From the Editor
Raising Your Net Profit Through Viable Collections
Do you ever feel that your production seems good, but wonder "where is the net income?" Do you ever ask yourself, "Why am I not taking home more money?" If these thoughts go through your mind, I can assure you that you are definitely not the first doctor to fall into that particular rut as we constantly find this problem from our ongoing surveys of doctors all over North America.
In many practices, proper collections hold the key to a viable net. In this issue of Solutions....
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Discussing Collection Matters with the Patient/Client
How to be Polite AND Effective
Always assume that a patient/client can afford the recommended treatment when discussing financial matters. Do not be shy, embarrassed or apologetic when discussing these matters. This can give the apparency that the treatment isn't worth the fee being charged.
When making financial arrangements, the goal should be that the entire fee is paid at the time of service via direct payment and/or use of insurance. You should have a clear financial policy for patients to read and agree to regarding payment of service....
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Making Financial Arrangements
Ensuring Your Office Gets Paid
It is the responsibility of the accounts manager to sit down with the patient/client and work out the best financial arrangement within the framework of the policies of your office. Bear in mind that the ideal plan would be one that facilitates the most immediate payment for service rendered. One would not offer a plan that stretched payments out over a long period of time unless there was no other option that the patient could afford....
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Steps for Collecting Over the Phone
In any practice, outstanding collections exist. Below are some effective techniques for collecting outstanding payments over the phone.
For starters, whoever is doing this job needs to know that they have a two-fold purpose in this specific job duty:
- To bring the patient/client's account current
- To maintain goodwill with the patient/client so that he/she will continue with your practice
....
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Are Online Pet Drug Companies Stealing Your Business?
How to effectively compete with the internet drug companies
There are many companies online that are severely undercutting the profits of veterinarians who would normally be filling the prescriptions. This may or may not be currently affecting your practice but, in the long run, this will probably affect every veterinary practice....
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FDA Urged to Heed Advisory Committee's Advice
to Reject Animal Drug Linked to Antibiotic Resistance in Humans
Drug Manufacturer Vows to 'Continue to Pursue Approval Activities
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is being urged to follow the recommendation of the FDA's scientific advisory committee to reject the use of cefquinome for treating respiratory disease in cattle linked to antibiotic resistance in human medicine. Despite this negative recommendation, the drug's manufacturer, Intervet, has not withdrawn its application -- as is usually done after advisory committee rejections....
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Study Shows Quality of Life For Both Dogs and Their Owners
Can Improve When They Buddy Up To Beat The Battle of the Bulge
A Combined Dog/Owner Partnership Can Help Both Succeed in a Weight Loss Program
A study by Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Hill's Pet Nutrition, "The People and Pets Exercising Together (P-PET)" demonstrates that people and their pets are both more successful in staying with a weight loss program when they exercise together....
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Exposure Trial Shows ALLERCA Cat is Hypoallergenic
Allergy Sufferers Can Now Enjoy Cat Ownership
Dr. Sheldon Spector, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, has designed a protocol and conducted an independent exposure trial that attests the hypoallergenic nature of the ALLERCA GD cat, the world's first naturally bred hypoallergenic feline....
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Guest column: Coping With Conflict
A Layperson's guide to resolving conflict in the office
By Daniel A. Bobrow, MBA
President, American Dental Company
Part one in a series of two articles
Conflict is inevitable. As long as people possess the capacity for independent thought, there will be differences of opinion. One of the keys to resolving conflict is the ability to listen to and respect the viewpoint of the other person. For, as my law professor put it, "…reasonable people can differ."....
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AGD Launches Dry Mouth Awareness Effort
Some Medication Warning Labels Are Tough to Swallow
More than 32 million adults are at risk of dry mouth, or xerostomia, caused mainly by prescription and over-the-counter drug products. Dry mouth can lead to extensive decay, serious oral infections and make it difficult to swallow and speak. More than 80 percent of patients complain about dry mouth and dry mouth symptoms per week, according to an online member poll conducted by the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD)....
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AADR Testifies in Support of Dental Amalgam at FDA Hearing
On behalf of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), AADR member Steve London, D.D.S., Ph.D., testified in support of the use of dental amalgam as a restorative material at the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Joint Meeting of the Dental Products Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research....
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OHSU discovers potential for treating craniofacial pain
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's (OHSU) School of Dentistry have uncovered an interaction between two proteins in the nerve cells that carry pain information from the head and neck to the brain. The finding could play a significant role in the development of therapies to cure migraines and other craniofacial pain conditions like TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder....
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Case for Change in Dental Education Curricula
The American Dental Education Association's (ADEA) Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) was created to serve as a focal meeting place where dental educators and administrators, organized dentistry, and the licensure, accreditation, and examining communities could meet and coordinate efforts to improve dental education and the nation's oral health....
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Guest column: Dental Legal Issues -
Is Fraud like Beauty, in the eye of the beholder?
By Dr. Barry Levy, DDS
In a case filed last year, a dentist has been criminally charged with fraud, because the dentist diagnosed decay in two teeth, using clinical skills and a DIAGNOdent (a fluorescent laser method for early caries diagnosis), decay which another dentist decided did not exist. What makes this interesting is that a difference of opinion wound up in a criminal court....
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Diabetes is the Leading Cause of Blindness Among Most Adults
American Optometric Association Reminds Patients About the Importance of Comprehensive Eye Exams
A survey by the American Optometric Association (AOA), the American Eye-Q™ revealed that while more than 60 percent of adults know that diabetes is detectable through a comprehensive eye exam, only 38 percent of adults who do not wear glasses or contacts have been to an eye doctor in the last two years.
Almost 21 million people in the United States have diabetes....
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AOA Backs Contact Lens Patient Safety Bill
Federal Measure Would Protect Consumers
The American Optometric Association(AOA) announced its support for legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives designed to safeguard consumers from deficient or illegal contact lens prescription verification practices used by the Internet and mail order contact lens sales industry....
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Sight Could Be Restored In Those With Macular Degeneration
A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body's cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV. Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction....
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