Have you registered your spot at this amazing conference?

Visit http://www.apma.org/thenational for more information.

We look in the mirror every morning before we step out and carry on our day to make sure we present well in all of our daily business interactions. We ensure that our business’s practices reflect that of integrity and good customer service. However, do you take the time out to check your practice’s online presence? Many times, a physician’s  reputation and practice suffers as a result of unnoticed negative reviews or comments online.

Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure your business shines online with a healthy presence.

• Perform a simple Google search of your practice’s name, or Physician’s name.
• Assess the information listed online: Keep printouts of the reviews various sites may have, along with the URL(website address). This comes in handy for future monitoring of additional reviews on these sites. Make sure to share the information you found with your entire practice.
• Positively manage negative content online: A great tip to deal with a negative review is to enlist positive reviews from your other patients. In doing so, this will help you overwhelm the negative review when a lot more positive reviews are posted. This Article will give you additional helpful tips. http://www.reputation.com/reputationwatch/articles/how-doctors-can-manage-negative-content-online
• In the absence of an online presence, make one for your practice: The best marketing you can do is to have online profile listings on many sites. Here is a list of some website portals to get you started. Each one of the following links takes you to the support page to help you claim your business and manage your online profiles:

yellow pages

Google online listings

Bing

Health Grades

Yelp

• Make sure all listing have accurate information about your practice. Do all listings have the correct “Contac US” information and your Website address listed? Include pictures, times of operation, services available, and insurances accepted among others.
• Encouraging satisfied patients to go online and post positive reviews. The most powerful marketing tool are positive reviews. Have small cards with the website addresses to your online postings, direct patients to go online and give you good reviews. Remember a lot of your patients are more than eager to tell others about you.

A small cautionary warning is to refrain yourself, other employees, or relatives from going online and posting positive reviews. Not only is this unethical, but many recent instances have brought embarrassment to businesses for doing exactly this. Remember even if anonymous, postings can always be traced back to an IP address ( the address to the computer used).

Through out the month make sure you periodically monitor your practice’s online presence. A lot more patients are going online and doing simple searches to find referrals to physicians. It is extremely crucial to do so, since it is easier for unsatisfied customers to go online and often anonymously post negative comments that reach a far greater audience.

"What you get by achieving your goals is as important as what you become by achieving your goals."
Henry David Thoreau

By: Jesus C. Vazquez, PMAC

The New Year is here and we have all set our personal goals for this time. However, have you started to set your Practice’s Resolution?

Even if you don’t believe in resolution setting, you should adopt a plan of 7 necessary goals to help your practice thrive in 2012.

1. Increase sales in 2012

Reporting of how many new patients you see in your office on a monthly or quarterly basis is crucial. Spot who your top referral sources are, and identify inactive referral sources who you can reach out to.

Do your new patient referrals walk away because of lack of appointment availability? Are patient’s not been fitted in on urgent basis because you have a full schedule? Effective scheduling and increased efficiency can help you meet high demand for appointment spots.

2. Market your business online

Does your practice reach out on social media websites like Facebook business pages, or other sites like yelp, or even on the yellow pages?

Start by updating your profiles with pictures, bio information, listing of your office hours and availability of your services. When you put a face to your business online profiles, people can be drawn to call your office for an appointment.

3. Establish your reputation within your community

Is your office one that is known for being honest, upfront about your office policies, and willing to go the extra mile to meet your patient’s needs?

Working those few extra minutes of lunch or after-hours to meet the extra need of an emergency can potentially create a loyal patient, and a great referral source. Satisfied patients who were helped are more likely to talk about your business than those who feel neglected.

4. Be more Productive

Often times, it is not how fast you can do things, or how much you invest in technology that propels you forward. But rather, it is simplifying processes and systems.  Can you eliminate unnecessary waste of resources and energy? Can you simplify a process to allow for less error creation?

5. Negotiate better prices for your inventory items like DME and Medical Supplies

Will buying higher quantities yield you a better price? Ask for promotional prices from conferences the week before and the week, you will be surprised at cost savings you may be missing. Oftentimes, you can save hundreds of dollars by buying bulk on conference promotions. It never hurts to ask for a better price.

6. Establish and promote a healthy Work environment

Is your entire staff inspired to be present and connected at work every day? Smiles and job satisfaction should be your practice’s daily priority goal. When the going gets tough, a team that plays well together will stay together. Allow time to celebrate your team and each individual in it. A happy work environment will shine to everyone coming in through your doors.

Remember individuals who feel a connection to the business and its services tend to be happier. Think less micromanaging,  and more empowerment.

7. Promote training and skill sharpening in your office

Cultivation of new skills can create self and professional growth in any job position.

Are individuals able to cross train? Can people help out in other jobs or positions when someone is sick? Are there rewards to learning and taking on more responsibilities? Learning should be part of your business, promoting people’s strengths in their respective areas, while strengthening other’s weaknesses with additional training.

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”
Mortimer Adler

Our ideal applicant is friendly, upbeat, patient and professional. To survive at our office, you must be able to multi-task several important items at once, stress is an everyday occurrence.  Must be good with people in person and on the telephone, team oriented, and have basic computer skills (word, excel, etc.).  Someone who is respectful, has a good work ethic, friendly, cheerful, upbeat, gets along with others, is a team player and ambitious is the person we’re looking for. Soft skills are the most important skills, we can teach you the rest!
The start date for this position is Monday February 6 at the latest, may start as early as January.

