Protecting the Art of Medicine: Finding Balance Through Standardization

At Ancore Health, we often hear from medical groups that the challenges they face are intertwined with access—access to care, access to physicians, and ultimately, access to the patients who need them. But what happens when access becomes the bottleneck in an already overwhelmed system? It's a familiar story:

• Physicians are stretched thin.
• Patients face long wait times.
• Administrative burdens pile up, all while medical groups are under pressure to maintain or improve financial sustainability.

Dr. Josh Honaker, Ancore’s Chief Medical Officer, often says: "When we talk about access, it's always interesting to consider whose lens you're looking through—the patient, the physician, or the system? You need to look at all three." It's about striking the right balance between being patient-centric, physician-supportive, and fiscally responsible to ensure financial sustainability for the entire organization.

And therein lies the challenge: How do you achieve that balance without sacrificing the"art" of medicine—the human touch, the individualized care each patient deserves?

This is where the art of standardization comes into play. No one’s arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach works in medicine (at least we aren’t). After all, every patient encounter is unique. Certain patients need a 15-minute appointment; others require an hour. However, some aspects of the system, like scheduling, benefit from standardization to ensure a consistent, efficient, high-quality experience for all the patients who need and want care. While the schedule is a tool, it needs to be flexible enough to allow for the different dynamics of patient care and standardized enough to empower call center agents to do their jobs well.

As Dr. Honaker highlights: "A physician may need more time with one patient, and that patient needs to get the time. But when it comes to access, you still need to do some centralization and standardization to improve the patient experience."

"We don’t want to be rigid, but there are best practices when it comes to access centers, schedules, staffing ratios, space utilization, and more," says Dr. Honaker. "We have to find common ground within respective specialties. For instance, the business principles in cardiology will likely have unique needs and different standards than pediatrics. Therefore, we must respect the art of medicine in each arena.”

It’s important to remember: Let’s not standardize just to save costs; let's build a framework that protects the art of medicine.

In building more predictable scheduling patterns, medical groups can implement standardization while protecting the flexibility needed for high-quality patient care. We also see this need reflected in financial pressures on medical groups. According to Becker's Hospital CFO Report: "The median subsidy per physician hit nearly $300,000 in the second quarter of 2024." This financial imbalance makes it harder for practices to sustain long-term operations. With rising costs and increased labor expenses, it's clear that there is a need for operational efficiency—but again, efficiency should never come at the cost of quality care.

As we dive deeper into our work with medical groups, we often uncover a disconnect between how administrative leaders view operational models and how physicians experience the reality of patient care.

This disconnect can lead to burnout, as seen in the American Medical Association's latest report on physician burnout: "The fight is far from over. Continued efforts are essential to address the root causes of physician burnout and ensure that doctors receive the support they need to thrive."

At Ancore, we advocate for a balanced approach:

• Standardizing processes like scheduling and operational models where it makes sense
• Leaving room for flexibility in patient care

As we've seen, when medical groups embrace this balance, they improve efficiency and create a more supportive environment for physicians, leading to better patient outcomes and a healthier work-life balance for providers… and we’re certain no one’s arguing against that.

Curious about how to protect the art of medicine while optimizing operations and patient care?
Get in touch with us.