Physicians and Dentists – Know the Hidden Costs of Your Technology/Marketing Contracts

Many website design and development contracts as well as marketing and electronic medical records agreements (“technology contracts”) contain onerous terms and layers of user fees. If a physician or a dentist (“provider”) decides to part ways with the vendor under a technology contract the transition may be costly or cost prohibitive. One of the best ways providers can protect themselves against a slue of additional costs and concerns about possible loss of data is to have the contract reviewed by a healthcare attorney before signing on the dotted line.

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A Tricky Balance for Online Coupons Advertising Medical Services

Recent guidance from the New York State Office of the Professions (OP) suggests that the agency did not entirely reject Internet coupons or vouchers that many refer to as “Groupons.” The OP did, however, affirm concerns previously expressed here that offering coupons for medical services requires careful consideration.

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OIG Says Lab Can’t Provide Free Services

In a recent advisory opinion, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) nixed a proposed arrangement whereby a multi-regional laboratory (Lab) sought to provide free services to out-of-network patients in exchange for exclusivity in referrals from the physicians.

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Why Groupons and Other Social Coupons May Be Unethical in Healthcare

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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Sunshine Act Worries Some Providers

Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. “Sunshine Act”) imposes new reporting requirements on financial relationships between medical and pharmaceutical makers and physicians and teaching hospitals. While lauded for its attempts to bring greater transparency to industry financial relationships some wonder whether the implementation methods planned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would expand the Act beyond the boundaries envisioned by Congress.

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ADA Issues Ethics Opinion Regarding Groupon-Type Advertising

Many 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.

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Are Groupon & LivingSocial Adjusting to Healthcare Advertising Requirements?

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?

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OIG Discusses Groupon-type Advertising Arrangement

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.

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10 Things for Physicians to Know About Advertising in New Jersey

Whether a physician is advertising in a newspaper, disseminating a pamphlet about the practice, or using the internet, caution must be taken to avoid running afoul of the advertising regulations of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners (BME).

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ADA Issues Warning to Dentists Regarding Groupons

The American Dental Association (ADA) recently analyzed the legal implications for dentists advertising on Groupon or other social media companies. We discussed this issue in our recent post here.

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Our Groupon Story On Bloomberg TV

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.

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Are Groupon Social Discounts Legal for Docs?

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?

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