This commentary is by Susan Ridzon, executive director of HealthFirst, which represents 63 physician-owned primary and specialty care practices in 10 counties across Vermont. Its 26 primary care practices care for about 85,000 Vermonters. About 90% of the independent practices in Vermont are HealthFirst members.
In a recent commentary, Andrew Garland of BlueCross and BlueShield of Vermont suggested that Vermonters research and choose lower-cost, high-quality providers to save money and decrease the price of future health care premiums.
He smartly mentioned independent practices because their prices are often many times lower than alternatives. There are additional compelling reasons to choose an independent practice, including consistently high-quality care, personalized and accessible service, and typically much shorter wait times.
These are the sort of high-value health care options that Vermont should be encouraging as we all seek to lower the cost of health care while retaining high quality services and access.
One element of high-quality care is a strong relationship between the primary care practitioner and the patient. Independent practices provide that one-on-one relationship as well as increased outpatient access. This combination allows the patient to receive the timely care needed to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations, including hospital readmissions.
When additional care or testing is needed, independent specialty practices and imaging sites frequently have considerably shorter wait times. The time to a scheduled advanced imaging appointment at an independent MRI center is generally measured in days to weeks as opposed to months for hospital-based imaging.
Wait times at an independent practice for a non-emergent dermatology issue are at least a month shorter than local hospital-based alternatives, and one independent dermatology practice offers weekly walk-in clinics so you can have that concerning-looking mole examined without needing an appointment. Another independent primary care practice offers same-day sports medicine and fracture care, and many Chittenden County physicians operate at a much less costly outpatient surgery center.
Furthermore, independent primary care practitioners will help patients find lower-cost alternatives for lab and imaging tests, and specialty care.
Vermont needs more options for such efficient and high-quality health care. Sadly, many of the high-value independent practices that can provide such care are under strain. This is particularly true of primary care and women’s health practices.
Twelve of our network practices closed between 2019 and 2022. There are many reasons for these closures, but financial insolvency was a major factor in more than half of them.
Vermont would be smart to protect and support those that remain and encourage more to open. These community-based independent practices are part of a Vermont tradition worth preserving.
