Online Public Relations Thoughts

If you read this blog regularly, you know healthcare is an issue that recurs. Healthcare is a bankrupt field with a lousy PR image because hospitals and healthcare institutions need to reform but can't afford it. They look to the government for handouts, and the government hasn't money to give. Better yet, it won't give it because money won't be spent wisely in changing bad management practices.

That is why it was wonderful to read this story. Two doctors set out to found a medical practice that actually builds relationships with patients through use of information technology rather than making them numbers in a soulless machine. And, by early accounts, they have succeeded. The doctors spent a lot of time looking at what works and what doesn't before they acted, and then, they found a vendor that most closely matches what they want to do. Notice something about this. IT is not used for cost cutting but for better service. The cost cutting is inherent in a better system. In other words, good PR is more efficient.

If two doctors can achieve this, what about the rest of healthcare? There are reasons why doctors no longer have the perceived authority they once had. They may be smart, but they don't know how to treat people under the present system. Maybe other doctors should do what these two did and find their own paths to better patient relationships.