All of your hard work on protecting your profession from the requirements of the FTC’s Red Flags Rule is paying off.
The agency today announced that it would extend the moratorium on enforcement of the rule until June 1, 2010. The current moratorium ends Sunday.
The ADA succeeded in getting Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to sign on to a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, urging him to enact another enforcement delay.
On another front, Senate leaders have told us that next week they will bring the House version of legislation exempting small businesses from the Red Flags Rule to the floor under “unanimous consent.” In other words, the bill is likely to pass unopposed.
Given that the FTC has announced that it supports the legislation, we expect the president will sign it immediately, thereby eliminating the threat of a new regulatory burden from most dental practices.
We are convinced that neither the FTC nor lawmakers would have responded to this looming problem without a push from the tens of thousands of dentists who contacted their representatives in Congress.
Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our profession.
Sincerely,
Ronald L. Tankersley, D.D.S.
President
Sunday, November 1, 2009
FDA delays Red Flags Rule until June 2010
This just in from the American Dental Association:
Act now for Illinois HB 2239
Illinois dentists, ISDS is calling on you to contact Gov. Quinn about HB 2239, which repeals the 50% Illinois income tax increase for partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs. Visit the ISDS Capwiz page to send your message to the governor.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
House of Representatives votes to exempt most dentists from Red Flags Rule
This just in--statement from ADA President Dr. Ronald Tankersley on Passage of HR 3763, which would exempt most dental practices and small businesses from the FTC’s Red Flags Rule:
On behalf of the 157,000 members of the American Dental Association, I want to thank the principal sponsors of HR 3763 for the introduction and overwhelming House passage of this legislation. The bill, introduced by Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.), Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), will exempt small businesses, including most private-practicing dentists, from the Federal Trade Commission’s ‘Red Flags Rule.’ “After listening to health care providers from across the country, lawmakers confirmed that the original Red Flags legislation was not meant to apply to small businesses like the vast majority of dental practices, but rather it was intended to encourage large businesses like banks, credit firms and national retailers to implement best practices to protect customers’ from identity theft. “Over the past year, the ADA worked with numerous health care organizations and small business groups in urging Congress to quickly fix this problem. We hope that the Senate acts with similar speed to protect dentists and other small businesses from being forced to work under the yoke of an FTC rule that was never intended to apply to them.”
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Managing your online reputation: responding to negative comments online
Please welcome Rachel Zanders, a writer who will be posting to this blog from time to time. Rachel is also a contributor to Gapers Block, where she covers Chicago's dance community.
This is the third and final installment in a series of articles on how dentists can protect and manage their reputation online.
Now that you’ve learned a little about review websites and search engines, and now that you’ve established and researched your online presence, what can (and can’t) you do about what all of those real people are saying about you?
First, try getting to the client before the client gets to the keyboard. Asking the patient about his experience in your office before he leaves might diffuse his desire to vent, or it might be the extra effort that encourages him to go tell the world about your polite and caring office. And of course, he might present you with some thoughtful feedback that you can act upon.
Next, utilize the online tools to your fullest advantage by staying vigilant (potentially with the aid of Google Alerts, as suggested in the previous post) and taking action when you find something that merits it. If you receive a review--either positive or negative--on a site like Yelp that allows you to reply, consider using that tool. (The tips provided in Yelp’s thorough guide to responding to reviews could be applied to a business response on any similar website.) However, as a healthcare professional, you must tread carefully because of HIPAA.
Dr. Petra von Heimburg, P.C., dentist, attorney, and CDS member, points out that the gut reaction to respond in a public forum, “explaining the circumstances, [the] treatment, and laying out the reasons therefore, … often leads to HIPAA violations by the dentist because, while mounting his defense, he will invariably reveal details of the patient’s protected information.” When in doubt, reply privately or don’t reply at all, and always tread carefully.
And finally, what to do if a client posts something defamatory? The hope is that you can find a way to work it out privately with the reviewer. But many sites won’t release a reviewer’s information without "a court order or a formal demand by another legal authority" (Dr. Oogle), and most will not remove comments. It’s certainly worth asking the site to withdraw the comment, stating your solid reasoning, but don't be surprised if the site does not find in your favor. (Yelp’s CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has been quoted as saying, “We put the community first, the consumer second and businesses third.”)
