Shared medical appointments: increasing patient access without increasing physician hours

Area of Science:

• Healthcare delivery innovations
• Patient engagement strategies
• Primary care models

Background:

• Traditional one-on-one visits can limit physician access and patient education.
• Growing demand for healthcare services necessitates efficient care models.
• Established patients seek convenient and informative healthcare interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the concept of shared medical visits.
• To assess the benefits of shared medical visits for patients and providers.
• To explore the feasibility of integrating shared medical visits into routine practice.

Main Methods:

• Shared medical visits involve a physician seeing multiple established patients in a single 90-minute group session.
• Each patient receives individual attention and advice within the group setting.
• Participation in shared medical visits is voluntary.

Main Results:

• Patients experience improved access to their physician.
• Patients receive significantly increased health education.
• Providers enhance their access and productivity without additional hours.

Conclusions:

• Shared medical visits represent a novel approach to patient care delivery.
• This model offers a viable solution for increasing healthcare access and efficiency.
• Shared medical visits positively impact both patient education and provider productivity.