This position will start off at 20-25 hours per week:

Monday:         off
Tuesday:        7:30am-1pm
Wednesday:      11:30am-6:30 pm
Thursday:       off
Friday:         11:30am-6:30pm
Every other Saturday: 7:30am-1pm

This position will increase to 37 hours per week by June (possibly earlier):

Monday:         off
Tuesday:        7:30am-1pm
Wednesday:      7am-6:30 pm (every other 7am-12pm)
Thursday:       8:30am-6:30pm
Friday:         7am-6:30pm

Every other Saturday: 7:30am-1pm
Job will entail escorting patient to room, triaging chief complaint, assisting doctor while in room, completing note in E.M.R., assisting with minor procedures, taking radiographs, filing syringes, explaining treatments and products, making appointments, explaining insurance benefits, etc.

High School Diploma or GED required.

If you are our "People Person", please submit a cover letter and resume via word document attachment to sam@heartlandfootandankle.com. Be sure to include "I AM your new MA!" in the subject line. Also include three professional references who can attest to your work experience and communication skills.

Back Office, 31-39 hrs per week(during 8:30-5 M-F hrs).

• Must have reliable transportation. Offices in Central Phoenix. 
• Dependability is crucial.
• Podiatric or orthopedic experience/CMA certification/limited radiology certificate helpful but not required. 
• Apply only if you are excited about working in a friendly, modern and professional environment and have good communication skills, good physical hygeine, and are a non-smoker.
• Must be willing to do mundane, but necessary tasks as well as assisting in procedures, changing surgical dressings, removing sutures, applying and removing casts, performing injections, etc.

Will train additional skills to someone that is motivated to learn and is interested in becoming a valuable asset to our team! Outgoing personality is a must!

Typical BO job description (rooming patients, taking histories in our electronic medical records and performing chart documentation, preparing trays, sterilizing and cleaning instruments, stocking rooms, assisting the doctor, etc.) all necessary… but may occasionally be asked to participate in marketing, assisting front office personnel, answering and returning phone calls, etc.

Must be Team Player and willing to work side-by-side with other employees in small office setting, expect some cross-training. Excellent opportunity for excellent candidate! We offer excellent compensation based on experience with review for increase in 90 days. 

Looking to fill position immediately send resume to: mbfoot2004@yahoo.com

The end of year is fast approaching. You will need to enlist your entire staff to meet the criteria for Meaningful Use. But do they know exactly what meaningful use mean?

“Teaching Meaningful Use to Your Staff: Here’s the rules of the game

By Rosemarie Nelson | April 20, 2011

The EHR incentives are here, but how do you ensure that both you and your staff know the rules of the game? First and most important, the initiative needs to be practice-wide, not just something your providers are required to do. Involving your support staff is essential to achieving meaningful use of a certified EHR. Indeed, staff will play a significant role in your practice’s successful adoption of EHR technology. So, what are the steps involved and how do you get your staff informed, involved, and in the game?

Read the full Article at : Teaching Meaningful Use to your staff

Nike MAG Officially Unveiled

September 8, 2011  /  By George Kiel III

“This project is exciting to me because it brings together three very passionate audiences: the Parkinson’s community, the sneakerheads and Back to the Future fans.” – Michael J. Fox.

A few moments ago, Nike officially unveiled the Nike Air Mag AKA “Marty McFly” shoe. As stated earlier, Nike announced that 1500 pairs of this shoe will be auctioned on eBay, nikemag.eBay.com, with all net proceeds going directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The auction will begin tonight at 8:30PM PST and end on September 18 (150 pairs will be posted on eBay per day for 10 days). The Nike Air Mag has been anticipated for the longest as it first showed its face in the 1989 2015 released film Back to the Future.

Leading up to the release of the Nike Air Mag, a 50 million match grant was given to the Michael J. Fox Foundation by Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki; they will match all donations to the foundation, up to 50 million dollars, through the end of 2012.

Full article: Nike MAG Officially Unveiled | NiceKicks.com

The qualified candidate must be professional, reliable, energetic and enthusiastic! We prefer a manager who is also certified in Radiology, capable of mastering digital radiology.

Our position requires experience with EMR, diagnostic ultrasound, injections, autoclave, CLIA, HIPAA and OSHA compliance, ordering medical supplies, and supervising staff.

Above all, the candidate must be able to make our patients feel special and continue our tradition of providing excellent podiatric care. This is a M-F only position, benefits and salary negotiable.

Please send resume to ellenal@cox.net.

How Must an Employee Be Trained in HIPAA?

by Daniel Walker, Demand Media

 

Employees must be trained in HIPAA regulations.

Medical Transport image by JASON WINTER from Fotolia.com

HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which governs the privacy of an individual’s medical records. Employees of businesses that may come into contact with records covered by HIPAA are required to undergo training on how to handle those records, and they can be held accountable for violations of the act.

Who is Affected

Training in HIPAA is mandatory for any employee that has access to patient data. This can include, but is not limited to, physicians, psychologists, researchers, dentists, nurses, opticians, insurance specialists, human resources officers and all employees who have access or manage personal data.

Read the Full Article: How Must an Employee Be Trained in HIPAA? | Small Business – Chron.com

 

This site will provide you will tools to address limb loss issues, resources for prevention and information about how you can get involved with the first National Limb Loss Awareness Month. The Amputee Coalition is THE source for limb loss information and prevention resources. We are celebrating our 25th year of service to all people affected by limb loss and hope you will join us in the fight to stop preventable limb loss and increase the knowledge needed by all amputees to live a full and productive life.”

This Blog features 25 great articles on ways to prevent Limb Loss!

Read full Blog: 25 Ways to Prevent Limb Loss