How to Handle Bad Press about Your Medical Practice

 

Seeing bad press about your medical practice, whether about the physician(s) or simply about your specialty, can be frightening. But if you know how to respond to it, you can keep it from causing harm to your practice or even turn it into a positive experience. There are two types of bad press you may encounter about your medical practice: Direct and indirect. Direct bad press refers to actual negative reviews about the physician(s) and/or your practice, and indirect encompasses any unfavorable media that can affect your practice, such as "exposé" television shows or even credible medical studies.

With direct bad press, a quick response is key, but the need to respond quickly can create panic in the minds of many practice managers. Be careful not to respond with anger or anything that can be read – or misread – as sarcasm. Whether the individual sent you an email, posted on your Facebook Wall, or submitted a review to a website, keep your temper in check. Begin your response with concern, i.e. "We're sorry you feel that your needs weren't met during your office visit." If you need time to investigate the complaint, say so, i.e. "We're researching your concern now and will respond to you fully as soon as possible." Then be sure to do so – otherwise, other current and potential patients will note your lack of follow-through. Take care to observe HIPAA regulations; you may have to be content with "We've achieved resolution on this issue; please call our office at X for more information. Other patients who have questions can also call this number." Call the patient as well; you'll want to do your best to ensure they don't slip through the cracks and continue to feel badly towards your practice, as well as spread that negative impression among other patients. Conduct a mini-training to ensure that staff responds to questions about the complaint with concern and with the information your physician(s) deem appropriate.

Indirect bad press can be just as hard to handle as direct bad press. One example is a widely-reported potential side effect or complication of an often-utilized medication or treatment. Address the concern quickly and intelligently via social media and patient newsletters to minimize panic. This gives you time to formulate a well-researched response that you can send out and provide to patients in your office using notices in examining rooms and in check-in and check-out areas. In your secondary response, be sure to use facts and figures, where appropriate and available, to support your efforts. Many patients are savvy enough to understand that the media occasionally exploits inconclusive study results and other questionable facts in an effort to gain ratings and readership. Once you objectively and coherently point out the flaws in the report(s), they are likely to once again feel comfortable with the treatment your practice recommends.

When there's no bad press to deal with, you can bank goodwill towards your practice by creating your own good press. Besides managing patients well in your day-to-day efforts and ensuring that your staff does the same, you should post positive press about your practice on the practice's blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, and anywhere else that's available and appropriate. This way bad press won't be the only information about your practice that is easily obtainable if and when it occurs. Patients are also less likely to believe bad press when it conflicts with positive information they've already received. Brand your practice as conscientious, responsible, and concerned with the health of your patients first and foremost, and you'll be handling bad press, whether direct or indirect, before it even starts.

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About the Author

Practice Manager Network is an online community of healthcare practice managers who have come together for purposes of sharing ideas, learning how to balance home and work life, and getting advice from experts on managing their personal and professional lives more effectively. To find out more please visit: http://www.practicemanagernetwork.com or call 877-315-3338 and a representative will be happy to assist you.

Where is Your Medical Practice in a Vertically Integrated Organization?

In today's health care environment, it can be tempting to accept an offer to become part of a vertically integrated organization, primarily due to the financial support that comes with such a move.  However, there are some important considerations to take into account before doing so in order to ensure that your practice doesn't get lost in the parent company.

 

One factor to consider is the size of your medical practice relative to the size of the potential parent organization.  The larger in proportion the company you're considering joining is relative to the size of your existing practice, the greater the chance of your small office becoming lost.  Since smaller practices typically provide less income for the overarching organization compared to larger integrated groups, your practice's negotiating power may be severely restricted if you join a much larger company.  Research the other practices in the corporation as well as its overall size before proceeding with negotiations so you'll know how your practice will fit into the existing structure if a sale takes place.

 

Given that the parent organization will be footing the bill for your practice's expenses, your physician(s) can expect to lose significant power in terms of decision-making once you've been vertically integrated.  This stands to reason – the parent company is taking the risk, so it will have control.  But it's still a good idea to speak to physicians at length who've already been integrated so you're prepared for the new company culture.  It can be very jarring for doctors with an entrepreneurial mindset to work within a bureaucracy.

 

A vertically integrated organization should provide a stable income and offer new opportunities for your office, physician(s), and staff – but you'll need to get details on exactly what those opportunities will be.  Look at the company's existing promotional materials and employee benefits (including time off).  Find out exactly how expenses, such as rent, payroll, an EMR system, etc. will be paid.  Make sure that what the corporation has to offer is really better than what your practice can get on its own.  If the parent company uses an outdated EMR system, for example, your practice's existing efficiency could be severely compromised.

