitioners would be around much of the rural areas and only a handful were to be found in the high citadels of the towns. This helped these ancient medicine practitioners know personal details and the personas of their subjects, which led to greater trust and round-the-clock availability. With time, when the civilizations evolved and  professional structures emerged, these care professionals leveraged their interpersonal relationships with patients and their families for probable diagnosis and explaining treatment protocols. Thereby, ensuring the best care outcomes.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the dynamics of this relationship have evolved to the way we see it today. Where people seemed to be doing better, but the trust and compassion elements have hustled to stay afloat. This relationship strained further with new-generation doctors choosing cities over rural areas for their practice setups. As a result, the two-third of India’s rural population suffered tremendously by being dependent on mere 27% doctors available for medical care in these areas.

Fast forward to the present —

TECH-ADVANCED AGE, BETTER RELATIONSHIPS SCOPE

Although the public & private healthcare systems tried to compensate for low doctor-availability issues in Gramin areas of the country, the limited medical care was not enough to enhance patient satisfaction!

Rapid commercialization and globalisation has influenced every part of this globe, and healthcare is no exception. With the enormous impact of technology in the healthcare industry on it’s whole, the patient behaviour & their expectations, care professional roles, and doctor-patient relationships have all evolved and changed. Meanwhile, the non quantifiable like these have changed enormously in recent times, the technological advancements are still made on the SOPs made in the past, leaving us with a healthcare systems haunted by the ghosts of the pasts & jammed with the growing expectations of its stakeholders.  

If played on its merits, care practitioners can leverage technology in their favour by enhancing patient care satisfaction and elevating doctor-patient trust.

For example, Dr Prakash Sharma, a renowned Cardiologist  diligently points out the small yet significant changes in doctor visits in the last two decades —

  • Patients hate waiting in lines for appointments or bill payments, which is why most of his appointment scheduling has shifted to digital payments and telephone calls before the patient actually arrives.
  • Patients living at far away localities in cities prefer primary consultations via video calls and would happily visit the clinic for their second consultation if required. 
  • Patients are now getting conscious about  preventive care and like to evaluate the possibilities of developing a disease via genetic or lifestyle related issues.
  • Not all patients prefer an in-person primary doctor often, they are satisfied with Telemedicine consultations or any other health related instruction. 
  • Overwhelming medical expenses can demotivate patient will to seek medical help; a healthcare practitioner is expected to find ways to decrease the overall medical costs to eliminate the burden of medical bills on doctor-patient relationship.   

Dr Prakash Sharma further speaks of the impact of empathic and clear communications. As a doctor, he feels — “It is an indicator of competence and skills. It enables my patients to express their illness and establishes a friendly connection with me which encourages their treatment and medication adherence”

When asked, if it is okay to be friendly with patients? 

He nodded ‘YES’. It’s easier to converse with patients when they perceive doctors as friendly. This relationship isn’t just easier to break down a patient’s anxiety levels but allow the care practitioner to make deductions of the factors influencing the overall treatment’s outcome. However, he warns to be wary of the risks of becoming friends with a patient. It could distort a doctor’s judgement. Nevertheless, having a friendly interaction is not against the law and has reported positive outcomes, mostly! 

THE FOREVER CHANGED DOCTOR VISITS 

Technology is re-structuring the doctor-patient relationship and re-defining their roles in the healthcare system. Bringing in a sustainable method in healthcare, Telemedicine eased-up the consumers and providers responsibilities on a single platform while enabling the healthcare system to reduce the overall care cost. With the increase in virtual healthcare visits, medicos are now being able to facilitate primary care at any time, anywhere with just a few clicks on their mobile phone. Today, digital technology has transformed healthcare enough to provide excellent primary care with the assistance of easy-to-set up, remote satellite clinics. And, assist medicos to insure continued care via homecare healthtech devices. 

Currently, digital technologies are revolutionising care delivery by assisting it to be more precise and personalised to an individual’s need. Enhancing value-based care in the years to come. 

HArbor Says:

The common misconception of doctor consultations being merely about treating the disease is outdated and with changing healthcare stakeholders’ behavior, the healthcare world is shifting its gears towards a stress free, sustainable and secured healthcare. And, if that involves simplifying the conventional and tiresome doctor visits, then so be it! 

Are you Brand Conscious or Brain Conscious,

while choosing a practice management software for your clinic?

Because when your casual Google search for “practice management system”  returns over 16 Million results, it can get a little overwhelming, especially when the majority of these platforms look promising for your business. Promises sound fair until they are kept and sadly, your ceaseless faith in market trends can do you more harm than good. In the process of creating a brand, we often forget what might have  worked for a few others may not work for us! Hence, eventually, we find ourselves fascinated with sale campaigns and end up spending loads on software which may not be a perfect fit for your care facility. 

