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KorbMedia On Patient Recall & Reactivation

I have lectured to nearly 1000 practices nationwide. I average around 190 lectures per year in all fifty states working directly with doctors, staff & management. This is what I spend my time looking at and correcting.

Here are the top 3 fixable problems I see facing your business:

New Patients
Personnel
Getting existing patients schedule their existing treatment

I can offer top professional advice on the first two, but for now I’m going to focus on #3. I see 97% of private practice doctors making the same mistakes over and over again. Picture for a second your car having a small oil leak in the driveway. The car still drives, gets you from point A to B. However, in the back of your head you know that it’s leaking slowly and needs to be fixed.

Getting your car fixed is simple. You know where to go. Do you know where to go to fix your existing revenue problem? It’s time to patch up that hole in your practice! Nothing will change unless you start looking for a workable simple solution to patch that hole up!

Doctors are constantly battling with getting appointments and filling those gaps in the schedule. KorbMedia’s online patients reactivation program is an effective solution to a very simple problem. KorbMedia breathes life back into a dying system of calling and leaving robotic messages that get minimal returned patient calls. This program is truly fun for the staff. Calls become enjoyable (more bearable) to make. Staff will be rewarded to produce results! The key ingredient is FUN.

Let’s say, in less than two months making calls here and there you could get 100 extra appointments…then the next couple months 100 more. What’s that worth to your practice? Do you think it’s impossible?

You can find KorbMedia’s testimonials here.

How is this accomplished with an online training course?

A simple online course that gets the entire staff very involved
Video conferencing or phone conference with trainer, once training is complete
KorbMedia pre-screens clients…our program is not right for everyone

The 7 Questions I ask any doctor before they start the training program:

“Are you currently making phone calls to patients that are overdue to get treatment?”
“What are your results of amount of people called vs. appointments scheduled?”
“Do your staff have trouble or wish they could get more patients returning their calls?”
“Could you benefit from a training program that will get more patients to schedule appointments?”
Ask your staff if they all want to make reactivation/recall phone calls to overdue patients?” “How would they react to that question?”
“Could you tell me the number of patients that have not been in the practice in the last two years?” Follow up question: “Do you know what to do to get them in?”
“Very important, can your staff be motivated by cash or reward to play a fun game to get more patients to schedule? And you too doc!

Ask about the training. Check out our patient reactivation software. Get involved. Get Results!

Benjamin Korb
KorbMedia, CEO
Email: benjamin@korbmedia.com
Website: www.korbmedia.com

5 Lifestyle Tips for Reducing Acne

Would you like to find out what those-in-the-know have to say about acne? The information in the article below comes straight from well-informed experts with special knowledge about acne.

Here are some tips that have helped hundreds of people suffering from acne. Some of these tips, such as drink plenty of water, may be well known to most. One or two of them, such as sleep with the proper pillow as a cure for acne may not be considered common knowledge.

Water is Best

Water is by far the most effective treatment for acne. The main support for this claim is the fact that water is alkaline (pH 7.3) and can be considered as a natural treatment or an almost free acne treatment. Thus, it is best that you drink at least eight glasses of water per day (10 to 12 is better). This will help your body in getting rid of oil, waste and toxins, and water even helps to moisten your skin as it keeps your pores from clogging. Perhaps what is most important is that, water helps to relieve stress and relax your body in the end, so you can have a better sleep. Note that water and sleep are factors that help reduce stress. Along with this, try to lessen your coffees, sodas, teas and alcohols intake as much as possible. The reason behind this is that they are partial diuretics that they drive more water out of the cells of the body than they put in.

Sleep With the Right Pillow

Most people who are concerned about acne know to keep a clean pillowcase. It’s obviously a bad idea to press your face against a dirty pillowcase for eight hours a day. What might not be so obvious is that it’s a bad idea to press your face against any pillowcase for a third of your life! The constant pressure between your face and pillow can aggravate your skin and cause, or worsen, acne. One of the simplest, least expensive things you can do to cure acne is to sleep with the proper pillow. The MyFacePillow is such a pillow — it’s been designed to minimize the pressure on your face as you sleep.

