Concierge Surgical Practices for the Premium Surgical Patient

Educational Objectives

The goal of this program to improve the treatment of patients with cataracts requiring surgery. After hearing and assimilating this program, the clinician will better be able to:

1. Optimize the experience of patients requiring cataract surgery using the concierge model.

Summary

Concierge cataract surgery: closely monitor patient satisfaction, and reward patients for referring new clients; goal to provide higher level of service to patients who pay out of pocket; quality of experience (not of surgery itself) superior; office staff incentivized to promote “premium channel”

Premium channel experience: at first contact with practice, patient receives information and brochures about options for premium services; when physician sees patient, patient already well-educated about benefits of premium channel

Concierge coordinator (CC): assigned to each patient who chooses premium channel; after patient sees surgical coordinator, CC reviews all paperwork and answers questions; CC telephones patient night before surgery to review questions and after surgery to assess recovery; at all follow-up appointments during postoperative period, concierge patients experience preferential and expedited check-in and examination

Benefits of premium channel: include personal CC and expedited care; happy patients most effective marketing vehicle; adoption results in more clients and more premium surgeries

Readings

Doherty R, Medical Practice and Quality Committee of the American College of Physicians: Assessing the patient care implications of “concierge” and other direct patient contracting practices: A policy position paper from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med 2015 Dec 15;163(12):949-52; Paul DP 3rd, Skiba M: Concierge medicine: A viable business model for (some) physicians of the future? Health Care Manag (Frederick) 2016 Jan/Mar;35(1):3-8; Wang SY et al: Patient-centered and visual quality outcomes of premium cataract surgery: a systematic review. Eur J Ophthalmol 2017 Jun 26;27(4):387-401.

Disclosures

For this program, members of the faculty and planning committee reported nothing relevant to disclose.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Davis was recorded at the Ophthalmology Section Annual Clinic Day, held December 6, 2017, in Uniondale, NY, and presented by the American College of Surgeons Brooklyn and Long Island Chapter and the Nassau Surgical Society, Long Island Section. For information about future CME activities from these sponsors, please visit www.bliacs.org. The Audio Digest Foundation thanks the speakers and sponsors for their cooperation in the production of this program.

CME/CE INFO

Accreditation:

The Audio- Digest Foundation is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Audio- Digest Foundation designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Audio Digest Foundation is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC's) Commission on Accreditation. Audio Digest Foundation designates this activity for 0 CE contact hours.

Lecture ID:

OP570303

Expiration:

This CME course qualifies for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for 3 years from the date of publication.

Instructions:

To earn CME/CE credit for this course, you must complete all the following components in the order recommended: (1) Review introductory course content, including Educational Objectives and Faculty/Planner Disclosures; (2) Listen to the audio program and review accompanying learning materials; (3) Complete posttest (only after completing Step 2) and earn a passing score of at least 80%. Taking the course Pretest and completing the Evaluation Survey are strongly recommended (but not mandatory) components of completing this CME/CE course.

Estimated time to complete this CME/CE course:

Approximately 2x the length of the recorded lecture to account for time spent studying accompanying learning materials and completing tests.