Are you looking for low cost health insurance? Have you seen the infomercials on T.V., the ads on the Internet, or notices nailed to telephone poles that claim, "Affordable health care! All pre-existing conditions accepted! Up to 60% savings! Cover everyone in the household for $19.95!"?

These products are not health insurance. They are medical discount cards.

Medical discount cards are spreading rapidly. The companies selling these cards claim to offer significant savings on hospital services, doctor visits, prescriptions and more. They can look, deceptively, like medical insurance.

Gretchen Pike at Hancock Memorial Hospital, outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, has the following concerns about these cards:

We are very concerned about our community members purchasing these cards without fully understanding how they work and what benefits, if any, they provide.

If you are considering buying a medical discount card, we strongly suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau, AARP and/or The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud before you buy.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a Provider Enrollment Fraud Alert regarding the attempted identity theft of physicians UPIN as well as other sensitive information.

Should you receive a call from an individual stating they are a Medicare or Medicaid fraud investigator you should use extreme caution prior to releasing any information. This scam involves callers saying they are working for Medicare, Medicaid, or other carrier in the fraud, enrollment, claims, or audit units. They now need to verify provider information due to a computer malfunction. They may request information to be provided by either telephone or fax.

According to the OIG, they may ask for information such as:

Once this information is obtained from the unsuspecting practice, the physician enrollment data and other practice information is falsified. Accounts are then set up and claims billed with the reimbursement coming to the scam artists. Practices that decline to provide the information are threatened with shutting down the practice or an on site OIG audit. It seems this is targeted at practices and individuals that are not fluent in the English language. The OIG feels that it is a dangerous element of organized crime infiltrating into those medical communities.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has not suffered a computer malfunction or virus that caused a deletion of this information. If you receive on of these calls try to verify the callers telephone number. Immediately contact your regional Medicare fraud investigation unit as well as call your local Medicare carrier to alert them.

Survey results printed in a national publication indicated that customers believe there to be a marked decrease in quality customer service over the last 5 years. Among the top 10 areas, the medical office ranked number four (4).

As healthcare professionals, we have the unique opportunity to impact every aspect of our patient's lives. We are involved throughout their growth and development, and in many cases, deal with intimate and confidential issues of which may lead to feelings of embarrassment, anger, withdrawal, denial and depression.

So why is customer service so important to a patient who goes to the doctor specifically for medical care? In order to understand the true meaning of customer service, let us first examine the words "Receptionist" and "Customer Service Specialist". It is a given that the suffix "-ist" suggests "expert" or "specialist" in reference to the preceding root word. For example, an "Oncologist" is a specialist or expert in "Oncology"; similarly, a "Cardiologist" is a specialist or expert in "Cardiology". Thus, given these examples, then "Receptionist" and a "Customer Service Specialist" suggest specialization and expertise in "Reception" and "Customer Service". It is quite apparent and no secret that our patients expect us to "diagnose" and "treat" their feelings and appeal to their senses accordingly. After all, the actual treatment of medical conditions and disease processes are relatively constant; however, the service to our customers (patients) is not. We must recognize that healthcare treatment is multi-faceted, and, with the changes in reimbursement and higher level of information available to the patient, customer service is becoming the source of keeping patients and conversely, losing them.

Here are a few steps in the right direction:

1. Remember! 93% of all communication is non-verbal. Recognize changes in your patient's behavior and/or sudden changes in attitude. Don't assume that they are just mean or rude.
2. Keep lines of communication open with the patient. Have a customer satisfaction box available for comments. Remember! It is better that you hear from your disgruntled patient before someone else does.
3. Get to the source of the problem. Why are they behaving this way? Is there something I can do to fix the problem? If I can't, who can?
4. Educate your patients before problems arise. Let them know what your policies are, and don't make promises that you can't keep.
5. Let them know that they are not a burden to you by smiling and thanking them for coming.
6. Remember that we are all traveling down the same road. Treat how you want to be treated, serve how you want to be served.
7. Treat your customers with "ECG": Empathy - Caring - Gratitude

Finding employees that are a good match in your workplace can be difficult. When you do find the right ones it’s important to keep them productive and happy. One of the most difficult roles in managing employees is to keep them motivated. Job satisfaction can vary from person to person. Salary is important but will rarely be the prime motivator for a good employee.

Employees want their bosses to be fair and appreciate their work. They want their efforts acknowledged and they want to be trusted to do their best and think for themselves.

Employees need to know that their work is important to the success of the practice, according to Andrew Ambraziejus in his book, No Nonsense Management.

Here are some additional tips:

Consider an employee profit-sharing plan so employees will be encouraged to act like owners. This might be based on achieving certain goals during a quarter, such as improving the bottom line by $10,000.

Bonuses

Bonuses can also be effective motivators. A bonus doesn’t have to be large to an effective way to communicate your appreciation.

It doesn’t take much effort to show an employee how much their work is valued. Try these ideas in your own practice. Morale can greatly affect how much effort you staff puts forth for the practice. The result: a happier, more productive work environment.

Reference: Trans. 475, CR #3726, Pub. 100-04, Medlearn Matters Number: MM3726
Published Online: 2/17/2005

Part A and B Providers

For complete details, please see the official instruction issued to your carrier/FI regarding this change. That instruction may be viewed at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/transmittals/comm_date_dsc.asp

From that web page, look for CR 3276 in the CR NUM column on the right, and click on the file for that CR. If you have any questions, please contact your Medicare carrier/FI at their toll-free number, which may be found at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medlearn/tollnums.asp