A rebranding exercise could be just the ticket for revitalising primary care.
Here at The Medical Republic, we’ve never shied away from detailing – usually at great length – the challenges and woes facing the primary care sector in Australia.
And we have been quick to concede that many of the issues confronting general practice are “wicked problems” where there are few simple solutions, and those that do seem to be quick and easy fixes will invariably not work and will possibly make thing worse.
Until now, that is!
Yes, in a blinding flash of inspiration of Road-to-Damascus-style proportions, your Back Page scribbler has been delivered of a vision to decisively transform general practice back into a thriving healthcare sector that will be both adored by the masses and festooned with financial largesse.
Without further ado, what we need to steer the iceberg-bound general practice Titanic hard to starboard is this: A rebranding exercise!
Think about it. What does the term “general practice” actually mean to the average patient in the street?
Bugger all, we strongly suspect.
As a descriptor of what GPs might be getting up to on a daily basis, it tells them almost nothing.
Compare this with branding such as tree feller, sheep farmer or landscape designer. No room there for doubting how the crusts are earned.
So, do we have any suggestions for a funkier, more descriptive professional moniker, we hear you ask?
Indeed we do.
Going forward, the Back Page humbly submits that general practitioners should co-brand themselves as: Longevity Influencers.
As a Longevity Influencer (LI-er for short), GPs would no longer be so constrained by that pesky bulk-billing rebate malarkey.
Sure, you can still bill the MBS pittance for your GP work, but as a co-branded LI-er you would also be free to charge an additional gap fee of your choosing for your efforts in positively influencing the longevity of the patient.*
Experience shows us that the general public are far more willing to shell out their dollars for health advice from someone with a made-up fancy title than they are for a person with decades of intensive study behind their belt and a framed fellowship certificate on their wall.
Of course, existing folks already out there calling themselves LI-ers might be a bit peeved with GPs horning in on their territory and co-opting their title, but what goes around comes around and all’s fair in the battle for the healthcare dollar.
Anyhow, such professional niceties certainly aren’t going to stop pharmacists from calling themselves doctors, are they.
*Any financial advice given here is of a satirical nature only and should not be taken seriously.
Send longevity-enhancing story tips to penny@medicalrepublic.com.au.
