Tag: private practice

How the 2018 Flu Epidemic Can Prepare Your Practice for the 2019 Season

Posted on by VettersEnt

The 2018 flu epidemic caused a frenzy across practices, the internet and communities throughout the United States. While many flu seasons over the past few decades have been unremarkable, the 2018 flu epidemic was notable for the severity of the virus and the deaths that occurred as a result. As in any field, it’s important to learn from the past to improve the future. The 2018 flu epidemic has many lessons to offer the average practice.

Communicate Clearly with Patients

Communicating with patients and employees is critical for triaging potential flu patients before they ever come in for an appointment. Doctor’s office and emergency room visits are not necessary for the majority of people experienced mild flu-like symptoms. Your practice should educate patients early on what symptoms are cause for concern and what symptoms do not mean they need to head right into the office. This limits both unnecessary strains on your resources and prevents exposure in your waiting room. If you can, include the most worrying symptoms that should lead to medical care (trouble breathing, chest pain, confusion, dizziness, etc.) in a brochure or email blast that you send out to patients.

Offer Protection Tools in Your Practice

When patients with flu-like symptoms arrive in your office, provide them with tissues and surgical masks. Always have hand sanitizer available for any visitor to your practice. If possible, keep patients with influenza symptoms away from other patients. If it isn’t possible to maintain more than one waiting room, mark off a specific area or prioritize patients with flu symptoms when filling exam rooms. This stops the spread of flu inside of your practice and makes patients visiting for unrelated reasons feel more comfortable coming in.

Educate About the Flu Vaccine

One of the key hallmarks of the 2018 flu epidemic was many patients ignoring the influenza vaccine because of perceived ineffectiveness or other concerns about vaccines. When visiting with patients, take time to explain why flu vaccines are important, even when the past year’s vaccine was perceived as a “failure” in some circles. Answer questions with respect, and understand that patients are often undereducated or misinformed on the subject of flu vaccinations. Start promoting the vaccine’s availability early in the year and reach out to patients who haven’t been vaccinated by the start of flu season to make it clear that it isn’t too late.

Flu Epidemic Guidance for Your Practice from Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

Ending the Revolving Door of Patients at Your Practice

Posted on by VettersEnt

A general practice with a revolving door of patients is one that always seems to be losing patients at the same rate that they are attracting them. New patients are showing up for appointments, but most of them vanish off to never be seen again. While it’s tempting to invest most of your marketing efforts towards attracting new patients, without making an attempt to keep the old ones, you’ll end up with a revolving door of patients.

Why Are Patients Leaving?

One survey of patients who chose to leave their medical practice of choice found that patients have 4 core reasons for putting their medical care in someone else’s hands:

  1. Feeling neglected
  2. Poor communication or misinformation
  3. Feeling rushed
  4. Lack of detail or description for procedures, tests and results

At the heart of all 4 of those things is that sometimes, doctors do not have enough time to satisfy patient needs fully. What does that mean? You should go above and beyond to provide patients with additional resources and also distribute the patient retention responsibility throughout your practice. It isn’t just the doctor who is responsible for keeping patients. Instead, it’s also the receptionists, nurses, technicians and more.

Educate

Invest in resources that can educate your patients. While you might not have time to explain a procedure to a patient in one visit thoroughly, you could show a video, offer them literature or direct them to a page on your website. When patients know where to find the information that they need, they will be much more likely to seek it out and sate their curiosity.

Ask and Reassess

Regular patient surveys are another great way to see how you’re doing and make changes to suit the needs of your patients better. In some cases, patients value the opportunity to express themselves more than actual changes taking place! Make it clear that you care about your patients, their health and their experience at your practice and you will be much closer to retaining them.

Follow Up

When a patient leaves that means that they’re gone forever, right? No! If a patient leaves your practice, despite your efforts to retain them, you should place a follow-up call to see why they chose to do so. Many patients are willing to give you valuable insight on why they left, which could help you pull more patients out of the revolving door of patients.