If all of those efforts fail, you might start thinking litigation. After all, there’s that semi-success story about the pediatric dentist in San Francisco who is currently attempting to sue the writers of a Yelp review. (See also this article and link.)
But Dr. Heimburg wouldn’t advise you to take that route. First, “defamation, be it libel or slander, by definition, has to be a wrongful statement of fact. If the statement is an opinion, it is protected by the First Amendment.” Second and third, “a defamation lawsuit is difficult to win … and very expensive,” to the tune of “$20,000 or more.” In order to win the case, first you have to prove there was a false statement of fact. Then you have to prove that you experienced business loss that was caused by the defamation. And then you have to be able to prove the amount lost. Can you prove that ten potential patients who researched you on Yelp absolutely would have chosen you if not for the negative review? Can you prove that those ten patients would have produced an income of $2,000 each?
But don’t lose hope. Your online reputation is not your enemy, and maintaining that reputation is a manageable task. The truly problematic posts should be very rare, and remember that you have innumerable opportunities to harness the power of the new word of mouth and make it work to your advantage.
This is the third and final installment in a series of articles on how dentists can protect and manage their reputation online.
Now that you’ve learned a little about review websites and search engines, and now that you’ve established and researched your online presence, what can (and can’t) you do about what all of those real people are saying about you?
First, try getting to the client before the client gets to the keyboard. Asking the patient about his experience in your office before he leaves might diffuse his desire to vent, or it might be the extra effort that encourages him to go tell the world about your polite and caring office. And of course, he might present you with some thoughtful feedback that you can act upon.
Next, utilize the online tools to your fullest advantage by staying vigilant (potentially with the aid of Google Alerts, as suggested in the previous post) and taking action when you find something that merits it. If you receive a review--either positive or negative--on a site like Yelp that allows you to reply, consider using that tool. (The tips provided in Yelp’s thorough guide to responding to reviews could be applied to a business response on any similar website.) However, as a healthcare professional, you must tread carefully because of HIPAA.
Dr. Petra von Heimburg, P.C., dentist, attorney, and CDS member, points out that the gut reaction to respond in a public forum, “explaining the circumstances, [the] treatment, and laying out the reasons therefore, … often leads to HIPAA violations by the dentist because, while mounting his defense, he will invariably reveal details of the patient’s protected information.” When in doubt, reply privately or don’t reply at all, and always tread carefully.
And finally, what to do if a client posts something defamatory? The hope is that you can find a way to work it out privately with the reviewer. But many sites won’t release a reviewer’s information without "a court order or a formal demand by another legal authority" (Dr. Oogle), and most will not remove comments. It’s certainly worth asking the site to withdraw the comment, stating your solid reasoning, but don't be surprised if the site does not find in your favor. (Yelp’s CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has been quoted as saying, “We put the community first, the consumer second and businesses third.”)
If all of those efforts fail, you might start thinking litigation. After all, there’s that semi-success story about the pediatric dentist in San Francisco who is currently attempting to sue the writers of a Yelp review. (See also this article and link.)
But Dr. Heimburg wouldn’t advise you to take that route. First, “defamation, be it libel or slander, by definition, has to be a wrongful statement of fact. If the statement is an opinion, it is protected by the First Amendment.” Second and third, “a defamation lawsuit is difficult to win … and very expensive,” to the tune of “$20,000 or more.” In order to win the case, first you have to prove there was a false statement of fact. Then you have to prove that you experienced business loss that was caused by the defamation. And then you have to be able to prove the amount lost. Can you prove that ten potential patients who researched you on Yelp absolutely would have chosen you if not for the negative review? Can you prove that those ten patients would have produced an income of $2,000 each?
