A physician who had a side gig as a pig farmer wanted to breed his three female pigs with the boars on a neighboring farm. He loaded them into the back of his pickup truck and took them to visit several boars at the nearby farm. While the pigs were getting acquainted, the farmer of the female pigs asked the second farmer, “How will I know if my pigs are …
7 practical tips to improve the patient experience in your clinic
Our nation and the health care industry have been in shock following the assassination of the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. in December 2024. The reaction to Brian Thompson’s death and suspected shooter Luigi Mangione appeared to have captured America’s attention. The assassination has focused public outrage toward the health care insurance industry and a lack of empathy for the victim and his …
Physician patient advocacy: Fighting insurance denials effectively
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do your patients select you and your practice for their medical care?” Most medical practices offer the same service, i.e., evaluation and treatment, at approximately the same cost, and produce similar outcomes. After all, how many ways are there to treat a urinary tract infection, diabetes, hypertension, or arthritis? Most doctors are trained to offer similar services, which typically produce identical outcomes. So, why …
Why starting with why can transform your medical practice
An excerpt from Medicine is a Practice: The Rules for Healthcare Marketing.
“I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!”
— The White Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll wrote about the tardiness of the White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. The problem of tardiness is older than the White Rabbit, and lack of punctuality plagues every profession and human interaction. Unfortunately, in the medical …
How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice
“Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.”
– Chuang Tzu
A hunter once lost his way deep inside the jungle while chasing a deer. He used all his navigation skills, but he did not find any way out of the jungle or food for several days. He started feeling so hungry that he could eat an entire elephant in one go. Disappointed, he lost all hope. And that is exactly when …
How the 10th Apple Effect is stealing your joy in medicine
If you have been to the circus and toured the tent where the elephants rest and are fed, you will see that large, two-to-three-ton elephants are tethered to a small wooden stake with a small chain around the ankle of one of their hind legs. This tiny wooden stake driven into the ground could be pulled up in a nanosecond, and the elephant could run away.
But the large …
The hidden chains holding doctors back
I have previously blogged about identifying your practice’s UVP or unique value proposition. This is based on differentiating your practice from others in the community or the region. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, workplaces are pumping fragrances into offices to make the offices smell better. The article focused on real estate properties in Manhattan trying to lure renters back to the workplace after the pandemic. …
Boost patient satisfaction with the power of fragrance
I was scheduled to see a prominent federal judge in my office at 9:00 a.m. The judge requested the first appointment of the day and expected to be seen promptly at 9:00 a.m. I had an emergency providing care for a patient in clot retention. As a result, I was not able to see him at the designated time. At 9:15 a.m., he approached the desk and asked when he …
How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship
Admiral William McRaven is a Navy SEAL and was the president of the University of Texas. In 2014, he gave a commencement speech that has been viewed over 10 million times. It is considered one of the greatest contemporary graduation speeches of all time.* Although the speech was directed at 8,000 graduates at the University of Texas, his message certainly applies to the health care profession.
So, here …
How to change the world: Start by making your bed
Critical to success in the restaurant industry is the practice of preparation, referred to as mise en place, a French term meaning “putting in place.” In a culinary context, mise en place signifies preparing all utensils and ingredients before you start cooking. Mise en place is required in culinary schools and high-end restaurant kitchens.
Mise en place is a guiding principle in any field, increasing productivity and improving workflow.
Here are three …
How a restaurant principle can transform your patient care
A few months ago, the longshoremen’s union shut down 14 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts. This strike of dockworkers was costing the American economy up to $5 billion per day. The strike lasted 3 days, and there was an agreement to suspend the strike and continue negotiations in early 2025.
One of the issues pertained to restricting the use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to load and unload …
The surprising reason doctors might turn to unions
In the previous article, I offered four ways (other than growth) a practice can compensate for declining reimbursements: improve efficiency, boost collection ratio, increase productivity, and consider a practice merger. As promised, here are four more.
Stay focused.
Focused strategies lead to better outcomes and lower costs. It is no accident that the best outcomes and lowest price for open-heart surgery are achieved …
How doctors can thrive despite declining reimbursements
Physicians, practices, and other health care providers seem to face a continual decline in reimbursements. According to an AMA analysis, inflation-adjusted Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians dropped 22 percent from 2001 to 2021, and insurers of Affordable Care Act plans denied 17 percent of in-network claims in 2021.
The gut reaction is often to increase growth, but that brings on problems of its own, like reduced profitability from increased overhead and …
4 strategies to boost your medical practice’s profitability
Have you ever marveled that a new patient will share with you their most intimate secrets just minutes after you initiate their medical history in the exam room? Patients will discuss what they might not share with friends, spouses, significant others, and even their clergyperson. This privilege should not be taken for granted.
It is time to pause and think about patients’ trust in physicians. This article will describe the current …
How doctors can regain trust in the age of misinformation
Just imagine when you felt hurt or betrayed by a colleague, patient, staff member, friend, or family member. Now, picture life if you could somehow free yourself of that hurt, pain, or discomfort. This article will discuss the concept of forgiveness and how it applies to our medical practice.
Examples of forgiveness
A white male racist burned down a predominantly African American church. The arsonist was convicted and sentenced to prison. He …
The power of forgiveness: How letting go transforms your life
Our nation and the health care industry have been in shock following the assassination of the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. The brazen killing of Brian Thompson and the suspected shooter Luigi Mangione has captured America’s attention. The assassination has focused public outrage toward the health care insurance industry and revealed a lack of empathy for the victim and his family. A recent survey …
Insurance denied her a voice, but this doctor wouldn’t back down
Health care is enjoying an abundance of positive attention as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. My question, my challenge, is how can we sustain this love-fest between the public and the health care profession even after we obtain a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19?
Let’s be perfectly honest: six months ago, the American health care system was considered, even by physicians, as broken and in dire need of …
How to ride the wave of adoration for health care professionals
Today, the public has criticized health care as too high in technology and too low in touching. Computers take patients’ histories, provide a differential diagnosis, supply educational materials and even submit a bill for the services that we render. A new specialty — telemedicine — offers health care service to rural areas that were previously underserved or couldn’t afford the latest diagnostic technology. Telemedicine, a technology in its infancy, offers …
Forget the PC police and telemedicine: Give your patient a hug
Recently, a Leonardo Da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), was sold for $450 million, making it the largest fee for a painting ever sold. Was it a good investment? The painting was sold by Leonardo’s heir to King Francis I of France for 4000 gold ducats in 1519, which according to the American Numismatic Society would be equivalent to $575,000 at today’s price of gold at $1277 …
Leonardo Da Vinci and health care: a matter of perspective
No one needs to know the value of multitasking more than a physician. At any point in time, we have to juggle a myriad of tasks and obligations. As a younger physician, I was able to recall multiple requests and obligations without writing them down. As I have grown older and the memory is starting to fade, I find it necessary to …
How this physician keeps track of what he needs to do
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