Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Appropriate Attire Augurs Respect



I was called into an office because patients weren’t paying their bills as agreed. And they were not following surgical instructions.

Something was wrong. The doctor and his employees couldn’t identify the problem.

All his employees were lovely, young blondes, dressed identically in skirts, blouses, sweaters, saddle shoes and socks. It looked like a high school campus.

I conducted a private interview with each staff member. The first was the office manager. I asked a few key questions regarding office procedures. Everything was done right. She said the patients did not take her seriously. They would not listen well to surgical instructions. I asked about her family. She was in her mid 40's and had two teenagers. I was shocked. I thought she was around 22 years old.

The next interview was with the biller. Her procedures were proper as well. She said the patients did not keep the payment arrangements they made with her, although they did pay eventually.

The same scenario repeated with every interview. Each pretty woman looked about 22, but was in her 40's, married with children. Each had worked there for more than 10 years. They were grown women dressed like girls.

I pointed out to the physician that the patients saw them as teenagers and treated them accordingly.

We all agreed that they could continue to be dressed alike because it was akin to wearing uniforms and made it easy to identify them as staff. But they should be dressed in jackets, blouses, skirts and flats, appropriate to their age and status.

Lesson: Dress your staff like adults if you want compliant patients. Demeanor is important, but first impressions are visual and set the tenor of the encounter.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Free Advice Can Cost You a Fortune




My client was starting a practice. We were leasing a space that had to be remodeled. The landlord was notorious for not completing construction on time. In the Letter of Intent I requested that the rent would not start until the construction was completed.

My client insisted that his cousin, a business attorney, review the lease. I asked if he had any experience with leases. My client replied, "Only in law school, but he is not charging me and my family insists." There was nothing for me to do but acquiesce.

Since I had written the Letter of Intent upon which it was based, he wanted to save money by not having to pay me to read the lengthy lease. My client would only allow his cousin to review the lease.

The landlord did not include that protective clause. The cousin missed the exclusion. The contractor ran way behind schedule because the landlord did not remove the debris in the suite in the time frame promised.

My client had to pay rent for three months on a unfinished, unusable suite. All this money came from the loan because he could not see patients. It greatly increased his debt.

The cousin may have been a good attorney in his field, but not in this area. His free services proved to be very costly.

Lesson: You must have experienced advisors, working together, act as your agents. You are counting on their expertise to keep you out of trouble.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Understanding Your Insurance Coverage Is Crucial


My client in Florida had suffered through two major storms in two years. She did not recover any damages from the first storm. I became her Consulting Administrator for the second claim.

After we solved the immediate problems of temporary relocation and patient contact, I asked if her insurance included business interruption coverage. She didn’t know. I asked her to send me the policy.

She had good coverage, but she didn’t know how good until I reviewed it. Not only did she have business interruption, she also had stretch coverage that included extra expense, equipment breakdown, hazardous substance, accounts receivable, computers and media, personal property of others, etc..

My fee was considered extra expense, so it was covered by her policy.

I guided her through gathering the data we needed to track lost income and increased expenses. We projected future expenses for records replacement including personnel costs. We determined how long to retain records for patients who would not return to the practice.

Her suppliers inspected the equipment for viability and provided the costs for replacement or repair. The moving costs were double, because everything had to be removed from the office while it was undergoing structural repair, then moved back into the office and set up.

Working together we created spreadsheets and reports. Her total recovery was $84,000, which she did not know she was entitled to receive.

Lesson: Let an expert inform you what to expect from your insurance policy and create supporting documents so you get what you paid for.