Susan Ridzon: Independent healthcare practice saves money and provides quality service

This commentary is by Susan Ridzon, Executive Director of HealthFirst, which represents 63 physician-owned primary and specialty care practices in 10 Vermont counties. Her 26 primary care practices care for approximately 85,000 Vermonters. About 90% of independent practices in Vermont are members of HealthFirst.

In a recent commentary, Andrew Garland of BlueCross and BlueShield of Vermont recommended researching and selecting low-cost, high-quality providers to help Vermonters save money and lower future health insurance premium prices. proposed.

He wisely referred to independent practices because their prices are often many times cheaper than others. Consistently high quality care, personalized and accessible service, usually much shorter There are other compelling reasons to choose an independent clinic, such as waiting times.

These are high-value healthcare options that Vermont should encourage as it seeks to reduce healthcare costs while maintaining high-quality services and access.

One component of quality care is a strong relationship between primary care practitioners and patients. Independent practice not only provides that one-to-one relationship, but also increases outpatient access. This combination ensures that patients receive the timely care they need to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations, including readmissions.

If additional care or testing is required, wait times are often significantly reduced at independent specialty clinics and imaging facilities. Time to appointment for advanced imaging at an independent MRI center is typically measured in days to weeks, as opposed to months for hospital-based imaging.

Wait times at independent clinics for non-urgent dermatological problems were at least one month shorter than at local hospital-based alternative clinics, and one independent dermatology clinic offered weekly walk-in clinics. Therefore, you can receive a medical examination without having to examine the mole you are concerned about. schedule. Another independent primary care practice offers same-day sports medicine and fracture care, and many of Chittenden County’s doctors operate at outpatient surgery centers that are far less expensive.

In addition, independent primary care practitioners help patients find low-cost alternatives to laboratory tests, imaging studies, and specialty care.

Vermont needs more options for efficient, quality healthcare like this. Sadly, many of the high-value independent clinics that can provide such care are straining. This is especially true for primary care and women’s health practices.

12 network practices have closed between 2019 and 2022. There are many reasons for these closures, but in more than half of them, financial failure was the main factor.

Vermont is wise to protect and support those who remain and encourage more openness. These community-based independent practices are part of a Vermont tradition worth preserving.