In today’s health care climate, access to affordable care is top of mind for most people in our country. Unfortunately, affordable health care is becoming even more inaccessible to the average American, exposing a huge challenge for creative solutions to serve those populations.
A recent study has revealed that almost 20 percent of Americans, or more than 40 million adults, can’t afford or access needed health care. That’s why it’s critical for health care organizations to work together to provide more affordable and accessible solutions, ones that won’t add additional pressure on already stressed people and finances.
A national survey revealed that 40 percent of Americans say they didn’t go to a doctor in the past 12 months due to costs, and an additional 32 percent said they didn’t fill a needed prescription due to the price. We can do better, but we have to shift our focus to solving the issue of affordable routine and preventive health care.
The goal is to make access to care easier, costs more affordable as well as predictable for everyone, which requires a bit of ingenuity. Happily, many health care organizations and entrepreneurs have risen to the challenge and are creating their own integrated patient care solutions.
The goal is to make access to care easier, costs more affordable as well as predictable for everyone, which requires a bit of ingenuity. Happily, many health care organizations and entrepreneurs have risen to the challenge and are creating their own integrated patient care solutions.
For instance, Redirect Health partnered with Arizona Eye Specialists and DC Dental to provide affordable eye and dental care for individuals seeking better options for health care, even if they don’t have insurance. In addition, our organization’s long-standing relationship with SimonMed, Abrazo and LabCorp allows us to offer our members fair, certain and transparent pricing on Xrays, MRIs and CAT scans, routine blood work, surgeries and more.
Redirect Health’s strategic partnerships have improved patient care for our busy medical practice. We work with partners to establish fair, certain and transparent pricing. We then make sure our members get fair prices regardless of the services they need or the insurance they have. Out-of-pocket costs for our members are always lower, and saving time and hassle is always the goal.
Although we know this is a great start, the health care industry has a long way to go to provide affordable and accessible care for patients and ultimately eliminate waste.
For instance, many people work long hours and often can’t find off-hours to visit a doctor. Realistically, many common health problems can be treated without ever setting foot in the doctor’s office. To combat this issue, practices can implement different communication technologies that put patients in touch with a health care professional via telemedicine services, send alerts via text message or email and more. As technologies advance, it’s likely we’ll see even more innovations to improve access to health care implemented in day to day practice operations.
Working together, we can solve the issue of access to affordable health care. As the old saying goes, think globally and act locally. It really can make a difference.
Dr. David Berg is the president and co-founder of Redirect Health, a company that uses unique health care strategies to help businesses and associations attract and keep the employees and members they need.