With the first quarter ending, it is a good time to reflect on the start of 2023 and how to improve access to health care. We should consider potential innovation opportunities to address barriers to medical care and expand health care accessibility on the horizon. As I think about what I would wish for in health care right now, a few themes come to mind.
Addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) to Reduce Barriers to Medical Care
First and foremost, I believe we have a duty to our patients to better share information about social determinants of health (SDOH).
As we all know, socioeconomic and environmental factors can significantly impact a patient’s health outcomes. Without a concerted effort to lessen the effects of SDOH, we cannot achieve equitable health care for our communities. Although we are beginning to make progress with this work, we still have a long way to go in mitigating health care disparities, especially in rural settings and urban medical deserts where access to health care is limited.
Telemedicine and Telehealth
Telemedicine and telehealth have emerged as pivotal solutions in addressing SDOH, particularly by enhancing health care accessibility in remote and underserved areas. These digital platforms help bridge the gap in health care services, enabling patients to receive timely medical consultations and mental health support, regardless of their geographic location.
This advancement is particularly beneficial for individuals in isolated communities, where rural health care facilities may be hard for patients to get to. By leveraging telehealth, health care providers can offer continuous care, monitor chronic conditions more effectively, and provide essential health care services that would otherwise be inaccessible due to distance or lack of transportation.
Patient Transportation Solutions
Addressing patient transportation barriers plays a crucial role in mitigating the impact of SDOH. For many individuals, particularly those in rural areas, a lack of reliable transportation is a significant barrier to accessing necessary medical care.
By identifying efficient patient transportation resources such as mobile health clinics or coordinated transportation services, doctors and other providers can help ensure patients attend their appointments regularly and receive timely care.
Connecting with Community Health Programs
Fundamentally, we need to find ways to connect community-based organizations (CBOs) and health care entities to make sure we all have the same picture of the patient’s health needs and socioeconomic challenges. In an ideal world, there would be a federal program that gives all CBOs cost-free access to an SDOH platform. This technology could enable straightforward and HIPAA-compliant sharing of data between organizations that serve a community and would work similarly to a health information exchange. It could allow CBOs and health care organizations to communicate better and respond faster to patient health issues and the socioeconomic factors that affect them.
Health Care Collaboration and Partnerships
Next up on the “wish list” is the ability to integrate behavioral health and other specialty care more directly into primary care practice.
There are a few instances where physician groups have successfully integrated behavioral health. In my opinion, integrative health care models create a winning combination, and I would like to see them gain traction. One thing standing in the way is there are not enough psychologists and psychiatrists to embed within primary care practices, resulting in access issues. As an industry, we need to figure out smart strategies to extend the reach of these critical providers. Although telehealth has helped, current certification rules limit the reach of virtual appointments.
Right now, certification happens at the state level, making it difficult for providers to practice across state lines without penalty. However, if psychologists and psychiatrists could be certified at the federal level, they could practice in any state, making it easier for them to serve multiple practices across state lines either in person or via virtual appointments. This could be particularly beneficial when trying to reach patients in historically underserved areas. That is not to say that local certification and oversight are not important.
However, once a physician is licensed in a single state, you could argue there should be auto-reciprocity for a national extension that happens automatically. This same approach could apply to other shortage-prone disciplines, including dermatology and ophthalmology.
Although some of the certification rules were lifted during the pandemic, and we expanded use of telemedicine, we are starting to revert to the old ways of doing things. Creating a federal certification body and using telehealth to its full potential could help get patients the clinical resources they need when and where they need them.
Looking Ahead: Continuous Improvements in Health Care Access
Those are just some of my many wishes for improving health care access right now. Changes of this scope and scale are slow to come to fruition, however, thinking creatively about how to improve health care is a valuable exercise.
As the industry works toward implementing big ideas like the ones described above, we can also take advantage of innovations that are already in progress, such as value-based care models. When providers participate in quality-driven reimbursement programs, they can transform the way they provide care, ensuring the best possible clinical health outcomes and patient experience while keeping the costs of care in check.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact us. Explore our resources for more perspectives on improving access to health care.