January 2nd 2025
Got a patient who's abusing your staff, ignoring your advice, failing to pay his bill? When you realize it just isn't going to work, it's usually best to let the patient go. Here's how to do it correctly.
July 9th 2024
If you let patients know from the start what you expect from them, you’re far more likely to get the money you’re asking for.
February 16th 2023
It takes just one problem or inconvenience to affect the patient’s experience at your practice.
March 18th 2022
Doctors may see more patients, but diagnoses difficult.
October 8th 2021
How to talk with patients about vaccine concerns.
Five Words that Improve Patient, Physician Communication
Much of great customer service medical practices comes down to whether you can help patients differentiate their wants from their needs.
2014 Great American Physician Survey Results
Get unique insight into the personal and professional lives of physicians through the results of the 2014 Great American Physician Survey, Sponsored by Kareo.
The Primary Care Shortage and ER Overcrowding
With projections of a primary-care physician shortage, this infographic from MHA @ GW explores the causes, effect, and possible solutions.
Can Technology Replace Physician and Patient Interaction?
Technology continues to be promoted as a way to increase efficiencies; but will doctors lose that important human contact and touch as it grows?
Four Common Problems Found in Patient Satisfaction Surveys
Patient surveys almost always sound like a good idea, but most of the time poorly thought-out objectives and questions make them a waste of time and money.
A Physician's 8 Ways to Boost Patient Payment Collections
Here are some strategies my medical practice has developed to get those unpaid patient balances off our books.
Majority of Physicians Remain Happy with Career Choice
Our 2014 Great American Physician Survey, Sponsored by Kareo, indicates 8 in 10 physicians are happy as doctors and have no regrets about their career path.
Dealing with Awkward Patient Encounters
Illness can lead to trying and often tender times for patients and their loved ones. Here are five ways physicians can manage intimate patient encounters.
A Physician's Recommendations for Avoiding Misdiagnosing Patients
Every patient encounter carries with it the possibility of error. And every error can cause problems for the patient. So what do we do as physicians?
Why We Can't Have Improved Healthcare Cost, Access, and Quality
Achieving improved cost, access, and quality of healthcare is an elusive goal for good reason. Like a balloon animal, squeezing one part always affects another.
Make Meaningful Use Clinical Summaries Work for You and Your Patients
Providing your patients with useful clinical summaries to meet meaningful-use requirements might be trickier than you expect.
Stage 2 Menu Objectives: Recording Electronic Notes
One of the new menu objectives for the Stage 2 rules of meaningful use stresses care coordination through recording electronic progress notes.
Meaningful Use Already Improving Patient Care
In the three years since the first providers began attesting, meaningful use has already started benefiting patients.
When Medical Professionals Get Involved with a Family Member's Care
There is a fine line between being an educated patient advocate, and being a know-it-all family member who is in the medical field.
Five Easy Ways to Make Your Medical Practice More Patient Friendly
Take the time to sit in your medical practice waiting room and exam rooms and look at them from a patient’s point of view. You will be glad you did.
The Primary-Care Population Health Primer
The concept of population health is straightforward. Achieving it, not so much, because it requires numerous fundamental changes in our delivery system.
Big Data to Guide Physicians in Helping Patients Before They Get Sick
From apps to analyzing big data, the future of healthcare may be about predicting the future of a patient's well-being and having physicians intervene.
Training Medical Practice Staff to Deal with Angry Patients
If you've ever heard a staff member try to calm an angry patient down on a phone call, you have a great opportunity for training.
Patient-Centered Specialty Practice for Specialists
Patient-centered care is not just for primary-care practices. Here's what you need to know about the Patient-Centered Specialty Practice program.
The Measles Outbreak: Anti-vaccinators Put Us All in Jeopardy
The present outbreak of measles tells a sad story of the impact of market forces on American healthcare.
Private Doctors May Soon Treat VA Patients
Veterans may soon be able to seek care from private providers for up to two years, if they face long wait times at VA facilities.
Four Things Medical Practices Can Learn from the VA Health Scandal
The reasons for this unethical and inefficient system are still being examined, but the consequences contain important lessons for every physician practice.
You Know You Are a Doctor When ...
We asked physicians to finish this sentence: You know you are a doctor when ... Go ahead; see if you can keep from nodding in agreement.
Dealing with Disruptive Patient Behavior
When patients are sick they are not at their best. However, you should clearly articulate which types of poor behavior you'll never tolerate at your practice.
Ending the Physician Relationship with Pediatric Patients
Pediatrics is unique in that physicians have to push patients out of the nest so they can fly on their own. Here's how one doctor does it.
Five Ways to Attract New Patients to Your Medical Practice
Be proactive about building your medical practice with these five surprisingly simple tips to attract new patients.
VA Scandal Demands Decisive Action, not Political Spin
As VA bureaucrats’ fraud, incompetence, and self-interest is exposed, it vividly illustrates why government should get out of healthcare.
Poll: Can Apple's New Health App Boost Patient Compliance?
Apple unveiled its Health app, compiling data from a user's health- and fitness-related apps in one place. Can it help patients take ownership of their health?
The Patient-Physician Relationship: When Does it Start?
Someone tell me when a physician's relationship with a patient starts and how far does the physician's responsibility go until the patient receives care.
Washington Policy Favors Hospitals, Sacrifices Private Physicians
It hasn’t dawned on Washington that hospitals and hospital systems will never commit financial suicide by reducing volume, and physicians will pay the price.