Additional Retention Tips

  • Ensure that patients are informed of when their next appointment is.
  • Reward patient loyalty.
  • Send appointment reminders.
  • Make scheduling as easy as possible.
  • Keep track of important patient information, like birthdays and contact information.

Practice Guidance for Your Practice from Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

Breaking Down GDPR and What It Could Mean for US Physicians

Posted on by VettersEnt

There’s a high chance that if you subscribe to 200 mailing lists, you’ve received what feels like 1,000 emails informing you about privacy policy changes. All of these emails are coming in the wake of the European privacy laws called the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). What do you need to know about these laws, even if you’re only treating patients in the United States?

Who Is Affected by GDPR?

Any business that is established in the European Union and any business that handles the personal information of “data subjects” in the European Union, regardless of where they live and their citizenship, is subject. If a doctor works or is based in the EU and has a website that collects any personal data, like a name, email address, phone number of IP address (even through Google Analytics), they are required to comply. Doctors in the UK must follow these new regulations, but US doctors are exempt…for now. There’s a good chance that over the course of the next few years, the United States will put similar regulations into place.

What Happens if Doctors Don’t Comply?

Anyone who doesn’t comply with these new laws can be subject to fines up to 20 million pounds or 4% of the worldwide turnover for the past 12 months depending on which is greater. These steep fines probably won’t be levied against small practices, but instead against any businesses that receive the most complaints. It’s a good idea to practice keeping patient data safe now, instead of running into nasty surprises in the future.

What Should You Do for GDPR?

If GDPR-type regulations go into place in the United States, here’s what you need to know!

  • Personal data includes names, phone numbers, emails, questions, comments, IP addresses and digital data. Even if you do nothing with personal data but store it, you must still comply.
  • You should audit the personal data that you’ve already collected and note where it is from and who it is shared with. Once you do that, you should document the legal basis for the processing of data and send an email to all existing list members to notify them of your privacy policy.
  • When collecting personal data in the future, you must add opt-in wording to all of your forms. It should include the affirmation of “explicit, affirmative and granular consent.” Patients should have no doubt that they are granting their consent and not simply have an automatically-selected box. You should also make your privacy policy so that it is written in plain, easy-to-understand English.
  • Update your cookie policy or add one.
  • Make sure that all of your data processors are GDPR-compliant.

Protect Patient Information with Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

The Effect of Social Media on Patient Health

Posted on by VettersEnt

From late nights spent staring at Instagram feeds to thumb injuries from scrolling too much (seriously), social media has a serious effect on patient health. While the impact on physical health might not be as prevalent, the effects on mental and emotional health can be very serious.

The Power of Social Media for Public Health

One of the most beneficial effects of social media and mobile connectivity on public health has been the opportunity for more healthcare providers to meet patients where they are. The Suicide Hotline expanded to add chat and text messaging options, allowing people of any age to receive crisis mental health consultations anywhere in the country at any time. Facebook has also added a feature where friends can anonymously report a post that another friend makes as concerning, and the platform will provide the friend with mental health resources. These are just two examples of how social media can provide people with health resources when they are at their most vulnerable.

Social media also makes health information more accessible, which can be a good or bad thing. While it makes it easier for people in food deserts to learn creative ways to prepare healthy food on a budget without access to a great deal of produce, it can also make it easy to disseminate false medical information.

Social media can also be an excellent place for vulnerable patients to connect with one another. It can be especially empowering for patients with rare conditions to meet people, across the country or the world, who are experiencing the exact same thing. While some patients would have suffered their entire lives with loneliness, social media can provide them with a place to connect.

The Negative Effects on Patient Health

Social media addiction is a growing problem, especially in young adults and teenagers who are used to spending the majority of their time on digital devices. An estimated 210 million people are suffering from addiction to social media. Young, single females are the most likely to deal with an addiction. Don’t think you’re a compulsive social media user? 50% of people driving while using a smartphone are checking social media apps. Over 70% of adults sleep with or next to their cellphone. Finally, almost 75% of Americans check Facebook on a daily basis.

