Opinion

How do you answer patients’ emails?
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
Several groups, including the American Medical Informatics Association and the American Medical Association have proposed standards, but none have...
Opinion

Can patients record office visits?
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
How would you respond to a patient asking (or demanding) to record all or part of their office visit?
Opinion

Escaping the daily grind
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
I write this reminder every couple of years because it's so easy to lose sight of the overall landscape among the pressures of our daily routines...
Opinion

Full-time, part-time, FTE: Know the differences
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
While rules vary from state to state, some generalizations can be made.
Opinion

Exorcising your ghosts
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
"Ghosting" is the situation where an employee disappears without any warning, notice, or explanation.
Opinion

Financial planning in the COVID-19 era
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
Many readers have expressed the fear that their retirement savings would never recover from the COVID-19 hit.
Opinion

OSHA in the COVID-19 era
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
To be certain you are complying with all the rules, you can call your local OSHA office and request an inspection.
Opinion

If you reopen it, will they come?
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
The big question, of course, is whether patients can be convinced that it is safe to leave their homes and come to your office.
News

Overhead management during a crisis
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
I sincerely hope that all of our practices will return to some semblance of normal in the coming months; but we cannot assume a best possible...
Opinion

COVID-19: What now?
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
With great reluctance, I must trot out a hoary old cliché: Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
Opinion

Medical identity theft
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
If your office's computer system does not have effective fraud protection, you could be held liable for any fraud committed with information...
Opinion

Be alert for embezzlement
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
Embezzlement remains far more common in medical offices than generally assumed - and it often occurs in full view of physicians.
Opinion

Seasonality
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
Seasonality is yet another of those basic business concepts that most physicians have never heard of.
Opinion

Paid (and unpaid) time off
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
A major issue with PTO is the possibility that employees will resist staying home when they are actually sick.
Opinion

Long-term care insurance
- Author:
- Joseph S. Eastern, MD
To be sure, there is considerable debate about whether LTCI is worth the cost.