Success in hearing health care isn’t luck; it starts with a plan. Without proper planning, practices can fail to provide comprehensive care to the people they serve. Fuel Medical provides a step-by-step road map to increase patient referrals, treatment rates and quality of care. Participants will learn how incorporating Fuel’s evidenced-based philosophy keeps patients engaged with their practice, improves patient outcomes and increases practice profits.

The average age of the American worker is 38 years old, similar to what it was 20 years ago. Our work teams have always included members who have just entered the workforce and others who are preparing to exit it. The challenge of managing a staff spanning a wide age range is significant and poses challenges on a daily basis. What is the one factor that holds young, old, new and seasoned employees together? CULTURE. We will discuss what it takes to get culture right, and if it’s wrong, what we can do to change it.

Have you been considering adding an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) to your practice but don’t really know where to begin? Join us for this informative session where we will review the key components necessary to evaluate if an ASC is a good fit for your practice. In addition to determining if it is a good fit, we will look at a comparison of the ASC versus office-based surgeries as well as examine the key benchmarks exhibited by a successful ASC.

Many audiologists who practice in medical centers find their time to conduct a thorough hearing aid consultation is limited. This course provides a review of practical and effective tips to build trust, set communication goals and generate appropriate treatment options with patients in 30 minutes or less.

The quality of your patient experience will never exceed the quality of the people providing it. You can design, create and build the best processes and protocols, but it takes people to make them a reality. When the framework of the practice properly unites its people and process by putting the patient at its core, exceptional service becomes possible across all patient touch points. Join us to learn about the biggest influences on patient engagement and the four key drivers that make up 100 percent of patient loyalty. We will also discuss the importance of each staff member’s role in managing the patient experience.

Advertising has changed tremendously over the last decade. Markets have become more saturated and practices are forced to try alternative methods of obtaining new patients. The digital space has opened the doors for new opportunities, but change is never easy. On the bright side, there is a lot of data available to analyze and determine the efficacy of your campaigns and the return on investment. This course will examine online advertising initiatives and tips for building a winning strategy in the digital space.

Practices with better experience scores increase revenue, lower AR and decreased risk. QM2 Solutions and Fuel engaged over 80,000 ENT patients in 2018, and we’ll will share what we’ve learned. You’ll learn what differentiates providers and about the impact on revenue, overhead and job satisfaction. Learn how to implement improvement activities to drive increased revenue and high value MIPS measures. You’ll leave with a plan to benefit your practice next week and beyond.

A major challenge faced by today’s ENT practices is the scheduling flow for ancillary medical professionals. Diagnostic audiology and aural rehabilitative appointments have decreased in length due to limited clinical resources. As reimbursements decline, costs increase and patient demand rises. Patient triage by oto-technicians increases the practice’s cost effectiveness of patient care. Integration of a properly trained and licensed oto-tech alleviates the need for the audiologist to participate in the more mundane clinical testing, thereby freeing them to focus on higher-level diagnostic and rehabilitative care. This class will examine the role of the oto-tech and the process of identifying, training and integrating the position into the practice.

Cochlear implants are an established treatment modality for patients who need auditory enhancement beyond the capabilities of traditional hearing aids. Despite the excellent outcomes, cochlear implants remain highly under referred as a treatment option for many patients. It is estimated that five percent of all existing patients in audiology offices are cochlear eligible but not referred. This course will examine the benefits of being a cochlear implant site providing cochlear implant services in a community. This course will also review findings from clinical observations within seven practices and identify best practice protocols to enhance patient communication, improve outcomes and increase clinical efficiencies to help make cochlear implants a practical financial treatment option.

Why develop and roll out a new compensation plan for your staff? In an ever-changing market and payer mix, employee pay must shift from transactional to focus on driving performance and providing value. This session will present best practice tools to help you implement new performance-based compensation strategies in a way that is mutually understood by both the employee and the employer.

Online reviews play a significant role in consumer decision-making today. In 2018, 86 percent of consumers read reviews for local businesses. Medical/health care is the third most searched industry after restaurants/cafes and hotels/bed & breakfasts for consumers seeking online reviews. Learn about the top sites for health care reviews, how to manage your reputation and tips to combat negative reviews.

This course will summarize data gathered from Fuel member’s audiology key performance indicators (KPIs), focusing specifically on two main sections: patient follow-up patterns (post hearing aid fitting) and appointment patterns by type and other related metrics tied to hearing aid volume. Associated with each data set, attendees will be presented with specific ideas and tools to increase new patient appointments and create ongoing engagement for existing patients to maximize revenue. Case studies from multiple practices will be presented and discussed.

