“I’m Getting New Boobs!”
OK, this article is not about boobs. But the title got your attention, right? The title was a quote from a 20-something young nurse at a traditional primary care clinic with around 30 employees I once had as a benefits client. This nurse was recovering from an ordeal with melanoma – a diagnosis that I think should not exist in an advanced society like ours. Let me expand on that.
Americans are so busy, and so are their fee-for-service doctors. There’s no time for actual care. That’s what happened to this patient. She was using her doctor for access to birth control and, I’m sure, was just fine with quick “wham bam, thank you, ma’am” annual checkups. She didn’t see the need for long, drawn-out office visits. I’m sure her doctor didn’t have time for that either.
All this occurred while a skin lesion on her back went unnoticed. Over time, this unnoticed, easily treatable skin spot spread internally—it never should have gotten that far. However, since it did, it spread and wreaked havoc on her whole body. Miraculously, she survived, but needed a double mastectomy and subsequent implants as part of her care plan.
In most health plans, actuaries typically get to count on young members for little to no claims. However, when even the young, supposedly healthy members are being ignored, high claims are lurking as potential risks in this workforce segment. This employee’s medical claims were probably at the top of the high claimants list for that plan that year. Small businesses like the practice she worked for are no better off today than when this story was live almost 20 years ago. In today’s edition of Benefit’s Pro Magazine, the headline basically says small businesses are struggling to offer good benefits. Why have they not made a dent in this problem for decades? Maybe it’s because they keep choosing the wrong health plans to begin with, but I digress.
Here’s the good news for DPC
You have stories in your repertoire like this one. You can expose the average cost of a catastrophic diagnosis like this. (I can help you with some average claims costs if you want numbers to associate with your stories.) Furthermore, you can present an employer with a bright future if they choose your DPC practice to take care of their employees from here forward. Newer DPC-centric health plan options are emerging, with excellent case studies. Let’s talk about them. I’m here for you!
Here’s something you can use
A new, virtual dermatology app called Check My Spot is making waves. It helps primary care doctors get solid advice from a board-certified dermatologist with a turnaround time of about 24 hours. Combining your DPC practice with Check My Spot could make the word “melanoma” a distant memory in our vocabulary. Let’s eradicate it from existence.
Here’s a call to action for you
Grab a willing patient. Ask them for a testimonial. Film it on your smartphone. Use an easy editing app. Here’s a 52-second video of my youngest I filmed, edited, and published directly from my iPhone. I used iMovie (a free app that comes standard on all iPhones) for editing. It took about 5 minutes to complete the whole project. Videos are the key to telling your stories. Your colleague, Dr. Tanner Moore, makes the most impressive videos in your industry yet. He should be asked to present a session on creating marketing videos at the next DPC Summit. I’ll even come to that one to learn from the master himself.
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