Doug DavidoffIt's tough being a doctor today. Traditionally, all medical professionals have operated under the assumption (arrogantly, at times) that there is value in the knowledge, training and experience they offer their patients. They know people value good health or at least the absence of constant pain. So they assume their value to their patients is being able to help them when their health, or their life, is in jeopardy. In that sense, every doctor starts out with a pretty good value proposition.
Then the realities of being a doctor in today’s world start getting in the way. Insurance companies pressure them to reduce fees. Bean counters at the HMOs want to dictate the quality of care they provide. Malpractice insurance premiums are out of sight. Government agencies at all levels regulate every move they make. Swarms of personal injury lawyers are waiting to wipe them out if they make a mistake. The financial demands of their practice force them to take on more patients that they can handle comfortably. They put up with all of that and for some reason, their patients seem to hate to see them. That's the tough part - virtually everybody hates to see the doctor.
Why does everybody hate it? Because for the average patient, “seeing the doctor” is a value-extracting experience. From the patient’s perspective, everyone involved in the process -- the practice, the doctors, the drug companies, the insurance companies -- is extracting value. The entire process is internally focused; attempting to make everything as efficient as possible; even if it is at the expense of better care. Worst of all, patients feel doctors have no respect for their time or concern for their emotional distress when they make them wait an hour for a ten-minute consultation.
No one in the traditional medical field seems to be asking, “How can we create value with our process?”
Typically, people go to their doctor when they have to. It was assumed that this was just the way people were. "Sure," ‘they’ said, "preventive medicine is important but people just won't do it."
Now, Doctors are scratching their heads at the enormous growth in alternative medicine, holistic medicine and other 'take care of yourself before there is a problem' practices. I, myself, now see a nutritionist once a week, a physical trainer three times a week, I'm considering seeing a chiropractor - and I HATE seeing my doctor. Don't get me wrong I like my doctor, I hate seeing her. Why? Because it is the most dehumanizing experience I've ever been exposed to. The experience makes me long for an airport. The whole experience feels internally focused. The doctors and staff seem to care only about what will make things work efficiently for the practice – not for me. The process forces people (the office staff and even the doctors) to treat other people (patients) in a manner that they would not ever want to be treated.
I talked to my doctor about this and she was very empathetic and explained to me the challenges her firm is dealing with (short staff, regulation, too many patients, too many demands, etc.). That’s her problem, it should not be her patients’ problem. In a value creative process, it would not be; in a value extracting one, it is.
What does this have to do with growing a fast-growth business? Two lessons. First, do everything you can do make sure that everything you and your company does creates value. Value is binary, if you are not creating it; you are extracting it. To many extractions and you’re dead.
The second lesson: Value extraction is an easy trap to fall into. Do you think Doctor’s want to make airports look humanizing? There was a time when the doctor-patient relationship was considered the ultimate relationship, but eventually doctors felt as though there was nothing they could do. But, is there?
Here's the point - there are a group of doctors who have decided they've had enough of this situation as well. They are offering patients a nice value proposition. In exchange for an annual fee (typically between $1,500 and $3,000), the doctor will limit the number of patients they take (often to as few as 200) in exchange for the promise of accessibility, short wait times and, most importantly, relationship. These doctors have taken the least value-creating part of the business and turned it into an advantage. Think about the impact limiting a practice to 200 patients would have. More time, fewer insurance issues, lower insurance costs. I could go on and on. Doctors that I am familiar with who have implemented this program are generating fees of as much as $600,000 a year (per Doctor), before they see their first patient or file their first insurance reimbursement. Patients (my parents go to one of these practices) love it. And they’re growing.
What can you do to take the least value creative part of your experience and transform it? If you don’t, someone else will.
Wishing you good health, Doug.