At first, I wasn’t sure what I thought about this, but I’ve decided that we’ve looking a good idea here. As the following NPR piece describes, some hospitals have arranged a form of “speed dating” giving doctors and patients to meet each other in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. God knows this is a more sympathetic approach than the mechanical, soul-less one already in use, n’est pas? Both doctors and hospitals appear to win here.
Hospital attracts patients with “speed dating”
“[These programs] aren’t just about marketing to patients. They’re also a tool to reach out to physicians and encourage them to refer their patients back to the hospital.
“Physicians drive health care, period,” says Travis Singleton, a senior vice president at Merritt Hawkins, a physician placement firm. “Ninety percent of the health care dollars that are spent in today’s marketplace are through the physician’s pen, whether that’s patients they admit, whether that’s tests they administer, whether that’s procedures they order, whether that’s insurance they bill.”Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?