|
|
| News Brief - Cross-Training |
| At one orthodontist's office in Georgia, cross-trained workers ensure patients are not kept waiting, the office does not fall behind on paperwork, and workers are not stressed out. |
|
| News Brief - Steal Away |
| To boost their practice, dentists often set up a Web site and hire a company to manage them. However, it is essential to put the domain name on automatic renewal. |
|
|
|
| News Brief - Building Your Dream Practice |
| When building a dental practice, equipment purchases are vital to its success, but once a practice is established new products and equipment emerge on the market that could further improve operations. |
|
| News Brief - Confusion About Codes |
| Understanding insurance codes - how they are defined and, more importantly, how the procedures should be used - is critical in order to accurately report nonsurgical treatment and assist patients in obtaining maximum insurance reimbursement. |
|
| News Brief - Raising Fees |
| Dental insurance plans adopted by dental practices in the 1970s have not changed much in the last three decades, but inflation has increased the costs of laboratory tests and materials practices use. As a result, dental practice overhead skyrocketed from a mere 45 percent of income to nearly three-quarters of a practice's earnings. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| News Brief - Five Steps to Better Practice Management |
| Consultants Sandy and Alan Richardson offer a five-step process dentists can follow for improving practice management, starting with the creation of a positive emotional experience for the patient by making one's practice patient-centric. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| News Brief - Noncompete Clauses |
| Dental associates and those considering buying a practice should be familiar with noncompete agreements, which have increased in popularity during the last 10 years. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| News Brief - Getting Those Pearly Yellows Whitened |
| A growing number of Americans request cosmetic dentistry procedures, which pleases dentists because prices for these procedures are within their purview to set because prices are not reliant upon insurance reimbursement schedules. |
|
|
|
| News Brief - Employment Arbitration to Avoid Costly Litigation |
| Former chief legal counsel for the American Dental Association Peter M. Sfikas notes that many employers now require employees to agree to arbitrate employment issues such as termination as a condition of their employment, which means that employees dismissed from dental practices would have to file an arbitration complaint under the terms of the arbitration agreement rather than being allowed to file suit against the employer. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| News Brief - 'Did I Really Have a Root Canal?' |
| Sedation dentistry, in which a patient is medicated to a state of semi-consciousness, is an option that more and more dentists in the United States are offering to patients who do not like the prospect of undergoing painful procedures. |
|
| News Brief - Help Patients Make the Most of Their Insurance |
| Atlanta Dental Consultants President Tom Limoli Jr. writes that "the management of various reimbursement systems and the patient's benefit plan is a simple task if we all follow the path of prosperity rather than that of least resistance," and says patients must agree to be responsible for the complete fee barring insurance considerations. |
|
|
|
|
|
| News Brief - Details, Details, Details! |
| Dentists seeking to buy or sell a practice need to consider several aspects before finalizing a proposal. Prospective buyers need to make sure they have a state license for the new location as well as an appropriate drug license. |
|
|
|
|
|
| A Case of an Error in Referral |
| A recent case decided by the Supreme Court in North Dakota in 2006 took several legal twists and turns, despite which the case contains an important lesson for practicing dentists. It is one of several issues faced and decided by the court that is the subject of this report. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Damages in Malpractice Suits |
| Damages are the amount of money that a plaintiff may be awarded by a trial judge or jury in a lawsuit. There are several types of damages that may be awarded. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Awards in Dental Malpractice Cases |
| It is informative for dentists to know the amount juries award to patients, settlement of claims, and arbitration awards following a finding of culpability on the part of the defendant dentist. |
|
| Dentistry is Not a Very High Risk Business |
| The purpose of this article is to quiet the fears that dentists face in every day practice, by viewing patients as potential legal enemies looking to destroy the reputation of their once "friendly dentist," or to cash in on the "litigation lottery" made possible by lawyers and juries. |
|
| The Case of Defective Maintenance |
| The patient sued for simple negligence. The question before the court was whether the suit should have been brought for malpractice. |
|
|
|
| Defining the Words Medical and Dental in Law |
| Courts, in deciding cases that involve legislation, must by necessity decide on the exact meaning of the words contained in the legislation, and often must make a determination as to the intent of the law-making body that adopted the law. |
|
|
|
| Let's Look at Standard of Care Again |
| Articles have appeared in dental journals, some credible, some not so credible, that advocate that dentists follow certain procedures that rely upon newly introduced methods and some for purposes other than that related directly to the practice of dentistry, e.g. screening for general medical problems not related to the dental care needed by the patient, and others to assist in the diagnosis of dental disease and oral pathology. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Misrepresentation: A Clear and Present Danger |
| In a case recently decided by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, a physician informed a patient, on whom he advised to consent to an operation he wished to perform, that he was Board Certified in the specific surgical specialty, and had extensive experience in performing the recommended surgery. |
|
| Guarantees - Double the Risk |
| It is tempting for a dentist to say to a patient, who insists on have some assurance of the success of the proposed treatment, words that imply the success of the treatment. |
|
| Doctor Duty To Warn Patient On Taking Drugs |
| A case was decided by the Appellate Court of Connecticut in 2004 that sent an important message to all health care practitioners who prescribe or use drugs during their treatment of ambulatory patients. It contains a strong message for dentists. |
|
| Liability for Use of a Defective History Form |
| In a case decided in Illinois, a dentist use of a commercially produced health history form came to the
attention of the courts in a suit in which the patient alleged that the health history taken by the dentist who
relied on the questions contained in the form was negligent. |
|
| More on Standards of Care: A Court Sets the Standard - Not the Profession |
| The December 2005 article tandards of Care Againmade the manner in which courts arrive at the standard
of care that physicians and dentists are held in the course of a malpractice trial seem simple: what other
reasonable practitioners, in the same field of practice as the defendant, in the locality, whether local, state
wide, or national, would have done when faced with a situation similar to that faced by the defendant. |
|
| Rules on Obtaining Consent for Referrals |
| As a result of some recent court decisions it became evident that the issue of consent has placed additional
responsibilities for a dentist who referrers a patient for care to a specialist. |
|
| When Dentists Disagree |
| The disagreement between dentists in the treatment of a patient, prior to the treatment provided by one of the
dentists, became a factor in a case decided by the Appellate Court of Illinois (101 Ill.App.3rd 264). |
|
|
|