As providers, it’s important to realize that patients might be using social media as a stand-in for other healthy parts of life, like spending time with friends and family. Or, they might be using social media to distract themselves from mental health difficulties.

What are the potential negative effects of social media on physical patient health?

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from typing and swiping on a mobile phone too frequently
  • Eye problems can occur from staring at screens for long periods of time
  • Chronic fatigue is common in teenagers who stay up late to check social media networks instead of getting enough sleep
  • Lack of exercise or an increased risk of leading a sedentary lifestyle
  • Distraction while walking or driving, which can lead to accidents or injuries

Improve your Practice Health with Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

How to Empower Patients Throughout the Diagnostic Process

Posted on by VettersEnt

When asked what they would improve about their patients, many doctors will indicate the desire for patients to take more control over their health, whether that means putting recommendations into practice or making an effort to build relationships with their doctors. How can you empower your practice’s patients throughout the diagnostic process?

What Do Patients Want from the Healthcare Experience?

A 2016 study of patients examined what patients want the most from their providers. A whopping 75% of patients indicated the desire for a more personal relationship with their providers. The majority of patients also wanted greater convenience and access to digital tools. These desires especially come to a head when patients are experiencing an illness or ailment and going through the diagnostic process.

Embrace the Benefits of the Internet

Building a relationship with patients doesn’t mean spending hours in each appointment getting to know their favorite color. Instead, it means being open to a patient’s concerns and being accessible where and when they need you. The internet is an amazing tool for staying connected with patients and empowering them throughout the diagnostic process. When most patients have a concern, they will head straight to the internet to learn more and ask questions. If your practice offers a secure health portal where they can find out more and send messages, patients will be able to equip themselves with knowledge and feel more understood.

Communicate Clearly and Offer Actionable Plans

Empowering a patient does not start or stop in the exam room. Since so many patients feel comfortable seeking health information from other sources (that may or may not be reputable), it’s important for doctors to offer them clear, achievable and realistic action plans. Giving patients accurate information will soothe fears that inevitably occur during the diagnostic process and prevent patients from clinging to false ideas.

Encourage Wearables and Tracking Methods

If patients are concerned about their health or going through the diagnostic process, encourage them to track symptoms and activities that promote health. Whenever patients actually start to measure and pay attention to their health, they will be more empowered to make the changes necessary to improve the metrics. From keeping a food diary to tracking blood sugar, small changes can add up to lifestyle transformations.

Partner with Vetters Enterprises Help with Your Value-Based Care Reporting

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

How to Find Patient Data for Value-Based Care Report Requirements

Posted on by VettersEnt

The increased emphasis on value-based care requires doctors and practices to compile detailed patient data for reporting. However, that’s much easier than it sounds! The technology needed to track patient data is available, but also expensive and time-consuming to use. The data that you need isn’t always easily accessible, as patients move from provider to provider (and system to system). How can you find the patient data you need for value-based care report requirements?

What Caused the Change?

The biggest push behind value-based care comes from the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which requires doctors with over $90,000 in Medicare Part B charges or over 200 Part B beneficiaries to enroll in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or an Advanced Alternative Payment Model. MIPS includes a whopping 271 quality measures, and every doctor enrolled has to select 6 of them to report on. Private payers might have different requirements, but most require data collection and value-based care reporting.

The Challenge of Value-Based Care Reporting

Electronic health records are being changed and reconfigured to ease the new burden of reporting, but that doesn’t mean the learning curve has been easy. Unfortunately, the current value-based care metrics are not always easy to find or track, and there are plenty of issues with the system itself. Some doctors feel that tracking puts the emphases on electronic health records (EHR) and not treating patients. Other doctors are concerned that clinical quality is measured on process metrics, like whether or not preventative screenings take place, instead of actual outcomes.