Avoid Astringents

If your goal is to have a beautiful skin, then you should try to avoid astringent natural soaps and any astringent agents that shrink your skin’s pores, such as oatmeal, witch hazel, very cold water and rubbing alcohol. It was found out actually that when your skin pores shrink, more oils are clogged in the pores of the skin, causing the onset of acne.

Avoid Stimulants

Coffee, tea, cigarettes, as well as excessive sugar from sweets and soda should be avoided. It is often said that anything potential for affecting the entire body, brain and nervous system can easily stimulate the sebaceous glands to release more oil. This oil has to leave the body through the pores, worsening your acne in the end. Stimulants even trigger stress.

Avoid Alcohol

A number of people think that alcohol is one of the best ways to relax and relieve stress. Well, alcohol may do this, but studies have found out that alcohol causes the formation of acne. It is considered capable for producing acne knowing that it is an astringent, thus it shrinks the skin pores, making them more prone to clogging. Aside from that, alcohol inhibits sleep, therefore causing more fatigue and stress, leading to worse acne.

Is Saccharin Safe or a Danger?

If someone dared you to eat coal tar, would you? Would you happily sip it down or gleefully sprinkle it on your morning cereal? Probably not. After all, you’d have to be crazy to knowingly consume something as awful sounding as coal tar. But what if I told you it was sweet? Really sweet. As in 700 times sweeter than sugar. Would that matter? Before you answer an emphatic “no,” consider this. Not only have you likely eaten or drank this mysterious coal-derived sweetener, it graces virtually every table in restaurants across the country.

This sweet mess is saccharin (think Sweet and Low). It was first produced in 1878 by a chemist working on coal tar derivatives at Johns Hopkins University. After working with his compounds all day, he discovered that his hand tasted “sweet.”1 Not really sure how it came about that he tasted his hand, but there it is.

Today, saccharin is commonly manufactured by combining anthranilic acid (used among other things as a corrosive agent for metal) with nitrous acid, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, and ammonia. Yes, that’s right. Chlorine and ammonia. In fact, that particular group of chemicals sounds more like a recipe for a household cleaner than a sweetener. And yet, millions upon millions of people consume saccharin every year.

As far back as 1907, the USDA began taking a closer look at saccharin through the Pure Food and Drug Act (a precursor of sorts to the FDA). Mr. Harvey Wiley, the director of the bureau of chemistry for the USDA during that time, felt saccharin should not be used in foods. In fact, he is quoted as saying, “[Saccharin is] a coal tar product totally devoid of food value and extremely injurious to health.”2

And the USDA and FDA have flip-flopped virtually ever since. In 1911, they stated that foods with saccharin were “adulterated,” then in 1912, said that saccharin wasn’t harmful. In 1948-49, there was much discussion about the dangers of saccharin, but in 1969, an investigation into those claims found little scientific proof to warrant the concerns.

A 1997 report from the Center for the Science in Public Interest felt that it would be “highly imprudent for the National Toxicology Program to delist saccharin.” They believed that doing so “would give the public a false sense of security, remove any incentive for further testing, and result in greater exposure to this probable carcinogen in tens of millions of people, including children (indeed, fetuses).”

This was based on several studies, including one from 1978, which found that rats given saccharin developed bladder cancer that was quite aggressive.9 Additionally, rats exposed while in the womb were even more likely to develop cancer than those exposed immediately after birth.

Researchers in that study concluded, “Saccharin is carcinogenic for the urinary bladder in rats and mice, and most likely is carcinogenic in human beings.”

