As a consumer, what motivates you to return to a company you have previously done business with? We are guessing that part of your motivation is a good experience. Your previous experience was good enough to invite you to return. Can we apply the same thing to medicine? Yes, by providing comprehensive care.
Also known as Complete Care, comprehensive care goes above and beyond traditional Western medicine. It involves a more holistic approach provided by a healthcare team rather than a lone doctor writing a prescription. There is nothing wrong with doctors and prescriptions. But it is hard for a single provider to provide truly comprehensive care.
Do you remember when the hottest topic in healthcare was making the transition from fee-for-service to outcome-based medicine? It was just over a decade ago, and it was in relation to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Transitioning to outcome-based medicine was one of the motivations for implementing the ACA.
It turns out that outcomes are the foundation of comprehensive care as well. Those of us who believe in the comprehensive care philosophy want patients to experience the best possible outcome in every situation. A positive outcome organically leads to a number of important things:
It is hard to stress that third point enough. No one can be healthy 100% of the time. So in the medical field, we want people to come back for more care when they aren't as healthy as they could be. We want them to see healthcare providers as allies in good health rather than adversaries. Providing comprehensive care is a big step in that direction.
Comprehensive care is by no means static. In fact, transitioning from fee-for-service to outcome-based medicine is compelling evidence to that effect. The outcome-based model was first proposed because things were changing. As culture changes, medicine needs to change with it. That brings us right back to comprehensive care.
Here at KindlyMD, comprehensive care combines three basic components: the Utah Med Card, medication management, and mental health services. Our services are geared toward a specific set of patients who need a certain kind of comprehensive care they cannot get through their normal GPs or family doctors.
Our care model is one that is designed to adapt with the times. For example, the Utah Med Card gives patients access to plant-based medicines that cannot be accessed through a prescription from a primary care doctor.
The plant-based medicines made accessible through a Med Card are part of a broader approach to medicine that seeks to change with the times. We incorporate the Med Card into our services because we want to offer comprehensive care that is in line with both the culture and cutting-edge medicine.
Rounding out the comprehensive care philosophy is the idea of treating the whole patient rather than just a condition or a set of symptoms. The truth is that symptoms do not occur in isolation. In addition, people are not separate from the health conditions they are dealing with. When part of the body is not well, the whole person is not well. Comprehensive care seeks to change that.
If you have never experienced comprehensive care before, it is unlike anything else in modern medicine. We would be more than happy to help improve your care if we can. We are confident that receiving truly comprehensive care will motivate you to come back when you need more care. The end result should be better overall health.
