Cutting Edge Issues
Internet-Enhanced Physician Practices

Deploying a PACS: Issues to consider

Application Service Provider PACS: Analyzing Costs of Service

eHealth:
Towards A New World of Communications in Medicine

Case Study Zone
St Paul Radiology Goes Filmless

Who is eMed?
Mission Statement
Customer Base
Partnerships
Product Offerings
Support Services

Internet-Enhanced Physician Practices

Part 3

People want branding: trusted sources of medical care are desired by consumers, and this rather surprising finding signals a new area of corporate medicine (because it will be the larger entities that can afford to create those recognizable brands). Consumers also want information; that is why they are so eager to go to any Internet site in the search for knowledge about their conditions.

POSITIONING YOUR PRACTICE

Computer applications are now to be viewed as a strategic advantage for physicians. There is no physician group, anywhere, that will succeed over the next few years without overtly marketing itself directly to the consumer. Pharmaceutical companies recently discovered the power of marketing to the consumer, and providers will do the same.

It is also important to think of ways to make practices more convenient for patients to use. Some years ago, ophthalmologists began to offer evening and weekend appointments; this is just one example of many steps that have been taken in the right direction. Consider the opportunity for change afforded by the prescription refill process. If a pharmacy uses nonautomated methods, when a medication runs out, the consumer must telephone the physician’s office to determine whether an evaluation is required. If not, a paper prescription will still be needed in most states. This must be picked up by the patient and taken to the pharmacy, where the consumer must wait in lines for pharmacy intake and pickup (and must also wait for the prescription to be filled). In the electronic era that some pharmacies are just beginning to enter through online and automated telephone services, it should be possible to request reauthorization, have the prescription routed to the consumer’s designated pharmacy, and find it ready for pickup on his or her arrival. Consumer, pharmacy, and physician practice save money and time when such systems are used.

In the US health care system, $250 billion (109) per year is spent moving claims, referrals, prescriptions, laboratory requisitions, orders, discharge summaries, and operative reports from place to place. Given the ability of electronic information systems to handle these functions swiftly and inexpensively, failure to use them appears to be willful inefficiency.