For years, Dr. Bill Cook, a local primary care physician, watched as big medical companies were paid more to treat repeat patients than they were to keep the patients they have healthy.
When Maryland law changed last year to essentially reward doctors and medical centers for keeping patients away from the office, rather than bringing them in multiple times a year, he said, he finally saw an opening to try a new way of doing business.
"The more you did, the more you got paid," Cook said of the previous structure. And "if [the patient] got sick, you got to see them more."
Today, he said, "we're getting paid to take better care of people."
On May 4, Saint Agnes Medical Group will officially open a new facility based on this new model of care. A 38,000-square-foot office at 6501-D Baltimore National Pike will house the practices of 16 primary care physicians, including Cook.
Located at the site of the former Room Store, the center will focus on four main improvements to the standard doctor's office.
First, features such as sound-proof walls and exam-room distribution of instructions and referrals will help to provide patients with maximum privacy. A new entrance will direct patients to enter through the side of the building, rather than the main plaza parking lot, which is shared by neighboring retailers like PetSmart.
"We believe that this facility will give patients the kind of intimacy they need," said William Greskovich, vice president of operations and capital projects at Saint Agnes Hospital, during an April 7 tour of the new facility.
Second, patient information input and payments will be conducted with the use of tablet computers, helping to eliminate lines and to ensure ease of access to medical records by Saint Agnes doctors and nurses.
Third, the focus is on creating a comfortable atmosphere for patients who come to the new center. With large windows and landscaping, the building was designed to feel more like a spa than a doctor's office, according to Saint Agnes literature. Patients are even invited to select the genre of music they want to listen to while they wait in the exam room to be seen.
Fourth, the staff at the new center hope to promote education over treatment. With three conference rooms, the plan is to eventually host classes for newly diagnosed patients, such as those with diabetes or high blood pressure, so patients can learn how to keep themselves healthy and out of the doctor's office or hospital.
Above all, Greskovich said, the facility was built for the benefit of patients. A major part of that will include the hours the new office will be open and the ease at which patients can meet with a doctor or other medical staff.
In May, the office will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and in the morning on Saturdays. The plan is to include Sunday and expand the hours the office is open on the other days of the week.
According to a 2013 poll by Harris Interactive, walk-in clinics like Patient First, which is just a couple minutes' drive from the new Saint Agnes building, and Concentra Urgent Care are growing rapidly in popularity. Twenty-seven percent of all adults polled reported having been to a walk-in clinic within the past two years. In 2008, that number was 7 percent.
With long hours and minimum wait times, the clinics offer ease and flexibility that many traditional doctor's offices have not been able to offer.
The new Saint Agnes Catonsville model will both allow walk-in patients and speed up the time the patient spends waiting in the common waiting room by placing them in an exam room as soon as they have filled out the necessary forms on the tablet.
The official ribbon cutting for the new center is scheduled for Thursday, April 30.
The office will officially open on Monday, May 4. For information, go to teamstagnes.com.