TL;DR: I lead the development of a full stack virtual primary care during the onset of Covid-19.
Shortly before the onset of Covid-19, I was hired by a private primary care practice to lead their expansion of clinic locations in the area, strategically targeting Medicare and Medicaid patient population as we engaged with ACO’s to implement value based care. Musings around coronavirus were being whispered around the industry regarding its severity, however at this point (February), industry sentiment among my peers was very skeptical, with headlines in the media resoundingly appearing like this.
March comes, and we all know what happens. Despite the ostensible need for primary care during a global pandemic, the practice was significantly impacted. My employers found themselves flat footed, and unprepared to adapt to the digitally enabled environment needed to produce an optimal standard of care. Other practices in the industry were no different:
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Naturally, a significant degree of responsibility was put on me, as my ability to transition practices to digital enabled clinics was a significant reason I was brought on. From a practice that at the time were transitioning EHRs from Athena to Kareo, with Maxremind and Ring Central being its only other tech stacks, there was certainly a lot of work to do. It was a clinic that still very much optimized for paper intake, faxing, and in person consults. But as much as it was a stressful moment to lead a practice, it was also a very opportune time. At no other time was technological innovation encouraged and needed in the industry, as those in digital health know that historically, health systems and payers have not been keen buyers of new tools and services. But now was the time, because frankly, they had no choice. The following is how I navigated the terrain:
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