While looking for an ideal healthtech software, one must consider a few things, which include:

Overall value of the software: Pricing is integral to any business decision, however, decision on price point alone may not ensure the value. And, purchasing expensive software just for its ‘fancy’ extra features may not work out for you either. Instead, begin with your ‘must have’ feature list, set your price range and while you are at it think also of your business expansion plans. So that when you’re finally negotiating, you’d know what you want. 

  • Software support and implementation requirements: Other than selecting a software with good adaptation proficiency, your software should come with a 24/7 support team that can handle any grievance immediately. It is better to check on the implementation methods if your Clinic Management Software is complex and your staff requires training. A dedicated relationship manager also reduces your overall training cost with every attritio.

Pro tip: If your software provider assigns a dedicated team for implementation and staff training, it’s a keeper! 

  • Speciality wise customization: HealthTech companies pay attention to the customization that are significant to every specialty. Customization, on paper, sounds great, but a highly customized platform may bring you a system which is complex and cumbersome. Thus, experts suggest locally customized software over standardized platforms as it facilitates you to explore the platform for effective management. 
  • After-sale services: It’s true that a good after-sales service team significantly enhances the client-company relationship and has proved to elevate the sales via just by word-of-mouth. However, these services help clients just the same. After-sales service team is that connecting chain which attends to all your suggestions while making sure that your care facility system is taken care of. 
  • Tech update plans: If you are buying a healthtech software, it is crucial for you to know how often they are pushing updates. Ask your vendors the frequency of these updates and how those are communicated. 

These pointers will keep you fixated on your features checklist and away from fake campaign loops during healthtech-gazing on the internet.

A reliable practice management solution not just enables your care facility with its day-to-day operations, data management and doctor-patient relationships but is also an investment for your future practice. An efficient software provider prepares the technology to grow in multi-folds, and purchasing a ‘fix-it’ healthtech solution may cause your practice to lose its patients’ trust and future growth possibilities. Let us discuss further below – 

The existence of commodification in Healthcare

When you look in the rare-view mirror, you will find a similar practice pattern of prescribing medicines, or tests that seem fit according to their experience and patients used to comply with the treatment(without 2nd opinion). While there was a strong doctor-patient relationship in the bygone days, it was not necessarily an equal partnership. Back in the days, patients would want to stick with one healthcare provider and get referred only at the suggestion of their primary doctor. Although the system has its limitations, the doctor-patient relationship was not looked at as a commodity in healthcare. 

Patients today are proactive towards their health more than ever, which is relatively ironic when it comes to their bond with doctors. To top it off, listing websites in healthcare have not only flourished the commodification in the healthcare system but have also created an unnecessary competition among the care professionals. Yes, you read that right and if you are aware of the doctor-patient ratio in India, this wouldn’t be news for you. Here, when these websites are giving a chance for easy doctor-patient “interactions”, they are ultimately also favoring one practice over the other. Somehow, staging a scenario, where either the care provider doesn’t have enough experience, degrees or worse they don’t have enough reviews to prove their credibility. As a result, your patient gets confused and is high over heels for a new doctor for every new consultation! 

“Truth to be told, to be able to choose your care provider is an amazing perspective, but the aftermath of such consultations elevates out-of-pocket expenses for the patients leading to fragmented care which is hardly a bargain.”

– Kartik Vijaywargi, Founder HArbor

Imagine being in a situation with a bulky Clinic Management Software installed. Frustrating right? Often care providers find themselves in a situation where software ends up imparting additional weight rather than unburdening them of the existing ones (PS: Not every grand advertisement gives you the healthtech your care facility needs!) 

Eventually, it lowers the staff response time, deteriorates their relationship with patients and creates a system that looks functional on paper but feels robotic in reality! 

While installing a clinic management suite, remember that the system must assist you  to organise and optimise day-to-day operations, report generation and patient data management. Also, it should be able to integrate the latest modules while keeping you updated with the changing healthcare delivery dynamics. 

HArbor Says:

Finding the right software for your business is a daunting task. With the fast-paced business world, it is more important than ever for healthcare facilities to be able to stay organized and efficient. Although, a practice management solution can assist you grow your business and keep your patients happy; you need to be conscious of every decision you’ll make while walking through the maze of health tech platforms. 

It’s time to sit down with your team and call HARBOR!

By Vishakha Katekhaye

HArbor Says