It’s almost upon us—that time of year when more than 50 million Americans suffer through their days with tissues and Benadryl at the ready: spring allergy season. Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S. with an annual cost in excess of $18 billion, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.Read More
What’s the first step most people take when looking for a new doctor? They go online. Your website is the first impression most prospective patients will get of your practice. Your online presence matters – especially to the generation that’s projected to reach 73 million in 2019, becoming the largest in the U.S.: millennials (anyone born between 1981 and 1996). Read More
“This is the way we’ve always done things.”
“Who has time to implement new processes into an already packed schedule?”
“This new technology seems complicated and unnecessary. What’s the payoff?”
These are common objections that practice managers and physician owners run into when making changes. Whether it’s a forced change, like using new diagnostic codes, or a change meant to benefit the practice, like implementing an EHR or other new technology, doing things differently can cause concerns and resistance from staff—unless you understand and approach change strategically. Here’s how.Read More
It’s a harsh fact in the U.S. that people who live in poor rural or urban communities are more likely to have health problems and experience limited access to health care. Hospital closures have increased throughout the country, and the communities with the greatest shortage of doctors also tend to be the areas with the highest poverty. Patients there struggle to afford and access health care, while doctors face challenges related to reimbursement and patient communication. But there is hope. Read on to find out the best practices and tools that benefit not only low-income patients, but all patients, as well as the doctors who serve them. Read More
What’s the best way to tell whether patients are satisfied with your practice? Positive online reviews? Lots of new patients requesting appointments? Good patient satisfaction survey scores? There are many ways to gather patient feedback. Here are some guidelines for how to approach the important issue of patient satisfaction—and a surprising factor you may be overlooking.Read More
On average, Americans currently spend more than $10,000 a year per person on health care, according to ENTtoday. This is “a dramatic and unsustainable increase” from the average of $160 spent in 1960, stated the publication, adding, “The only real mechanism for both decreasing the cost and improving quality in medicine is through innovation and the creation of new technologies.”Read More
