🚨 We’re at a terrible crossroads in the US #healthcare system. It’s inexcusable that a patient should be denied prescribed treatment, and this is what contributes to #MedicalDeserts - a horrible problem that’s spreading unchecked across the country. I urge folks from around the healthcare ecosystem (#HealthInsurers, #HealthcareProviders, #Pharma companies, #Regulators, and especially #Retailers) to: 1) Read Arielle Trzcinski’s post in full 2) Read the story she linked (also in full) 3) Read our research on medical deserts and #IndividualMedicalDeserts 4) Then reach out to me and Arielle to discuss ways your org can be part of the solution instead of a contributor to the problem #HealthcareCX #CustomerExperience #CX #HCX
Customer-obsessed healthcare leader | Forrester Boomerang | Deloitte Alum | Parent
Medical deserts are spreading and have reached the heart of major cities. The expansion of these deserts has been fueled by disputes between payers and providers, financial hurdles, political conflicts, and a variety of other challenges. These issues have led to new forms of medical deserts, their continued spread, and in some instances, creation of individual deserts due to insufficient training and confusion among frontline staff. The patient story linked below highlights the systemic issue in front of us. It describes a patient who, in seeking legally prescribed medication, was denied by several pharmacy employees. Please read the full story to understand what this patient faced - not just the headlines. This incident underscores the underlying problems that contribute to medical desert expansion. We need all parties to take accountability and action – whether they are a health system, a health plan, a retailer, or another stakeholder in this very complex ecosystem. My colleague Judith Weader and I recently published two reports on #medicaldeserts. One report specifically addresses #IndividualMedicalDeserts, highlighting situations where the impact of reduced access to care is particularly dire. For more insights, I've shared a link to a blog post introducing these reports in the comments section below. We need an oasis from medical deserts. It is imperative that #HealthInsurers, #HealthSystems, #HealthcareProviders, #Pharma, #Retailers, and #Regulators unite to address this issue. Ignoring patients' lack of access to care is equivalent to accepting defeat—an outcome that patients literally cannot live with.
