“A doctor’s ability to explain, listen, and empathize has a profound impact on a patient’s care,” stated the New York Times. Yet the Times found that a startling two out of every three patients are discharged from the hospital without even knowing their diagnosis, and that 60 percent of patients misunderstood their doctor’s instructions after a visit.Read More
More Americans than ever were willing to “Shop Small” this year, according to projections and initial data from this year’s Small Business Saturday. Held two days after Thanksgiving — and the day after Black Friday — Small Business Saturday was created by American Express in 2010 as a way to encourage customers to support local businesses, which can help create jobs, boost the economy, and preserve neighborhoods.Read More
Recently, we’ve discussed many ways to improve your practice’s marketing efforts. Having a strong online presence and using digital marketing strategies are important in 2017. But those aren’t the only ways to gain more patients. One of the best ways to attract people to your practice costs you nothing but time: referrals. Getting your current patients and other doctors to refer patients to your practice is actually pretty simple. It boils down to good communication and providing excellent care. Here are five specific ways to boost referrals to your practice.Read More
As recently as a decade ago, many doctors didn’t think the quality of their care could be measured. “Any attempt to do so was ‘bean counting’ folly at best or destructive and dangerous at worst,” wrote internist and Harvard professor and health policy researcher Ashish Jha on his blog. Since then, however, we have seen a “sea change,” he noted.Read More
The United States is in the midst of a drug overdose epidemic. According to the CDC, 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose; nearly half of those deaths involve a prescription opioid. Prescription opioids and heroin combined killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record.Read More
As the battle over health care reform in the U.S. rages on, doctors may feel that there is little they can do to improve things in any significant way for their patients in the midst of all this uncertainty. A comfortable waiting room and a friendly smile can hardly fix anything, right? Actually, evidence shows those do make a difference to patients – and there are even more factors within doctors’ control to improve their patients’ visits and help them get the best care. Here’s a look at five.Read More
