Consumer Driven Changes for the ABC Health Options Clinic
Jennifer Smothers
HCA300
After reading the case for the ABC Health Options Clinic, I feel the key problems that needed to be addressed were those the director felt would make the clinic more "Consumer Friendly". This included issues such as mandatory electronic records, Saturday office hours, hence the question were they going to be able to find those willing to dedicate their time on a Saturday, and the opening of new satellite minor emergency and primary clinics.
These problems of course carried concern of outcome they would have on the clinic. Some of the concerns are the possibility of decreasing their fiscal solvency and increasing their liability. This stemming from opening the clinic up to treat uninsured and underinsured patients, but in essence by opening the new satellite clinics to those patients that are uninsured and underinsured would be a definite increase in patients. As a result of the increase of patients the company would grow while improving the mission the clinic is striving for, which is to aid in the lack of access to care and to provide quality health care to all.
Another point being the offering of Saturday hours at the clinic again can increase the number of patients. Keeping in mind people have to work during the week and children have to attend school, by opening during the weekend you are enabling those people access to proper medical care that otherwise they would not receive. This could easily be achieved by rotating the Saturday schedule through the staff of doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners.
Finally the use of electronic medical records was a very controversial issue. The concerns were the safety of the patient’s privacy and the protection of their personal medical information. In contrast, electronic medical records would make the clinic run more efficiently.