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Category: General
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Marden Dental Pics
What can be shared on email with patients?
The following question was posted to the Academy of Dental Practice Management Consultants which Linda and I belong to. I thought you would all want to know the answer.
How specific can email to patient be reminding them about treatment? Can you mention specific treatment needs or only make a general statement to contact the office? Is this covered under HIPAA?
The answer below is from: Linda Harvey, MS, LHRM, DFASHRM •
Email is a great source of confusion for everyone.
HIPAA requires that patient info must be kept secure. Regular email transmission which includes responding to email received from patients is not secure.
That being said, there are several options:
1) use a secure portal such as eDossea or subscribe to a service thru Eaglesoft or Dentrix (I believe they both offer such a service).
2) use an email encryption service (there are free ones)
3) implement an office policy that limits what you are allowed to email to patients such as appointment confirmation. I just met the Practice Administrator who said they have a strict policy against emailing patients or responding to patient emails.
4) get the patient’s permission to communicate via unencrypted email. This is an important piece of information one can gather on the Acknowledgement Form new patients sign. BUT, I would still limit the type of information emailed.
Referring back to your question about treatment, I would not mention specific treatment in an email. For example, an email reminder that the pt has unused benefits would be better than saying “are you ready to schedule for those extractions and implants.”
HIPAA is quite serious about enforcing the regulations; plus the random audits are in full force. Have already met one dental Business Associate that was audited. I just got back from Tampa working with a doctor whose staff gave a patient the wrong records on a CD…patient then complained to the Office of Civil Rights. They are now under investigation and have a narrow window to correct and reply to the complaint.
Linda Harvey is a great source of information regarding risk management and being HIPAA compliant. If anyone needs a speaker for a study club she would be fabulous! Her website is: http://www.lindaharvey.net
Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
Insights from our Academy of Dental Management Consultants Annual Meeting
We have just returned from a fabulous educational meeting and networking session in Las Vegas, with the prestigious Academy of Dental Management Consultants. Day one was our members only meeting and we learned the latest from a compliance panel on OSHA, HIPAA, Risk Management and HR. Presentations from members on a variety of topics. 1. Improve scheduling with the use of Onset, a patented delivery system for immediate anesthesia by Onpharma. 2. Using dental retail products to create profit centers in your practice. 3. Improve insurance reimbursement through Practice Booster. 4. Technology updates, which apps can simplify your life. 5. Training techniques to improve learning. 6. Social media and it’s importance in marketing our businesses. Day two was an inspirational keynote presentation by Bill Rancic, from season one of Donald Trump’s, The Apprentice. He spoke on entrepreneurship and the importance of being the conductor of the orchestra, you do not need to know how to do everything yourself. Surround yourself with excellent people who are decisive, creative and never make excuses. Then, trust them to do a good job! The world has changed, and we must change with it!
There were great receptions for lots of networking and tours of LVI and Zappo’s headquarters. A very busy and educational few days! We even got a picture with Elvis!
Raising your Fees
Many Doctors have hesitated to raise their fees. Whether it was fear that lower priced competitors would take their potential patients or that they “could not raise fees in this economy”, fees have remained the same since 2009 for many practices. Other practices feel they should “maintain the status quo” because they will only take a bigger write off from an insurance plan. Some doctors have gone so far as to “negotiate” a lower fee with some patients, thinking that if they could get this patient and the case, it would fill the book. Somewhere in this belief is the idea that more patients will offset lower fees, and will lead to higher profitability.
We look at profitability numbers each month with our clients. Our busiest practices are not the most profitable, and the practices that do the most large fee cases are not as profitable either. Why is that? In a word, overhead. The more patients you see, the higher your overhead. The more large cases you do, the greater the likelihood of not pricing the case right for the amount of time it takes and more likelihood there is of providing one or more of those crowns in a multiple unit case, for only the lab fee.
Overhead has not stopped increasing because of the economy. You and your team would like raises, the lab wants to be paid, supplies are costing more – you cannot not raise your fees. We recommend raising fees on an annual basis. Many teams struggle with raising fees because of the anticipated reaction from patients. We hope you are subscribed to Words Matter for some suggestions on how to handle this challenging topic.
Raising your fees is one of the best steps you can take to improve profitability. The chart below shows the relationship between a specified percentage fee increase and the effect this increase will have on profitability.
% Fee Increase
| 3% |
5% |
10% |
||
| 80% |
15% |
25% |
50% |
|
| 75% |
12% |
20% |
40% |
|
|
Overhead |
70% |
10% |
16.6% |
33% |
|
% |
65% |
8.6% |
14.3% |
28.6% |
| 60% |
7.5% |
12.5% |
25% |
|
| 55% |
6.7% |
11.1% |
22.2% |
|
| 50% |
6% |
10% |
20 |
When is your next fee increase?
Onset – a new anesthetic
On Thurs. February 24, Onset, a revolutionary new buffering system for anesthetic, makes its official ‘debut’ at Booth 4860 (OnPharma) at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting. Onset greatly minimizes the potential for a painful injection, and it allows you to begin treatment immediately. This can help with practice efficiency and gives a story for patients to tell their friends and family. Check it out if you are at the MidWinter Meeting. While there, visit MOSAIC at Booth — 1537, we look forward to seeing you!!
Dentists exempt from Red Flag Rule
FYI:
Dentists exempt from Red Flags Rule
ADA is pleased to announce that dentists will be exempt from the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2011.
President Obama signed into law the Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010, which clarifies and narrows the definition of a “creditor” and thereby excludes dentists and other small businesses.
Antibiotic Pre-Med Guidelines
In April of 2007, the American Heart Association, along with the ADA released new guidelines for antibiotic premedication of patients with certain heart conditions. The more recent guidelines do not include any changes in premedication for those patients with artificial joint replacement.
According to the ADA’s statement, these patients no longer need pre-med: Continue reading “Antibiotic Pre-Med Guidelines”
The Death of the Federal Estate Tax | LegalZoom
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