 

The sale of your practice to a parent company will mean the purchase of all of your assets by the company.  After the sale takes place, every piece of equipment in your office, from computers to exam tables to office chairs to telephones, will be owned by the corporation.  You'll no longer decide when additional or upgraded equipment is purchased.  Negotiate the best price you can for your assets, and be sure that your contract includes anticipated replacement dates for your current equipment.  Visit medical offices owned by the company to be sure they aren't suffering from outdated, inefficient or inadequate equipment.

 

Don't allow any changes, such as the installation of new equipment or the hiring of additional staff, to be made while you are in negotiations to become absorbed by a vertically integrated organization.  Be sure you have a complete understanding of all aspects of your purchase contract, including non-compete agreements and how your physical location will be maintained, before signing on the dotted line.  The decision to become part of a vertically integrated organization could be extremely positive for your practice, but it should be made with extreme care.

To comment please visit: http://www.practicemanagernetwork.com/Blog/HC-Trends/Where-is-Your-Medical-Practice-in-a-Vertically-Integrated-Organization.html

 

About the Author

Practice Manager Network is an online community of healthcare practice managers who have come together for purposes of sharing ideas, learning how to balance home and work life, and getting advice from experts on managing their personal and professional lives more effectively. To find out more please visit: http://www.practicemanagernetwork.com/ or call 877-315-3338 and we will be happy to assist you.

Are Healthcare Company Clinics Opportunity or Competition?

Several Medicare and Medicaid healthcare providers are opening their own clinics to reduce the number of expensive hospital visits that their customers utilize.  The clinics are designed to provide the same care that has been commonly provided in hospitals at the local community clinics at less cost to the insurer than traditional hospital visits.  The clinics are designed to provide care that most doctors' offices cannot provide, such as IV and dialysis treatments. 

Since Medicare and Medicaid plans pay a fixed amount for each procedure, it makes sense for the insurance providers to hold down their costs as much as possible.  The government, both Federal and State have stated that they plan on reducing Medicare and Medicaid payments as one way to balance the budget.  This means that doctors and hospitals will get paid less for the same services and/or the patients will have to shoulder more of the burden fortheir own healthcare. 

Bravo Health, a Medicare Advantage provider, has opened two company run clinics in Philadelphia and one in Boston and are treating its insured patients at no out of pocket expenses to the patients.  They are hiring doctors and nurses to staff the facilities, offering opportunities for healthcare providers in the areas.  Bravo claims that the patients receive as good or better care than they receive in a typical hospital setting, but at less cost.  Bravo estimates hospital stays have declined by about 10 percent among the 20,000 patients living near the clinics.   Bravo doesn't do this by withholding care, said Jason Feuerman, a senior executive for HealthSpring, which acquired Bravo in November.. "It is about driving quality, about driving down the need for unnecessary [medical services] being delivered," Bravo claims to be providing smarter care not less care. 

Other Medicare Advantage plans around the country are buying out existing clinics or opening new clinics in order to hold down their expenses.  These ‘urgent care' clinics offer expanded hours and more extensive treatments than most doctors' offices offer, but they cannot handle severe trauma cases nor provide the extensive emergency room care that hospitals can provide.  The types of services where urgent care clinics can offer better care than a typical doctor's office and at a much lower cost than a hospital ER is minor trauma such as sutures or fractures or common illnesses such as ear infections and heart burn where a full blown ER facility is not required. 

How does this shift toward smaller, community clinics owned and run by insurance companies affect the primary care physicians in the area?  That depends on how you want to work with the insurance provider.  

If you want to retire, you may be able to sell your clinic to the insurance company, who can then expand your clinic and set-up an urgent care facility.  Then you can enjoy life. 

You can offer to set-up and manage an urgent care facility for the insurance company out of your existing clinic facility.  You can offer the insurance company a turn key facility that they can utilize for their plan members and save them the initial start up costs and aggravation usually associated with any start up business. 

You can join them and go to work for an urgent care clinic as an employee.  This may not be an attractive option for an established doctor, but for someone just starting out, the experience and regular salary may be an attractive option. 

Or you can remain a family practitioner, treating your patients as you always have, knowing that Medicare reimbursement will most likely be reduced in the future.  You can still offer the great bedside manner that you always have provided and compete against the large insurance companies for the aging American public by offering more personalized service. 

I know that's what I'll be doing.

For more information please visit http://www.hna-net.com or call 877-311-3338 and obne of our representatives will be happy to assist you.

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About the Author

Since 1993, Healthcare Networks of America successfully built a provider organization for over 17,000 healthcare professionals in all 50 states. HNA's multi-specialty network currently services 4,200 payers and 12.6 million patients nationwide. Healthcare Networks of America was created to organize healthcare providers into national networks. The result of this combination was the negotiation of higher reimbursement, fee-for-service contracts with insurance carriers, PPOs, and other health plan payers. To find out more please vivit http://www.hna-net.com

Welcome to our PhysicianTrends Blog.  We're here to talk about physicians and how they are changing in the midst of the most massive transformation in our healthcare system since Medicare.