Intro
Hey, I'm Dr. Ariana DeMers. I'm an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, and I have successfully integrated orthobiologics into my busy practice so that I can provide a continuum of care and treat patients who are in the gap. The gap is this gray area in orthopedics where standard conservative treatments have not been effective, but surgery may not be warranted. And we usually tell our patients, come back when it's worse. What? These are your patients coming to you for help. Orthobiologics is that solution that can fill the gap and help you treat your patients who are in your office looking to you for help. Orthobiologics can also be an excellent treatment for frustrating problems without good surgical outcomes. This podcast will help you create the orthobiologics business that will make you love your job again. We will focus on value of orthobiologics, patient selection, how to talk to your patients about money, office setup, and other logistics. If this is something you've always wanted but don't know where to start, join me in "The Business of Orthobiologics" podcast.
Dr. Ariana
Hey there. Today, we're going to be talking about finalization of your forms and consents. A crucial step in the orthobiologics implementation process. I hope you guys were able to get clear on scheduling your patients and getting going. You have patients on the books, and now we're scheduling and finalizing those forms and consents. These documents protect both you and your patients. Make sure that we also have documents, storage, and filing systems. This will be critical for you to be able to find those documents easily and print them out or send them electronically. So what forms do we need for orthobiologic procedures? So we need forms that explain what orthobiologics is, who the treatment is for, and what the transformation will be. This is really important for these patients to identify-- this is me. I need this treatment because I am the person who this treatment is for, and I want that transformation. And then confirm that you explain the purpose and content of each document to your patients. So you need consent for treatment just in general to be able to see patients. You need consent for injection and talk about all the risks, benefits, options, and concerns, a statement of privacy, an ABN, or advanced beneficiary notice for anybody that's Medicare-AGE, even if they are not Medicare-covered. I'm going to recommend that you get an ABN signed anytime that you are doing an orthobiologics procedure. Additionally, I'd recommend a release of records and a tutorial on how patients can upload medical images to your practice. If you have not considered how you're going to store medical images or you don't have that opportunity, you can use a service. It's free. It's called "mymedicalimages.com", and you can put the little widget on your website. That way, you have the ability to store medical images like MRIs or X-rays without having an expensive pack system or anything like that. So when we talk about these documents, you need to make sure that these forms are customized to align with your specific orthobiologic procedures. And then we use these forms to document orthobiologic plans and a blood order form, as well as a procedure documentation form for the medical record and your data collection tool. So this documentation ensures that you have clear and thorough documentation of the patient's consent. And it has to include that this treatment is considered off-label and not covered by most insurances. Make sure you have handouts and consents, and that you also have some post-injection instructions and protocols for what to do, what not to do, and any rehabilitation protocols that may need to be done, and then train your staff on the proper use and storage of these documents. If you are doing a procedure, you need a consent. And this is really important to make sure that the patient understands exactly what they're getting into and any risks that might be incurred during this treatment protocol. So next, I want to talk a little bit about charting. So charting, for the most of us, has been pretty onerous. And in a cash-based practice, you have to remember that charting is for your patient's safety, your memory of what was said, what was done, and then legal requirements regarding FDA and such. This is not for billing purposes, so it does not have to be this big, long, drawn-out note that is really a new advent for billing, not for what is crucial for taking good care of your patients. Additionally, I would recommend that you create a canned procedure note, canned intake questions, and then canned sales scripts. Anytime that you can create a template that you can use over and over again, the smoother things are going to go. You're not going to miss things. You're not going to forget to say things. And when you're doing sales, you're not going to forget to bring the patient along in the sales journey. So it's really important to have these scripts down pat. Additionally, we want to talk about really clarifying the legal and ethical implications of these treatments, that this is an ethical opportunity while it is off-label. We've talked previously about what off-label means and why we would choose off-label treatments and that while it does have an on-label FDA application, that this is not the way that we're using it. Also, address those potential issues and complications that might arise during the procedure, and then guide your team in managing patient concerns effectively. Validate patient concerns and say, I hear you're concerned, you're not alone. Many patients have these questions, and it's a good question. Here's our answer. Our job, as physicians, is to allay patient fears and have the answers. This is in part, our job, is to know the answers. And then if there are adverse events, make sure you have a way to record and address them in a timely fashion. Adverse events can be unexpected pain, swelling, stiffness, those kinds of things. You can have allergic reactions or more serious adverse events, but that's quite unlikely. But definitely have a way to record a document and address them in a timely fashion. Item actions: review and update your forms and consents. Customize these documents to fit your specific procedures. Train your staff on the correct use and storage of these documents. And then just make sure that you are protecting yourself from a legal consideration. Sample forms and consents can be found in Module 4.7. And for legal guidelines and documentation as well as ethical considerations, make sure that you talk to your legal counsel. Thanks so much for listening.
Outro
This has been "The Business of Orthobiologics" podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you want to know more, please join us on the website, "PRP-Now.com", and click on the FREE masterclass. Also, don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to this podcast to get more guidance on integrating PRP in your busy practice. Bye for now.
