It is clear that with the financial drivers of health care impacting more and more of what goes on between doctors and patients, creative solutions are needed to create a healthier model of care.
For five years, True North in Falmouth has focused our time and energy on improving the health of our patients rather than managing relationships with third-party payors.
In so doing, we have created an environment where our physicians can spend 60-90 minutes with each patient and focus on and treat the root cause of symptoms.
We improve access to people with economic need by innovative relationships such as our collaborative effort with Portland Time Bank, which allows patients to contribute to as well as value their care.
Our services, in many cases, are reimbursable through insurance, but we don't bill insurance companies for our patients.
While there is a learning curve to this system, our patients tell us the value of time spent with physicians and the good information they receive about how to stay healthy are worth the additional time and effort.
Our health-care system needs more prevention, more focus on relationship and more time between patients and physicians so that trust and respect, not billing codes, are the most common currencies of health care.