You are here: Home / Blog

Google’s New Update: Will It Help or Hurt You?

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google’s latest update to their algorithm is geared towards delivering the most up-to-date and relevant searches particularly in areas where freshness matters like breaking news stories, recent events and trending topics.

If your site provides a digest of “industry news” to your clientele then you could definitely benefit here.

This update is based on a concept known as “query deserves freshness” which means that Google is assuming that you are looking for the very latest web postings on a given topic. The example used at Tech Crunch was a search for “Apple earnings”. Without a date modifier, like “Q4 2011″ Google would just assume that this is what you were looking for.

If your site is set up to allow you to publish on the fly using your own staff or your web services provider then you by publishing timely developments about your industry you can increase the likelihood that those posts or pages will rank for their given keyword terms.

If you have any additional questions about your own site and its ability to benefit from this new Google algorithm update or in fact anything regarding online marketing feel free to contact Open Interactive at 949-722-6119.

Link to complete article on Tech Crunch.

Filed Under: Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Development Tagged With: , , , ,

A Tip for Growth: Treat Your Patients as Customers

October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

According to a recent survey by heathcare recruiting form Jaskin & Coker, physicians are now delaying retirement due to the recent recession. A Survey of 522 physicians revealed that 52% were changing thier retirement dates. Within this group, sevently percent said they planned to work longer in order to compensate for the deterioration of their investment porfolios.

This trend underscores the importance of patient retention. For most companies, customer retention and loyalty are paramount to increasing revenue and generating a higher return-on-investment. THe general consensus is that retention and loyalty programs are cheaper than other intiatives to acquire new customers. Fredierick F Reinchheld, a fellow of management consultancy Bain & Company  and +consultant whom The Economist magazine describes as the “the high preist of the loyalty cult,” states the following:

The best predictor of top-line growth can usually be captured in a single survey question: Would you recommend this company to a friend? Surprisingly, the most effective question wasn’t about customer satisfaction or even loyalty per se. In most of the industries studied, the percentage of customers enthusiastic enough about a company to refer it to a frined or colleague directly correlated with growth rate among cempetitors.

So should medical practices employ successful strategies from other industies? Absolutely! And the reality is that they will have to in order to compete in the future. Our nation’s pateint  population is shifting while stablility and permanence of recent legislative changes are tenous. As a result, the need for a steady influx of new patients is critical to a practice’s survival.

Studies show that approximately sevently percent of patients leave thier physicians becuase of a perceived attitude of indifference. This does not mean that explicit rudemess was involved but rather the fdeeling of being ignored or rushed. Astute providers know that they cannot take their patient population for granted. The following are just a few examples of ways in which physicians can retain patients and hopefully, attract referrals.

  1. The Office as a First Impression. Is the office clean? Is it cluttered? is the staff dressed appropriately?
  2. Stay on Schedule. People dislike having to wait to see thier doctor.
  3. Treat Patients and Family Mebers with Respect. While ths seems pbvious, recent data suggest that the mentality of “Physician as GOd” alientates patients.
  4. Listen to Patients and Answer their Questions. Take the extra time to really focus on what your patients are saying. Many just want thier fears assuaged.
  5. Use Patient Satisfaction Surveys to Identify not only Flaws but Successes as well.

Behavioral science applied with empathy and sound bsuiness fundamentals can improve your servie delivery. Simply, it can change the impressionals that your patients remember, refer back to, and pass on to future customers.

For more information call Ken Alston at MedVision, (714) 258-0011 ext 233

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting

Healthcare Reform/Affordable Care Act (ACA) Update

October 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We all know by now that several parts of Reform/ACA have been implemented and key components have yet to be implemented.  The very basis of the mandate that all individuals will have “insurance” is under significant pressure.

