Patient Relations

Adding ancillary services may seem like a good idea. Before you commit, consider the fit with your practice and the total costs.

In the past, every time I saw these patients on my schedule, I just wanted to run out of my medical practice. Now I am grateful for the challenges they present.

There is a sense of the sacred in what we do. It is a privilege to share in our patients' lives - both the best and the worst times.

If your practice is beginning its first social media foray, consider starting with Facebook. Once you learn the ropes, then you can join the Twitter-verse.

Opening a concierge medical practice with no established patient base is challenging, but it's not impossible. Here's how one doctor did it.

A social media policy is critical for all medical practices. Here are three key items that every policy should include.

Opiate prescribing can be a high risk activity for doctors if compliance measures aren't implemented. This risk is magnified when dealing with celebrities.

The balance between medical failures and successes can be challenging to navigate. Yet, for our own benefit and sanity, we must accept our humanity.

Many of our patients employ treatments that we would never recommend, and others refuse treatments that we do recommend. Here's how we deal at our practice.

We asked physicians to share their most cringe-worthy professional moments. Here's what they said.

A great patient experience guarantees referrals, leads to great reviews on doctor rating websites, and enhances your medical practice's brand value.

Social media platforms are highly targeted methods for reaching prospective patients; ones your practice can't afford to ignore.

Don't rest on your laurels when it comes to community outreach. Be creative and reach out to patients in ways that are fun and meaningful.

This physician wonders why her patients so often refuse low-risk, high-benefit treatments because the media or family friends say they are dangerous.

Helping patients accept your nonphysician providers.

Combining forces to work as a team will increase your practice's chances of getting paid, and can actually decrease workload.

HIPAA is there for the protection of your patients, not to hinder communication or good customer service.

Patients have smartphones. Physicians have information about health and well-being. So logically, using mobile health technology can provide better connections.

Finding the optimal way to use NPs and PAs as part of the care team is not an easy task since not all universally agree upon the role they wish to have.

At the MGMA 2014 conference, attendees learned about key elements of HIPAA compliance they may be overlooking. Many have to do with changes to patient rights.

In order to get patients the care they need when they need it, consider a risk-stratified care management system tied to point of care registries.

What you communicate to patients should also consider how you reach them. And with the variety of messaging available, there is also varying patient preference.

According to legendary football coach Lou Holtz, the keys to success in life and as a healthcare professional include having a good attitude, having passion, and making good choices.

Despite a recent expose by The Wall Street Journal, the in-office ancillary exception to the Stark Law will remain the most commonly used tool by practices.

The rules for being an out-of-network provider with California's new healthcare exchange plans just changed. Here's what you need to know.

Robert M. Tennant of the MGMA explores how to keep patient interactions at your medical practice HIPAA compliant.

Successful practices make it a priority to assess patient satisfaction regularly. Here's how to improve satisfaction scores and boost patient ratings.

Medical supply companies need to stop cold calling patients offering them medical equipment without a physician's order, and trying to trick busy doctors.

With all the media coverage of Ebola and enterovirus D68, there are several things your practice can do to ease patient and staff concern. Here's where to begin.

There are four good reasons to consider an investment in online scheduling, including attracting new patients and retaining existing ones.