How to Find the Data You Need

One approach involves tying your measurement to overall strategic priorities. One successful healthcare network encouraged all physicians and specialists to focus on 40 total metrics. While most of those metrics were tied to primary care, specialists received alerts at appointments when the patient they were seeing was also overdue for a pap smear or colonoscopy. By encouraging a team effort to meet tracking requirements, this network found great success.

Another successful strategy is creating your own internal metric definitions. One of the most common reporting issues is payers asking providers to report on measures that seem to be identical. However, the difference is usually in the details. To create standard internal metrics, look at the best-practice suggestions from industry leaders and work with the appropriate staff members at your practice. For example, before arriving at a standard definition for diabetes metrics, consult with primary care doctors, diabetes educators and endocrinologists.

While there is no magic way to track and report patient data yet, your practice should be engaged in constantly refining the process to get the best results for your patients. 

Partner with Vetters Enterprises Help with Your Value-Based Care Reporting

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

How to Use Patient Reviews to Your Advantage

Posted on by VettersEnt

Did you know that almost 85% of patients use online reviews to evaluate and select physicians? If you don’t have a handle on what online reviews have to say about you and your practice, you can’t afford to do so any longer. How can you harness the power of patient reviews to your advantage?

Good Reviews Matter

Good reviews of your practice online are a big deal. The number of patients using online reviews to determine a provider is rising, along with the number of patients who count them as very important. Almost half of the patients in a 2015 survey indicated that they would consider going out of network solely based on patient reviews. If that doesn’t convince of the power of great online reviews, nothing will!

The Good News

While plenty of physicians loathe online review sites on principle, like restaurants worried about Yelp!, there is plenty to be excited about. The majority of patient reviews are either neutral, somewhat positive or very positive. When patients read healthcare reviews, they are more likely to focus on positive experiences rather than negative experiences. Only 19% of online reviews are negative. That number is high, but there are many ways to encourage good reviews of your practice without stepping into ethical hot water.

How Can You Encourage Patients to Leave Reviews?

The most important thing to keep in mind when asking patients to review you online is never to tell them what to write or to say only positive things. You should also avoid offering an incentive for a positive review, like a gift card or discount. So, how can you encourage patients to leave reviews of your practice online?

Get in the habit of proactively asking for feedback in your patient communications. When you send out an email thanking a patient for attending an appointment, include a link to popular review sites. When checking a patient out, have your receptionists give them an appointment card with the date of the next appointment and a reminder to leave a review online. By routinely reminding your current patients to review your practice online, you will increase the chance of them actually doing so. You can also start by approaching your long-term, most satisfied patients and asking them to write a patient review about your practice online.

Partner with Vetters Enterprises for Great Patient Reviews

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

How Can Volunteering Help Your Physicians Recharge?

Posted on by VettersEnt

Experts have known for a long time that volunteering is a good thing. After all, what could be bad about giving back to the communities around us? However, new research is suggesting that volunteering is also good for your body and mind. Physicians who are looking to recharge and reignite their passion for helping others can benefit from taking time to volunteer.

The Mental Health Benefits

Volunteering has a wonderful effect on mental health. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, much of that stems from social integration theory. Social integration theory is the idea that the social connections between individuals provide meaning and purpose and satisfaction. Individuals who volunteer feel accomplishment from giving back and also gain fulfillment from being in a helpful role. Another study of older adults found that volunteering can buffer the sense of loss that they felt as they lost other identities, like being a wage-earner or parent.

The Physical Health Benefits

One study from Carnegie Mellon University found that adults over the age of 50 who regularly volunteered had a lower likelihood of developing high blood pressure. As most physicians know, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and premature death. While the link between physical health and volunteering might be incidental, it goes to show that doing good can also do your body a whole lot of good.

Why Volunteering for Physicians?

Long days and nights at a medical practice can make it easy to forget why doctors went into medicine in the first place—to help others. If doctors and nurses in your practice need to recharge, volunteering is the perfect way to do so. What are some of the other benefits of volunteering?

