Top Challenges Impacting Patient Access to Healthcare

Healthcare organizations are overcoming these barriers by expanding their office hours. Extending office hours is one of the fundamental pillars of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH).

Additionally, some organizations are utilizing health IT and connected health to allow patients to seek medical advice without needing to come into the office. Telehealth allows a patient to receive medical treatment without being beholden to an office schedule that does not fit the patient’s needs.

Urgent care centers and retail clinics are also emerging players allowing patients to connect to care outside of a doctor’s office hours.

However, these are simply fixes. Organizations that can manipulate their office hours or stagger appointments in such a way that patients can access their clinicians at convenient times will likely see more patient access.