This course will utilize a panel discussion format to examine the increasing utilization of telehealth as a treatment method and how it will influence technology in the future. The course will examine the benefits to patient and profession, advantages and challenges of the treatment method and what is could mean for the profession of audiology.

This course will walk through the considerations that need to be made when deciding between unbundling and bundling hearing aid prices. We will walk attendees through 10 steps needed to be taken in order to create an unbundled strategy and the three things that must be done in order to successfully implement an unbundled strategy. We will review several case studies of practices who have successfully and unsuccessfully unbundled and discuss what metrics need to be monitored to measure success and how to make adjustments if needed. In addition, we will discuss the impact of third-party trends and how to decide whether or not to participate in these plans. Lastly, we will discuss how you can compete with these plans if you choose not to participate and share examples of commonly used tools and strategies.

This course will explain the “why” behind the importance of creating an annual strategic business plan and how to assess the success of that plan in order to make adjustments when needed. This includes monitoring budget to actual, how to measure success, when to change course to maximize results and examples of successful tactics other practices have implemented mid-year when a change is needed. This course will cover key considerations needed when adjusting a strategic plan, such as political, environmental, social and technological landscapes unique to each market and practice. We will review specific financial and productivity key performance indicators (KPIs), which are important to measure in order to evaluate whether the strategic plan is working and when to review those KPIs. We will review how to implement a change when the strategic plan is not working. Finally, we will open up for a group discussion to share specific examples of when a change was needed and how a new effective strategy was implemented mid-year.

The hearing aid industry is experiencing changes with the introduction of many new market forces, including over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, managed care contracts and big box retailers. The traditional marketing of hearing aids using a bundled product/service model is being challenged. Do these market forces warrant a change in how we offer our products and services? This course will look at marketing concepts that offer a long-term continuum of care that is comprehensive, convenient and provides your patients with automatic technology upgrades to keep your clinic profitable and competitive. Most importantly, it will keep your patient loyal and coming back to you for their personalized hearing health care.

If it’s efficiency you’re after, let’s focus on tools that can improve the experience in the practice for patients and for staff. From handy tech to tried and true, YouTube to job descriptions, we will explore options for building and supporting process and communication efficiencies in your practice with the aim of improving patient experiences and the bottom line.

Most medical practices are capturing an exorbitant amount of data that doesn’t mean anything without the proper analysis. In this course, you will gain deeper understanding of what is trending in the allergy immunotherapy community, what practices should do to make meaningful use of their data and what the data shows across the country. Participants will learn about key findings from 150,000+ allergy patients, discuss the value of allergy immunotherapy and evaluate how their practices stack up against their peers around the country.

Patient privacy is too often viewed as a legal requirement; it should be seen as a patient safety issue. This course will offer attendees a description of common sources of privacy breaches and strategies for risk avoidance and mitigation. Special attention will be placed upon cyber hygiene and vendor management.

Excellent service does not simply come from a friendly transaction, helpful technology or efficient process – it is the result of truly understanding your patients’ expectations. It’s proven that patients use emotion when making decisions to take action and justify them with logic. Using journey mapping in your organization is a way to focus on patient needs and unleash them to design and implement new customer experiences. In this class, we will work to understand the patient experience, expose gaps in the patient journey and create strategies for improvement.

This course will cover the business, financial and clinical aspects related to offering vestibular management, as well as practical tips to streamline the evaluation process. Changes in reimbursement and technology require changes in the way we practice. Topics will include coding and reimbursement challenges, marketing to primary care physicians and efficient screening of the dizzy patient.

Recently much has been written about disruptive technology, such as over-the-counter hearing aids. The objective of this course is to provide an implementable clinical strategy involving the use of various types of OTC hearing aid technologies that could expand the market for audiology service, while concurrently serving the clinical needs of individuals through the traditional service delivery model. After outlining the emerging OTC hearing devices and how they fit into traditional pathways to care in the clinic, the course will discuss how they could be used in clinics to expand care.

Have you ever contemplated the difference between branding and marketing? If so, you are not alone. While they are undoubtedly connected, it is essential that you understand the differences between the two and how to effectively utilize them together. During this course, we will take a close look at the differences between branding and marketing and why both are important. You will learn the process of creating your brand and translating it into marketing activities.

Referring physicians are a foundational element of market growth for your practice. But what motivates a referring physician to select one referral pathway over another? Examine critical insights from physician behavior research and relationship-building field intelligence, plus hear a physician’s perspective.