  • Increase social interactions with people other than patients and co-workers during the week.
  • Provide a sense of satisfaction and increase self-esteem.
  • Add career experience in other fields to your resume, like public speaking, writing or business development.
  • Stay mentally and physically active outside of work.
  • Enjoy the rush of endorphins and happy feelings associated with volunteering (similar to how you feel after a great workout).

Partner with Vetters Enterprises for Help Taking Your Practice to the Next Level

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

Is Your Practice Location Hurting Your Bottom Line?

Posted on by VettersEnt

What is one of the keys to a successful medical practice? It’s all about location, location, location! When you are trying to find the perfect practice location for your office, there are many factors that you must consider to ensure long-term profitability and success. Whether you’ve been in the same location for a decade or are finding space for the first time, here’s what you need to know about choosing the right location. 

Why Does Location Matter?

Three recent studies found a single common factor in what matters to patients—location. 6 out of 10 patients choose a practice primarily based on location. In fact, convenient location is twice as important to patients as your practice’s success rates or outcomes.

Competition Isn’t Always a Bad Thing

In neighborhoods and cities where medical practices are on every street, it might seem like you have no chance to succeed against already-established doctors with a reputation in the community. Don’t be intimidated by competition, as there are many clever ways to differentiate your practice from the crowd. Check the population-to-professional ratio for the area around you. In areas with low numbers of professionals, there won’t be much competition. However, in busy areas marketing, reputation and customer service can make a huge difference.

Demographics Make the Difference

Another key to a great practice location is staying on top of ever-changing demographics. Is the population declining or growing? In many cases, it’s easiest to gain traction in newer communities than tight, well-established locales. Pay attention to numerous demographics including household income averages, age distribution, the types of jobs and population growth.

Look Around You

The most successful practice locations are often those surrounded by other popular things. What else is located within 5 miles of your potential practice location? Are there banks or grocery stores? What traffic patterns are there? In general, a location that is passed by 40,000 or more cars in a 24-hour period is considered to be a retail location. If you set up shop in a smaller town, you might have higher visibility thanks to less roadside clutter, but you also won’t have access to as many potential patients.

Partner with Vetters Enterprises for a Great Practice Location

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

3 Ways to Increase Patient Satisfaction

Posted on by VettersEnt

Maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction isn’t easy, and it can be frustrating hearing negative responses on patient surveys despite your efforts to offer a great experience. Behaviors like empathetic communication can raise patient satisfaction and improve actual clinical outcomes for medical problems including diabetes and the flu. Here are three ways that your practice can increase patient satisfaction.

Improve the Waiting Process Before the Appointment

How can you streamline the waiting process?

  • Provide things to do in the waiting room, like free Wi-Fi or tablets pre-loaded with magazines and books. Unoccupied time will always feel longer than productive wait time.
  • Get patients checked in as quickly as possible, as they are more patient once their basic information has been taken and they feel that they are being taken care of.
  • Always tell patients what amount of time they should expect to wait. Unexplained, uncertain wait times will lead to higher amounts of anxiety and frustration.
  • Provide an excellent amount of quality once patients get into their appointment. Great appointments can offset a long wait.

Spend Time with Your Patients

Most doctors will hear this advice and wonder how they can possibly spend more time with their patients amidst a packed schedule and piles of paperwork. The most satisfied patients have one thing in common—their visit felt like it was long because all of their questions were answered and they didn’t feel rushed. Your practice can make up for lengthy wait times by sitting down and chatting with patients instead of brusquely going through the motions. In one study, 52% of patients preferred a doctor who sat when talking to them, and they perceived that seated visits were 25% longer.

Communicate with Precision

Finally, you should always be clear with patients about their situation. If a patient comes to you with a cold, instead of merely diagnosing it and sending them out the door, go through a timeline of what they should expect from their symptoms. Offer patients an explanation of what they can expect and what to do if things don’t improve. Patients often have an idea of what is wrong and they come to your office for expertise, not just a one-word diagnosis. 

Increase Patient Satisfaction with Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, private practice business support and revenue cycle optimization. We can perform in-depth assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.