Entrepreneurship in Health Care Discussion Paper

Abstract

The objective of this work in writing is to examine the influence of entrepreneurship in health care and specifically as to how entrepreneurship has affect the field of health care accompanied by an example of a recent health care business that has changed the way health care staff do their jobs of the way patients receive services. This work will describe the positive and negative ways that entrepreneurship has affected the health care field.

Objective

The objective of this work in writing is to examine the influence of entrepreneurship in health care and specifically as to how entrepreneurship has affect the field of health care accompanied by an example of a recent health care business that has changed the way health care staff do their jobs of the way patients receive services. Entrepreneurship in Health Care Discussion Paper This work will describe the positive and negative ways that entrepreneurship has affected the health care field.

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Introduction

Health care has never in history been so advanced and yet so confusing and complex and this is particularly true when it comes to choosing services that one’s insurance covers. Moreover health care is often more expensive than it should be. When doctors and insurers have conflicting opinions on which treatment is most appropriate individuals with diseases such as cancer are left in a quandary unsure of how to proceed with their health care needs. As noted in the work of Paul Howard entitled “Health Care’s New Entrepreneurs” it is often that primary care physicians “frustrated with red tape and puny reimbursements, limit the number of Medicare and Medicaid patients whom they see, or they drop out of the profession altogether.” (2008)

Example One: Entrepreneurship in Health Care

One example of entrepreneurship in health care is a firm called ‘Best Doctors’ based in Boston and founded in 1989 by Medical School professors from Harvard University. Best Doctors is a firm that utilizes physician peer evaluations through “polling 50,000 doctors worldwide in 400 medical specialties – to identify leading medical experts and then makes them available to 10 million patients in 30 countries.” (Howard, 2008) Insurance companies generally limit the access of patients to specialists through the requirement of prior authorization for referrals, limiting access to preferred networks and requesting more out-of-pocket expenses be paid by the patient. For patients who have been referred to Best Doctors by their employers, the ability to go directly to the firm without prior authorization exists when the patient has a serious medical problem and needs assistance in decision-making about their health care.

It is reported by Howard (2008) that by 2030 the population of adults 65 years of age and older will double however, it is reported by the American Academy of Family Physicians “from 1997 to 2005, the number of med-school graduates entering primary-care residencies dropped 50 percent.” It is noted by a doctor from Virginia, specifically, Kevin Kelleher that rewards from insurance are better for “procedures, tests and surgeries” than for “working with patients on the prevention and management of chronic disease.” (Howard, 2008) The result of this is that as reimbursement “have flatlined or even declined, the traditional family practice has evolved into high-volume, prebooked business in which physicians have just a few minutes to spend with each patient.” (Howard, 2008)

Example Two – Entrepreneurship in Healthcare

A second example of health care entrepreneurship is that of Executive Health Care Services, founded by Kellher and associates. This health care service organization makes provision of “a full range of preventive, primary-care and acute treatments for a flat monthly fee of $150 to $450” based on family size. This service does not require contracts and if the client does not believe they are receiving value for their expenditures they are free to leave however, reports state that patient-retention for this health care organization is approximately 98%.Entrepreneurship in Health Care Discussion Paper  (Howard, 2008, paraphrased) Howard (2008) reports that the prepaid model of health care is gaining in popularity with patients and doctors and it is reported that a West Virginia doctor “made national news when the Wall Street Journal chronicled his prepaid primary-care plan. Vic Woods offer the 100 or so patients in his plan unlimited primary and urgent care, basic diagnostic tests, and many generic drugs for a monthly fee ranging from $83 for an individual to $125 for a family.” (Howard, 2008)

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Such clinic models are also utilized in the ‘convenient-care’ model, which makes provision of “simple low-cost health care services” for the consumer who does not have a primary care physician and consumers who are ill and for some reason are not able to see their primary care physician. This type of clinic is able to keep prices low by providing care by a skilled nurse practitioner under the supervision of a licensed physician. The problem however, is that these clinics “have met with some opposition from some state medical societies and groups within the American Medical Association that feel that the clinics fragment health care by preventing patients from developing long-term relationships with primary care physicians.” (Howard, 2008)

Summary and Conclusion

The health care clinic models described in this work in writing have had a positive impact on health care for patients who are seeking medical care and who seek the best value for their money. Physicians are, just as patients, frustrated with complications of insurance companies concerning payment for services rendered and this has resulted in a new breed of entrepreneur in the field of health care. Health care entrepreneurship has arisen out of necessity to address the problems with health care service provision in today’s complex and frustrating health care industry.

References

Howard, Paul (2008) Health Care’s New Entrepreneurs. City Journal. Summer 2008. Vol. 18 No. 3. Retrieved from: http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_health_care_innovators.html

Entrepreneurship in Health Care Discussion Paper