CareConnect provides consulting advice and communication services to help physicians improve the connection they have with their patients. With clear advice, useful tools and advanced information systems, CareConnect's value proposition is simple, we help physicians

Our Value Proposition

• Improving Outcomes--Effective communication between doctor and patient can have an important impact on medical outcomes. A patient who comes prepared to communicate effectively, tools that encourage dialog and documentation during the appointment, and effective channels for follow up can have a dramatic positive outcome. For example, researchers at Harvard Medical School published the largest study to date on “primary nonadherence” and found that more than 20 percent of first-time patient prescriptions were never filled. According to Dr. Michael A. Fischer, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, first-time prescriptions for chronic diseases like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes were more likely not to be filled, and physician's were unlikely to discover this as patients are reluctant to talk about it and physicians fail to ask. Although this is only on area, others are likely to follow a similar pattern. Open, effective communication channels can enhance care and improve outcomes.
  
  
• Reducing the cost of office staff--Efficient communication can reduce the amount of time the physician's staff spends dealing with routine information and patient questions—freeing them up for more value-added activities. To the extent that the time saved actually reduces the amount of staff time needed for the successful operation of the practice, these savings could go straight to your bottom line. The graph below shows average salary data for 7 related jobs in Valparaiso, Indiana, as provided by SalaryExpert.com (May of 2010).

Based on this data and a 40 hour work week, a savings of one hour of a registered nurse's time equals approx $35.00—and a receptionist or administrator approx $10.50 to $15.00. Reducing the time one nurse and one receptionist spend dealing with routine questions by just 5 hours per week can mean a savings of over $10,000 in the first year alone.

Meeting patient expectations

According to several recent polls conducted on Linked In, the majority of patients are less than satisfied with the communication they get from their doctors and the doctors' staff. When asked How would you rate the communication you receive from your doctor and his or her staff? almost two-thirds said that their expectations are not met.

The poll included a mix of male (39%) and female (61%) respondents, across all age groups, as outlined below:

Of these groups, those aged 35 to 54 were the least likely to be satisfied with the communication of their doctor and his or her staff, with 80% dissatisfaction--60% “slightly below” and 20% “far below.”

Using Technology to facilitate Scheduling

In a separate Linked In poll, respondents were asked how they would prefer to schedule appointments. More people responded that they would prefer to schedule on-line than to speak to a receptionist in the Doctor's office, and no one wanted to speak to someone in central scheduling or to a voice response phone system. Granted, these responses were obtained in an on line poll and may not represent a true cross section of the people in an average practice, but here is how the answers break down:

Again, the demographics were mixed, with 58% female and 42% male. An interesting pattern emerges when you look at the responses by age, with the youngest and the oldest most likely to prefer on line scheduling.

Females were much more likely to select on line scheduling—79%--with men at 30% on line and 70% “someone in his/her office.” As one woman noted, “I hate calling my doctor because they have one of the electronic systems that you have to punch numbers in and wait then punch another one before you get a real person. If I could do it online, that would be awesome. I'd want an email confirmation afterwards.”

Using Technology to Communicate Can Improve Care

Patients who take advantage of secure patient-physician e-mail options offered by their doctor are more likely to experience healthy outcomes according to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs. The study of the electronic health records of over 35,000 patients in the Kaiser Permanente system found that patients suffering from diabetes and hypertension who emailed their doctors had higher quality of care scores than those who do not use such technology. Those who used Kaiser's electronic health records system, called My Health Manager, had better cholesterol and blood pressure levels after two months than those who did not. FierceHealthcare

Case Study

Click here to read several case studies.