Week 1: Deep Diving into Research and Securing Interviews

This week, I’ve been digging back into the research materials I’m going to be using for this project. I reread the article by Eskew and Klink (2015) on direct primary care practice distribution and costs across the nation, and it was super helpful as I started prepping for my interviews. Understanding more about how membership-based models actually work in real life really helped me develop questions to ask the doctors during the interviews. Some of the questions I’m planning to ask include: “What percentage of your revenue comes from each payment model?” “How much of your budget goes toward administrative costs?” and “Have you considered switching to a membership-based model, and if so, what’s holding you back?”

And speaking of interviews, I’m excited to report that I’ve already locked in three interviews with pediatricians over the next few weeks. Two of the practices are in Brooklyn, and one is in Manhattan, which will give me a good range of perspectives based on different neighborhood demographics and costs. It’s kind of wild seeing the project go from just a proposal to actually happening. Right now, I’m working on putting together solid interview questions, making sure I’m asking about both the financial and the operational challenges that are more difficult to report in published articles.

Keeping up with my hands-on work at my on-site placement has been extremely helpful. This week, I went back into the office and did some secretary work, which gave me another chance to see how the billing and administrative side actually works day to day. While I was there, I met with Dr. Frankel and we talked about the direction of the project and which payment models his practice currently uses.

I have found it a bit challenging to find doctors that specifically work with the membership care model, but I have reviewed articles from Health Affairs and the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health and reached out to several practices that seemed to use this model. I’m still waiting to hear back from these doctors.

Reading about administrative costs as percentages is one thing, but actually watching how the staff deals with insurance claims, scheduling, and patient care is totally different. Entering these interviews with both academic research and practical office experience will enable me to ask more insightful questions and fully understand the information being shared.

Works Cited:

Eskew, Philip M., and Kathleen Klink. “Direct Primary Care: Practice Distribution and Cost Across the Nation.” Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, vol. 28, no. 6, 2015, pp. 793-801. https://www.jabfm.org/content/28/6/793