In addition to the possible legal pitfalls of advertising on groupon-type websites, there are ethical and practice related concerns to be weighed by healthcare practitioners before agreeing to such arrangements. Even with the recent announcement that companies such as Groupon and SocialLiving began offering contracts to healthcare providers that take into consideration the prohibition against fee splitting, practitioners should nonetheless proceed with great caution. [...]
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Healthcare Discounts UpdatesMany medical and dental boards, as well as professional organizations, received numerous questions from their members concerning the appropriateness of physician advertising on Groupon, LivingSocial or similar social marketers. Last year, the American Dental Association (ADA) warned its members of the potential legal pit-falls associated with groupon-type advertising. The ADA Council on Ethics has now amended its Code of Ethics to address such advertisement arrangements. [...] Social media advertising continues to be a widely discussed topic in the dental and medical community with many providers wondering whether to Groupon or not to Groupon. Are companies like Groupon and LivingSocial adjusting to special concerns from the healthcare community? [...] Groupon-type advertising is all the rage now but serious legal, ethical and contractual questions exist for medical and dental practices that need to be examined prior to entering into such arrangements. We have previously addressed this evolving issue in several articles on this website by evaluating some of the implications such arrangements have for providers. One of our articles was just published in the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons’ (AAOMS) bimonthly publication, Practice Management Notes. We are pleased to bring it to you here. [...] Among the many rules physicians must comply with are the rules pertaining to advertisement of physician services. [...] Watch this Bloomberg TV report filed by Shannon Pettypiece titled “Groupon Deals on Botox, Lasik Eye Surgery?” It appeared on Bloomberg TV on the morning show of October 25th as part of Shannon’s daily “Stock Therapy” segment that examines how the latest health care trends are affecting the markets and the economy.
Continue reading » Groupon and other similar social sites, like Living Social and CoupTessa, are all the rage now. But is it legal for doctors and dentists to advertise their services on these websites?
Continue reading » More likely than not, a physician or a dentist has at one point provided discounted or free healthcare services to some patients by waiving all or part of a fee or the copayment and/or coinsurance obligations as a “professional courtesy”. According to the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Compliance Program For Individual and Small Group Physician Practices guidelines, however, this practice may expose a physician to an investigation.
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