Changes Implemented:

  1.  No lifetime limit on covered services
  2. Children of covered employees may be on the parents coverage up to age 26
  3. All medically covered persons regardless of the medical unsurance plan can access a zero cost annual wellness exam when using an in network provider which includes screening for various conditions and lab work
  4. Women have access to an OB/GYN as their primary care physician
  5. Pre-existing condition exclusion is eliminated for children under age 19

Items to be implemented

 Clinical Trails

The new coverage requirements for approved clinical trials are listed below and are going to be effective January 1, 2014.  Group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage may not:

  1. Deny “qualified individuals” participation in certain “approved clinical trials”
  2. Deny the coverage of  ”routine patient costs” furnished in connection with the clinical trials or discriminate against the individual on the basis of the individuals’ participation in such trials

Employers Penalties

Filed Under: Industry Updates, Risk Management Tagged With:

Anaheim Enterprise Zone

September 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

ELLS CPAs & Business Advisors shares great news for businesses and practices located in Anheim. Check it out, here.

Filed Under: Certified Public Accountant, Tax Planning

The Debt Crisis & Your Practice

August 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

The August 2011 debt limit agreement averted a U.S. default. It did little, however, to address the intermediate to long-term outlook for Medicare. While the debt compromise does not impose any immediate cuts in Medicare spending, Congress must devise a plan by the end of 2011 to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. If they are unable to come to a resolution, the debt reduction plan will require the federal government to impose a two-percent reduction in payments to Medicare providers starting in 2013.

Doctors are already facing a bigger issue. On January 1, 2012, there is anexpected 29.5 percent pay cut unless Congress acts decisively. Simply, lawmakers passed the buck this August. Medicare will now be front and center later this year when the 2012 election campaign gets under full swing. This is not good news. Already a polarizing issue, Medicare will now be even more politicized.

Cuts of any size or an increase in age eligibility (65 to 67; a three percent change) will undoubtedly harm patients by affecting their access to quality of care. Providers are already increasingly opting out or limiting their number of Medicare patients. According to a recent AMA study, 17 percent of doctors already say they restrict the number of Medicare patients largely because of low reimbursement. This same study found that further pay cuts perhaps will force many doctors out of Medicare entirely. This is ominous for patients, doctors, and our health system in general. And it appears that these Medicare reductions do not work in concert with the Affordable Care Act of last year, which was intended to lower costs but produce better medical outcomes.

David Cutler of Harvard alarmingly discovered that cuts to Medicare have traditionally correlated with cost-shifting to the private sector. In short, providers attempt to transfer these costs to other payers, which translate to

 For more information call MedVision at 714.258.0011 x 233

higher expenses for insurance companies. As a result, these cost increases result in higher premiums for employers who are then forced to reduce the level of benefits to their employees. This leads to inferior care and medical outcomes thus driving up healthcare costs. As it stands today, it is uncertain how these proposed cuts would affect correlative legislative changes (electronic health records and e-prescribing for example) and their respective incentives.

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting Tagged With:

Benchmarking Your Medical Practice

August 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Inspired by The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande the Advanced Planning for Doctors group has created their own quick benchmarking checklist for medical practices.

Is saving thousands of dollars or finding a world-class service provider worth 15 minutes?

It can be downloaded here Advanced-Planning-for-Doctors-Checklist-2011

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting

HR Alerts

August 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Changes to OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements. Published on June 22, 2011, in the Federal Register, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed changes to its current requirements on recordkeeping and reporting of employee injuries and illnesses. OSHA is seeking comments from the public until September 20, 2011.

Proposed Rules Related to Health Insurance Exchanges. Published on July 15, 2011, in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two proposed rules: (1) Establishment of Exchanges and Qualified Health Plans and (2) Standards Related to Reinsurance, Risk Corridors and Risk Adjustment. In regards to the operation of health insurance exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the rules assist with the maintenance of premium stability in the exchanges upon formation. Public comments are due on or before September 28, 2011.

Unemployment Discrimination Legislation. Introduced on July 12, 2011, by the U.S. House of Representatives, the proposed Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 would prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against the unemployed or placing job advertisements or posts stating that unemployed individuals are unqualified.

Final SEC Whistleblower Program Rules. Effective August 12, 2011, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued final rules to implement the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program, such that publicly traded employers should not interfere with an employee’s communication efforts with the SEC or take any adverse actions against an employee for exercising his or her rights under the whistleblower provisions.

