Dr Neeraj Kohli writes: I have often been frustrated with the mundane documentation required of physicians, and nowhere is that more prevalent than in our dictation of routine and uncomplicated surgical procedures. Long ago, I realized a better way to accomplish the same task that is a win-win for all parties involved.
Blogs
Neil Baum, MD, is Clinical Associate Professor of Urology, Tulane Medical School, New Orleans, LA, and author of Marketing Your Clinical Practice-Ethically, Effectively, and Economically, Jones Bartlett Publishers
Neeraj Kohli, MD, MBA, is Director, Division of Urogynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
I graduated high school in 1985 hoping that I would follow in my grandfather's footsteps and become a doctor. Some of the other kids took typing classes in high school, and I thought that was well and good for those joining the secretarial pool or going into journalism. Who could have predicted the value of typing given our use of computers for all future forms of communication and documentation? Fast-forward 35 years and my typing is still at a high school level at best and is far from prime time for the electronic medical record (EMR) keeping requirements of modern day medicine.
In the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to review many medical malpractice cases for both a defense and plaintiff, and oftentimes, adequate, written informed consent becomes a significant basis for the case. In this day and age when patients are asking for more and more information and physicians have less and less time, it's important to make sure that you don't cut corners when it comes to informed consent.
So, how can we translate what happens in the operating room to our office practices? We believe that developing protocols for day-to-day activities in your office and your clinic will improve the efficiency and productivity of your practice.
In order to achieve a favorable relationship between you and a referring physician, you should make every effort to keep the referring physician involved and functioning as the captain of the patient's healthcare ship.
Meetings are unavoidable—but they don't have to be unproductive. You can transform meetings from being time sinks to springboards for effective action by learning how to set smart agendas, keep meetings on track, handle problematic behaviors and time-wasters, and motivate employees to take action.
It’s becoming a proven fact that video is changing the way we do things. It is no coincidence that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. It is a fact that many patients would much rather watch a video than read a testimonial.
For many physicians—myself included—we are out of our comfort zone when we are in front of our peers or laymen and laywomen. One of the best ideas that I have for making sure that everything is ready for the program during which I am speaking is to have a speaking checklist.
What is a doctor to do when there are negative or defamatory comments made on the Internet? Here, we provide an effective and ethical method of generating positive comments about you and your practice.
When a patient offers a compliment to me or my staff, he or she is given a form that’s in every exam room and the patient is asked whether we can use that compliment as a testimonial on the Website.
