Have you ever been in your doctor or dentist’s office and seen the pictures of patients taped to the wall? They could be milestone photos- graduations and birthdays – or holiday cards with the entire family.
This is why most clinicians practice medicine. No, not for the photos (although we love them), but what they represent. We practice because the relationship we have with our patient and their family is not only central to their well-being but ours as well. Patient and provider satisfaction is not mutually exclusive.
As a young doctor, I knew the importance of the relationship a family has with their pediatrician went a long way towards overall health. While working as a pediatrician in a small coastal town in Oregon, I regularly performed home visits. These home visits allowed me to not just diagnose a child’s condition, but also allowed me a glimpse into a family’s living situation- giving me a unique connection to the patient and their family. Over the past 25 years in practice, I’ve learned that the diagnosis and symptoms become secondary to authentically connecting with my patients, ensuring they feel heard and cared for.
With the rise of healthcare consumerism, my team is seeing increased dependence on urgent and 3rd -party telehealth models that offer convenience but may not be tethered to a patient’s primary care provider. This concerns me for a few reasons:
- Quality of healthcare and healthcare outcomes is diminished when a long-term relationship between a patient and a provider doesn’t exist. Entrusting the details of your health to a new provider every time is risky. This isn’t just about carrying detailed health records. It comes from the ongoing interactions with the patient and their family that allow you to see the family dynamic, which can greatly impact a person’s overall health.
- Bi-directional communication is vital to the health of a patient. This is more than just a conversation. This is an understanding of what healthy looks like for that given patient. It also means understanding the importance of (or lack of) healthcare in their life.
- Independent healthcare practices are unable to leverage new technology to compete with urgent care and 3rd party telehealth services.
We founded GoCrew with the very simple mission to transform healthcare by strengthening the relationship between providers and their patients. GoCrew is an app-based HIPAA compliant virtual care platform built specifically and personalized for independent providers. While the patient is at the center of the healthcare experience, GoCrew allows the practice to better manage the quality and cost of their healthcare experience by giving the patient access to their doctor when and how they want. Patients can have access to their care teams in-clinic, via phone, text message, or via video visit, all managed through a single app. Patients can also receive follow-up care instructions and visit transcription, all at their fingertips. No more verbal instructions as you are walking out of a clinic. No more paper discharge instructions.
Now with the GoCrew app, patients have peace of mind, knowing that their care team is there when, and how, they need them. And providers, like myself, can focus on connecting with patients in meaningful and efficient ways.