For more information about Human Resources call Brett Adolph at 714.467.3434 x 231

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting

Employee or Independent Contractor?

August 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

The IRS estimates that millions of workers are misclassified as independent contractors, costing the federal government huge sums of tax revenue due to underreported income and related unpaid employment taxes.

If the IRS reclassifies a worker as an employee, the employer:

  1. Becomes liable for:
    1. Employment taxes that should have been withheld from workers pay, such as FICA, federal and state income taxes.
    2. The employer’s share of FICA taxes,
    3. State and federal employment taxes,
    4. Penalties and interest for failure to (a) pay these taxes, and (b) file payroll tax returns and
    5. May have a retirement plan retroactively disqualified, which could cause all vested accrued benefits to become taxable for employees in the plan.

 

In the past the Internal Revenue Service used a “Twenty Factor Test” to determine whether or not an individual could be categorized as an independent contractor. The factors have since been consolidated into eleven main tests and organized into three primary groups: behavioral control, financial control and the relationship between the parties.

Behavioral Control

This is based on the facts and circumstances that show whether the business has a right to direct and control the performance of the individual in question.  The behavioral control test is separated into two items:

  1. Instructions the business gives the worker.
  2. Training the business gives the worker.

Financial Control

Showing that a business has a right to control the business aspects of the individual’s job include:

  1. The extent to which the worker has unreimbursed business expenses. 
  2. The extent of the worker’s investment.
  3. The extent to which the worker makes services available to the relevant market.
  4. How the business pays the worker.
  5. The extent to which the worker can realize a profit or loss.

Type of Relationship

Factors showing the type of relationship between the parties include:

  1. Written contracts describing the relationship the parties intended to create.
  2. Whether the business provides the worker with employee-type benefits such as insurance, a pension plan, vacation pay, or sick pay.
  3. The permanency of the relationship.
  4. The extent to which services performed by the worker are a key aspect of the regular business of the company.

If you have questions about employees vs. independent contractors please call Greg Lewis at 714.569.1000.

Filed Under: Certified Public Accountant, Medical Practice Consulting

Benchmarking Your Company’s Web Site

August 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Online Marketing Orange CountyPerhaps you threw something up using FrontPage when the Internet broke in 1998. Maybe your cousin’s college friend gave you a killer deal. Even worse, maybe you spent tens of thousands of dollars on a beautiful new site and yet you don’t even come up when you search for your company by name. Maybe its time for a new web site, one that is modern, flexible and will serve your company’s needs for years to come.

First answer these questions. If you answer “No!” to 2 or more give us a call: 949-722-6119

  1. Do you have a program of monthly online marketing & Search Engine Optimization in place?
  2. Can your web site be easily updated on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
  3. Does your web site reflect both the current state of your business AND where you’d like to your business to be in terms of market reach?

For a more complete idea of what we offer please visit our web site: www.open-interactive.com

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting, Search Engine Optimization, Web Development

Turning65seminar.com

July 29, 2011 By 1 Comment

Physicians Have A Great Tool For Pre-Medicare Patients

Turning65seminar.com

Baby Boomers are aging into Medicare and over the next several years more patients will need to learn about Medicare in order to make decisions about when to join and what options they should consider in this decision.

More people are visiting Turning65Seminar.com to learn more about Medicare. 

Physicians and hospitals are also seeing the value in linking to this site so their patients can learn more and make informed decisions about Medicare.

The seminar addresses key questions such as:

When to join Medicare?

How to join?

What is covered?

How do I fill in the gaps Medicare leaves open that I pay for?

For those that want to speak with a trained and certified representative have that option as well.

Physicians can add the site as a link on their website or send the link to patients turning 65.  Most physicians then inform us which plans and carriers they are contracted with so we put this into our system and make certain when their patients call that we enroll only into plans that enable them to stay with their physician.  

More information is available at 800-500-9799 ext. 226

 Posted 7/29/11

Filed Under: Medical Practice Consulting Tagged With:
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »