We recently came across an interesting article that discusses the challenges of locating the right information to help select a primary care physician.  Some interesting points:

• Determine if your insurance is compatible with the doctor’s practice.
• What is the doctor’s hospital affiliation? Is the doctor affiliated with a reputable, nearby hospital?
• How convenient is the doctor’s office to your home?

In the coming weeks, DocAsap will be launching with primary care, allowing you to find this information, and more, with ease.

An interesting NYT poll indicates that America’s growing frustration with the rising cost of care is driving them to support government-based solutions rather than those from private insurers.  Many prominent voices in healthcare seem to agree that the existing pay-per-procedure insurance model does not promote efficiency, providing proverbial wind to the Obama administration’s reformist sails until the Congressional Budget Office released costly estimates on the universal health plan.

HealthBeat argues that the government can provide universal access to care in way that does not jeopardize the country’s financial health or raise overall health care costs.  If the Obama administration can get doctors and insurance companies at the same table to emphasize efficiency-based rather than volume-based compensation, maybe the cost of care in the U.S. can decrease over time.  Still, major efficiencies will take time to materialize, necessitating tax increases to pay for the plan.

The NYT poll shows that Americans’ willingness to shoulder higher taxes is largely partisan, with Democrats supporting them and Republicans more mixed.  If tax increases are indeed necessary to bankroll universal health access in the short-term, we are likely in store for a long battle in Washington on this issue.  Stay tuned.

May’09 was a hectic month for DocAsap and for us. We graduated from Wharton and DocAsap product entered active beta testing. We grew our team, built new partnerships, formulated new processes, and are more and more close to our goal. Few more weeks and we would be live helping people get doctor appointments easily.

While we worked on finding ways to increase access to care, we found many amazing people who are successfully solving healthcare access problem.  One person clearly worth mentioning in Mr. Don Parker, CEO Atlanticare health services. Of many other things, Don is also a pioneer in creating urgent care model in the southern New Jersey area. The AtlantiCare Urgent Care Centers, located in Egg Harbor Township, Marmora, Little Egg Harbor and Hammonton, offer fast, quality care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries that occur after hours and on weekends and holidays. When doctors are not available as is many times the case, people can go to these urgent care centers and get needed care. Kudos to Mr. Parker. He has guided us in many ways over the last few months and we hope to get more insights on increasing healthcare access from him in the coming future.