Healthcare has a blindside.
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Like a quarterback vulnerable to the hit they canโt see coming, our access systems are exposed, not because leaders arenโt working hard, but because theyโre solving in isolation. More urgent care. More digital front doors. More lines to schedule and triage. And still, patients wait or get lost in the maze (often back to the ER).
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Itโs not for lack of effort. Itโs a result of disconnection.
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โ๐๐ฆโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.โ
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Why the Blind Spot Persists:
๐งฑ Decades of Disconnection
Each new access point launched in a silo, without integration adds complexity. The result is a patchwork that doesnโt perform.
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โ๏ธ Action Without Alignment
Referrals donโt flow. Authorizations stall. Schedulers burn out. Efforts compound, but donโt accelerate progress.
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๐ถ๏ธ Leading in the Dark
Leaders are moving fast, but without the data to illuminate the whole field. Cycle times, no-show rates, and system friction remain hidden until something breaks and a symptom becomes acute.
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Why This Matters:
You canโt fix what you canโt see. And in most health systems, access fails not in the places weโre looking. It fails in the places we canโt see, donโt have information and donโt have resources or tools.
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The Access Advantage:
When we begin to see the system, not just the symptoms we open the door to care, coordination, communication, performance, and trust.
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๐Up Next: Access Isnโt a Door Itโs a System and how systems thinking can give us the visibility weโve been missing.
