The Journal of medical practice management : MPM
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Often medical administrators or providers call in a marketing expert when they feel the practice is lacking the growth they want. What's on their mind is usually how to bring in more patients, and they automatically look to external marketing strategies. However, one of the most important elements to successfully marketing a practice is making sure you haven't created a turnstile, where new patients are coming often but not returning or being converted into loyal, referring patients. ⋯ You can create this atmosphere of loyal, referring patients by providing positive touch points that fulfill the needs of your patients. Touch points are the groundwork supporting other types of marketing. This article covers three important touch points that are crucial to a positive patient experience.
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Many if not most medical practice employees will be working with an increasingly larger number of older adults in the years to come. Yet medical practice employees who are younger may have trouble relating to their older patients and may unwittingly be making their communication with older patients more difficult. This article suggests 25 practical strategies for medical practice employees who work with older patients. ⋯ It describes how they can navigate the challenges that can arise when family members and other caregivers become part of the medical equation. And it offers practical advice about scheduling, escorting, seating, communicating with, and remaining open-minded to the particular needs of older patients. Finally, this article explores behavioral challenges that can emerge when working with older adults, strategies for coping with family interference, and signs of elder abuse.
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You have some reliable and outstanding performers on your team ... but dealing with their idiosyncrasies on a daily basis makes you question whether or not they're worth putting up with. Whether you work in a large corporation or a medical practice, your opportunities are surprisingly similar because it always comes down to having the right people, doing the right job. So how do you live with people who don't always do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it; and worse yet, sometimes don't do it right or simply get under your skin for a gazillion reasons? Read on for advice on how to manage your difficult employees without sacrificing their productivity.
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E-mail has at one and the same time become a primary communication tool for many medical practice employees and a source of untold frustration, misunderstandings, and stress. This article provides a total of 50 rules (25 do's and 25 don'ts) for e-mail netiquette to help medical practice employees use e-mail more effectively. It offers suggestions about the optimal format of e-mails, tips for writing concise e-mail texts, and guidance about the most pressing e-mail privacy and confidentiality concerns. ⋯ This article also offers suggestions for creating and using a medical practice e-mail disclaimer statement. It describes the six legal threats a disclaimer statement can prevent and the typical content for such disclaimers. Finally, this article includes guidance about creating and implementing a medical practice e-mail policy and provides an outline of typical e-mail policy content.