Blazing a New Path in Women’s Health with Dr. Diana Bitner

Dr. Diana Bitner describes herself as a survivor. As an OB/GYN, she had what one would describe as a typical practice. She was employed in a large multi-specialty physician group that later got acquired by a large health system. But within this traditional insurance based practice, Dr. Bitner looked to deliver care to her OB/GYN patients in a different way. She thought of herself as an 'intropreneur' where she was continuously trying to innovate processes within the large health system.

Can You Innovate in a Large Health System?

We've discussed on the show doctors who have developed a new model for care in women's health and plenty of discussions about direct primary care. But we've not had a guest like Dr. Bitner who started innovative processes for patient care while part of a large health care network and then left to better implement them on her own. Doing so was not easy. Although she had institutional support to start the health care process, once it became bigger and wasn't operating on enough of a margin, they dropped support and her brain child died on the vine.

Dr. Bitner learned two valuable lessons while creating women's health wellness processes within the large health system. First, the products and intellectual material created while you are employed is owned by your employer - not you. Second, she learned how to run a business within a business by creating the process and making a break even and seeing patients the way she wanted. However, once the system chose to abandon her innovative wellness model she had to fight with lawyers to reclaim her intellectual property.

So What Is Bitner's Innovative Wellness Approach?

The model adopted by Bitner is based on membership and developing products (apps and written materials) that assist in patients's understanding and the efficiency of clinic visit. She has various levels of membership for her True Women's Health practice where she focuses on helping women navigate the changes their bodies go through with aging. These changes include perimenopause, meonpause, and sexual health/dysfunction. By addressing the hormonal and age related changes to women's bodies, Dr. Bitner is helping her patients achieve health goals they previously thought impossible. A great way to get started learning about how to address these health changes can be found in her free eBook, SEEDS.