Traditional healthcare has its shortcomings. Prevention isn’t often the focus of visits, despite growing patient interest. Patients with chronic illnesses require accommodations outside the traditional model. Direct primary care (DPC) addresses these issues. It puts the patient experience and needs first. A Miliman report, “Direct Primary Care: Evaluating a New Model of Delivery and Financing”, provides hard data on this. It showed 96% of physicians found the “potential to provide better primary care” as a primary motivation to operate a DPC practice. The convenience, coupled with increased awareness of providing employees with ample opportunities to improve their health and wellbeing are motivating more healthcare providers to re-think the traditional way they approach healthcare. This also includes how they charge for it.
What Should a Network or Hospital System Consider Before Taking Steps Towards the Direct Primary Care (DPC) Model and Setting Up Subscription Plans?
Before shifting to the direct primary care (DPC) model, a hospital network system should consider new sets of product lines to develop. They must also retire unprofitable product lines. This includes ones that are less meaningful to patients as their health status changes. Literacy on medical issues also impacts patient priorities.
If a hospital is having difficulties providing a certain product line, they can outsource it. Developing a referral relationship and setting up specific services at different practices can fill in any care gaps.
There is a misconception that a hospital has to become an insurance company to implement DPC. That’s inaccurate. Hospitals don’t have to accept financial risk from a population to gain financial terms. With the right revenue cycle management (RCM) software solution, DPC Hospitals can get the benefits of payment without accepting any responsibility for financial risk.
What’s the Alternative to the Direct Primary Care (DPC) Model for Networks?
The alternative to direct primary care is a fee-for-service model. This is based on Medicare rules that were developed around 1965. Time has shown its flaws. If you have a fee-for-service system, physicians may provide unnecessary care simply because the plan pays for it. This model creates a set of perverse incentives. The more services that are provided, the more money is made as a source of primary care.
Most people only know this common model. This makes it difficult to introduce better alternatives.
Jed Constantz, Dr.B.A., an independent consultant on primary care who works closely with Accresa, made this comment on the benefit of subscription primary care, “being paid on a per person per month allows the ultimate flexibility for the patient.”
DPC Challenges That May Develop Without a Strong Revenue Cycle Management Software Solution Created for Subscription Healthcare
Prepayment arrangements are often difficult to access. This is especially true if a practice isn’t a part of a larger community. Additionally, geography is very important. While they might be great in one geographical area, it is impossible to be great in ALL geographies.
Another thing to consider is ease of use. Some RCM softwares are overly complicated. They include features that don’t create value for the patient.
How Accresa’s RCM Software Help Health Networks
Accresa’s focus on necessary functions can make things easier for hospitals and networks implementing a DPC model. Consider the following case study:
CHI Health Clinic is based in Omaha, Nebraska. It has 14 hospitals, 150 practice locations, and employs 12,000 staff members. Their DPC program supports 5,000 members, including small groups and individual members.
As they grew, CHI faced a big challenge. Outside membership was increasing (members that were not employees) but there systems weren’t efficient enough to manage it. CHI had trouble collecting membership fees, handling selection of DPC providers, and tracking panel sizes accurately. They knew that moving forward meant implementing new strategies, ones not rooted in historic payment methodologies. CHI moved from spreadsheets to Accresa. Accresa’s platform simplified the complicating billing process so CHI could focus more on their patients.
Leading Direct Primary Care Providers Utilize Accresa to Simplify Medical Billing and Revenue Cycle Management Through the Subscription Healthcare Model
Accresa makes it easier to find DPC communities. Designed to ease the transfer of funds from employers to practices, our easy-to-use platform is sophisticated enough to be accessible to a wide variety of patients. We also simplify enrollment and membership management, freeing up patients and doctors to focus on their relationship. Accresa also helps recruit doctors via the affiliation manager. When it comes to DPC management, we’ve established a trusted infrastructure for a variety of vital tasks and transactions.
Accresa Allows Healthcare Enterprises to Manage Subscription Healthcare Plans with Ease
Direct primary care reduces costs for everyone: healthcare providers, employers, and patients. And Accresa helps healthcare facilities implement secure DPC subscription models, while avoiding administrative challenges. Our simple automated platform lets providers offer higher-quality patient care. In addition, our team will will provide all the training you need to get the most from the system. Contact Accresa to set up your subscription to direct primary care services today.