But don’t lose hope. Your online reputation is not your enemy, and maintaining that reputation is a manageable task. The truly problematic posts should be very rare, and remember that you have innumerable opportunities to harness the power of the new word of mouth and make it work to your advantage.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Patient's death in Michigan blamed on cuts to dental Medicaid program
This just in from DrBicuspid.com (link requires registration):
A Michigan woman with severe periodontitis died this month because the state eliminated adult dental Medicaid benefits, according to the director of a chain of clinics that attempted to arrange her treatment.
The woman, whose name has not been released at the request of her family, died October 8 after getting a blood infection, said Thomas Veryser, D.D.S., M.H.S.A, executive director of Michigan Community Dental Clinics. He said he did not know her precise cause of death, but to explain the blood infection "physical examination provided no alternative to the obvious chronic periodontitis that the patient suffered from"....
When a physician detected her blood infection in early July, he recommended that all her teeth be extracted. The dental clinic scheduled this treatment at a local hospital, but the hospital postponed the procedure because she had mild pneumonia that prevented the use of general anesthesia.
By the time she recovered from the pneumonia, the state had eliminated dental services and the hospital would not put her under general anesthesia because the cost--which it estimated at $4,500 to $6,000--would not be reimbursed by the state, Dr. Veryser said.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Managing your online reputation: tools for dentists
Please welcome Rachel Zanders, a writer who will be posting to this blog from time to time. Rachel is also a contributor to Gapers Block, where she covers Chicago's dance community.
This is the second installment in a series of articles on how dentists can protect and manage their reputation online.
As I pointed out in my previous “Open Wide” entry, two powerful ways clients find dentists are Internet search engines and user review sites. In today’s market, it is in every business owner’s interest to make these tools work for him rather than passively allowing the online stream of information to roll by. There is no reason to feel intimidated--once you understand how these tools work, you’ll find ways to make them work to your advantage.
Search Engines
Potential clients using search engines are more likely to click on a link that appears higher up in the search results. So how does a search engine “decide” what is listed and where it is ranked?
Search engines usually send a “spider," or automated software program, out into the wilderness of the Web. The spider reviews page content and makes a list of words, indexing information based on the spider’s pre-programmed system. The search engine uses that index to decide what pages are listed and in what order.
There is an entire industry out there called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) whose goal is to increase a website’s visibility when a user searches on related terms. Laura Cameron, SEO Strategist for Rosetta Marketing, explains that once you have a “simple, clear, and professional-looking” website that is worthy of drawing traffic, there are three areas of focus for SEO.
First, your site must be set up technically so as to allow spiders to locate, understand, and index your site. Second is the content. Cameron suggests, “Make sure each page has good, descriptive content on it, not just images. Make sure ‘dentist, dentistry, teeth, dental care,’ and other related terms are mentioned.” And finally, getting other respectable sites to link to your site increases authoritativeness and places you higher in search results.
Says Cameron, “You can go to DMOZ or other link directories and submit site pages to relevant categories. Although free directories often take months to establish a link, when they do, [the link should help the page] appear in search results. You should also have employees or customers … link to the site from their blogs, LinkedIn profiles, websites, or any other site on the Web.”
If you’re not going to hire an SEO expert (or even if you are), check out Google’s Business Solutions page to learn more about acquiring in-depth information about people who visit your site and how they use your site, buying targeted advertising, and much more.
Consumer Review Sites
Contrary to popular business owners’ belief, these sites aren’t just repositories for consumer angst. Although many people assume that clients are more likely to review a business if they’ve had a bad experience, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the average customer rating is 4.3 out of 5 stars. In addition, many sites allow business owners to take an active role. For example, visit Yelp’s page for business owners. This will take you through the steps of “unlocking” your page, which will allow you to reply to reviews privately or publicly, track the traffic on your Yelp page, and even announce special offers.
One of the most important steps you can take in managing your online reputation is to keep track of what’s being said about you. An easy way to do this is through Google Alerts. (See also our previous explanation of how to set up a Google Alert for your practice.) Once you’ve filled out the very short form, you will receive an e-mail as frequently as you like that lists all of the places where your search terms (e.g., your name, your practice’s name, your partners’ names, etc.) appear. In the final entry in this series, I’ll be providing information about how to reply to what your clients might be saying.