Health Benefits of Spirulina

The spirulina health benefits originate in its protein content which is a superior form of protein to that normally found in plants. The reason for this is that it contains all 22 essential amino acids, which not even legumes are able to provide. It is rich in gamma-linolenic acid and also contains alpha linolenic acid, linoleic acid and many more fatty acids good for your health. Some of the many health benefits offered by spirulina are listed here.

Allergy Protection
The results of a 2005 study carried out on human subjects reported that spirulina helps to protect against hay fever, one of the most common allergies. Another study in 2008, where 150 patients suffering allergic rhinitis underwent double blind placebo testing (where neither subjects nor testers knew which subject was given the placebo and which the spirulina), found significant relief of symptoms in the spirulina subjects, and also a significant reduction in the secretion of interleukin-4, an inflammatory cytokine, in each of these same subjects.

This is a significant indication of the effect of spirulina in reducing the effects of allergies by moderating the production of inflammatory cytokines, particularly interleukin-4 that is responsible for many common allergic reactions.

Blood Cholesterol Reduction
In 2007, a study on 36 volunteers showed a significant reduction in their blood cholesterol levels after taking 4.5 grams spirulina daily for six weeks. In addition to a reduction in their total cholesterol levels, they also experienced an increase in HDL cholesterol (meaning a significant LDL cholesterol reduction) and a reduction in triglycerides. The same subjects also had a lower blood pressure at the end of the test period than at the start. However, there was no control group.

Nevertheless, the same type of result was achieved in a study on geriatric patients, but this time using a double blind test with a control group after 4 months of testing. What these two tests indicate is that spirulina is effective in reducing cholesterol levels, and may also have a useful side-effect in lowering your blood pressure.

Spirulina as an Antioxidant
Spirulina is able to reduce metabolic oxidation, caused by the generation of free radicals during extreme cellular respiration during exercise. BY taking a spirulina supplement it is possible to reduce the breakdown of muscle cells by free radical oxidation. An experimental group of geriatric patients was able to reduce the generation of creatine kinase (an enzyme produced when muscle tissue is broken down by oxidation) and they could continue with a treadmill exercise for an additional 52 seconds after taking the supplement.

This should not be a surprising result since spirulina is a free-floating form of cyanobacteria harvested from the surface of small ponds and lakes. Most green organisms offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties through their chlorophyll content. It also contains the antioxidant Vitamins A, C and E, and beta-carotene and selenium, two more powerful antioxidants.

Storing Vitamins in Kitchen or Bathroom Reduces Effectiveness

High humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens could be degrading the vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids are on tight, a Purdue University study shows. Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science, said that crystalline substances – including vitamin C, some vitamin B forms and other dietary supplements – are prone to a process called deliquescence, in which humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping those supplements away from warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness.

“You might see salt or sugar start to cake in the summer, start to form clumps, and that’s a sign of deliquescence,” said Mauer, whose findings were published in the early online version of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. “You can also get chemical instabilities, which are a little more problematic if you’re consuming a dietary supplement with vitamin C for that vitamin C content.”

Kitchen salt, sugar and powdered drink mixes commonly cake, Mauer said, making their measurement more difficult but not rendering them useless. Chemical changes become more than a nuisance in vitamins and dietary supplements, however.

“If you get some moisture present or ingredients dissolve, they’ll decrease the quality and shelf life of the product and decrease the nutrient delivery,” Mauer said. “You can get complete loss of the ingredients. It depends on the conditions. It depends on the formulations. Within a very short time – in a week – you can get complete loss of vitamin C in some products that have deliquesced.”

Bathrooms and kitchens can increase the detrimental effects because of spikes in humidity in those rooms. And Mauer said storing vitamins or supplements in containers with lids doesn’t always help.

“Opening and closing a package will change the atmosphere in it. If you open and close a package in a bathroom, you add a little bit of humidity and moisture each time,” Mauer said. “The humidity in your kitchen or bathroom can cycle up quite high, depending on how long of a shower you take, for example, and can get higher than 98 percent.”