Dr Charles Bane on the Impact of Rising Expenditures on Practices

The increase in medical expenditures and the move to new care models in oncology will necessitate a change in culture for practice staff, said Charles Bane, MD, Dayton Physicians Network in Ohio.

Transcript (slightly modified)

Physicians are increasingly aware of the economics of healthcare and the impact on their practice and their patients. What is your current perception of the healthcare landscape today and the impact on your practice?

The increase in medical expenditures have been rising at such an alarming rate that it's clear that that's not sustainable and so any opportunities there are to reduce total healthcare costs are certainly things to consider or embrace when possibly.

What are some changes in your practice that are required to meer the standards of the Oncology Medical Home model?

The central core aspect of the Oncology Medical Home is making the care really about the patient and what they need. So providing enhanced access to care so that patients who are having issues can be seen by their primary oncologist and deal with those issues in a setting that is familiar to them, which is highly efficient and much less expensive than seeking care at emergency departments or acute care hospitals.

What were the major challenges you had to overcome and how did you prepare your staff for that?

Changing the culture so we're readily available to patients whenever they need us is different than the usual approach. In the past there has been a tendency toward controlling the schedule. So having a specific number of appointments available for a set number of people. So being more flexible, providing more opportunity to add additional people to the schedule to see people on a walk-in basis or a more emergent or unscheduled basis was a major change in culture and approach for our practice.