This is the second installment in a series of articles on how dentists can protect and manage their reputation online.
As I pointed out in my previous “Open Wide” entry, two powerful ways clients find dentists are Internet search engines and user review sites. In today’s market, it is in every business owner’s interest to make these tools work for him rather than passively allowing the online stream of information to roll by. There is no reason to feel intimidated--once you understand how these tools work, you’ll find ways to make them work to your advantage.
Search Engines
Potential clients using search engines are more likely to click on a link that appears higher up in the search results. So how does a search engine “decide” what is listed and where it is ranked?
Search engines usually send a “spider," or automated software program, out into the wilderness of the Web. The spider reviews page content and makes a list of words, indexing information based on the spider’s pre-programmed system. The search engine uses that index to decide what pages are listed and in what order.
There is an entire industry out there called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) whose goal is to increase a website’s visibility when a user searches on related terms. Laura Cameron, SEO Strategist for Rosetta Marketing, explains that once you have a “simple, clear, and professional-looking” website that is worthy of drawing traffic, there are three areas of focus for SEO.
First, your site must be set up technically so as to allow spiders to locate, understand, and index your site. Second is the content. Cameron suggests, “Make sure each page has good, descriptive content on it, not just images. Make sure ‘dentist, dentistry, teeth, dental care,’ and other related terms are mentioned.” And finally, getting other respectable sites to link to your site increases authoritativeness and places you higher in search results.
Says Cameron, “You can go to DMOZ or other link directories and submit site pages to relevant categories. Although free directories often take months to establish a link, when they do, [the link should help the page] appear in search results. You should also have employees or customers … link to the site from their blogs, LinkedIn profiles, websites, or any other site on the Web.”
If you’re not going to hire an SEO expert (or even if you are), check out Google’s Business Solutions page to learn more about acquiring in-depth information about people who visit your site and how they use your site, buying targeted advertising, and much more.
Consumer Review Sites
Contrary to popular business owners’ belief, these sites aren’t just repositories for consumer angst. Although many people assume that clients are more likely to review a business if they’ve had a bad experience, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the average customer rating is 4.3 out of 5 stars. In addition, many sites allow business owners to take an active role. For example, visit Yelp’s page for business owners. This will take you through the steps of “unlocking” your page, which will allow you to reply to reviews privately or publicly, track the traffic on your Yelp page, and even announce special offers.
One of the most important steps you can take in managing your online reputation is to keep track of what’s being said about you. An easy way to do this is through Google Alerts. (See also our previous explanation of how to set up a Google Alert for your practice.) Once you’ve filled out the very short form, you will receive an e-mail as frequently as you like that lists all of the places where your search terms (e.g., your name, your practice’s name, your partners’ names, etc.) appear. In the final entry in this series, I’ll be providing information about how to reply to what your clients might be saying.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Illinois dentists authorized to administer flu vaccines in certain situations
We just received this letter from ISDS president Dr. Larry Osborne:
Dear Colleague,
I want to alert ISDS members to a measure taken this week by our Governor permitting dentists to administer flu vaccines in certain settings. As a proactive measure, Gov. Quinn signed a public health emergency proclamation allowing the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to permit additional certified and licensed health care professionals to administer the H1N1 flu vaccine.
The presence of H1N1 influenza has been confirmed in Illinois. Expanding the scope of practice helps ensure a sufficient supply of qualified health care professionals to administer the flu vaccine.
During the "emergency" period, a number of health care professionals will be able to administer the new H1N1 vaccine, including dentists. Others are: EMTs, pharmacists, APNs and NPs, medical residents and physician assistants.
As a dentist administering the flu vaccine, you must be working under the direction of IEMA (Illinois Emergency Medical Agency) and IDPH, an IEMA-certified emergency services and disaster agency, or a certified local public health department. As a dentist, you may NOT utilize the expanded scope of practice in any private practice or individual setting unless you are operating under an agreement with one of the aforementioned vaccine providers.
More information may be found on the Governor's website, or by calling ISDS at (800) 475-4737.
Sincerely,
Larry W. Osborne, DMD
ISDS President
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