While aesthetic devices may be right for you, they’re not right for me: a confessional
When my wife and I relocated from Louisiana to San Francisco in 2013, non-surgical fat reduction was just hitting its stride after coming on the market in 2009. And while I was a plastic surgeon and preferred offering a surgical option to my patients, I understood that it was important to also offer patients a […]
Dr. Kaplan discusses new hospital rules on price transparency with Bill Fukui of MedShark Digital
When Bill Fukui was with Page1Solutions, he would send out an eblast about best practices for physician or healthcare websites. SEO this or SEO that, the best call-to-action buttons and other techniques to generate leads for doctors. And every time I received one of his emails, I would reply and explain how I […]
Top 10 ways hospitals are not compliant with new CMS price transparency rules
It used to be a dream. But now, it’s reality! The new CMS price transparency rules went into effect on January 1st. And while these new rules were initiated by former President Trump, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are still charged with enforcing these new rules, even under a new Administration. If you’re […]
Why a chatbot is my newest employee of the month!
Chatbots are a type of chatbox but a chatbox isn’t necessarily a chatbot! A chatbox is that familiar box, typically in the lower right-hand corner of a businesses’ website that enables the consumer to interact with the company via a text interface, either during or after hours. These chatboxes can be “staffed” by real agents, enabling you to […]
Welcome to the future of price transparency! BuildMyBod 2.0
Introducing BuildMyBod 2.0. The revolutionary way to check pricing from healthcare providers near you. Price transparency in healthcare used to be the stuff of dreams. But thanks to changing policy and political winds, the day of true price transparency has arrived! Price Transparency and BuildMyBod 2.0: Hospitals Traditionally, healthcare was the only area of […]
Will a $300 per day penalty bring hospitals in line? [video]
The Trump Administration’s price transparency rules are still set to go into effect in January of 2021. While hospitals may be hoping this will be delayed due to COVID, and that may still happen, there’s no guarantee. The rules dictate that hospitals will have to display the cash and negotiated rates for 300 “shoppable” services, […]
Discounts and specials? Sure. Bargaining? Absolutely not.
One of the reasons I’ve built a worldview that includes price transparency is because I recognized early on that everyone wants to know cost ahead of time. So why make it difficult for them. No one likes sticker shock. But there’s another benefit of price transparency. By knowing the cost ahead of time, the […]
Hospitals lose first challenge to Trump price transparency rule
We all took a step closer to price transparency in America on Tuesday! That’s when the US District Court for the District of Columbia sided with the government’s effort to promote greater price transparency amongst hospitals. At issue? A lawsuit by the American Hospital Association (AHA) against the Trump price transparency rule, originally put forth […]
Hospitals and surgery centers not performing cosmetic surgery
Here in San Francisco, the city and health department issued a directive on May 15th allowing elective surgery. In the directive, it was very clear elective surgery, including cosmetic surgery and dental procedures, could move forward. For this reason, we began performing cosmetic surgery in our in-office AAAASF accredited operating room the following Monday, May […]
Why everything, including cosmetic surgery, will be more expensive now
Here’s the sad truth. Everything will be more expensive now. Regardless of what business you as a customer frequent, the business owners’ expenses are going up. And they’re not arbitrarily using COVID as a pretext to raise their prices. Expenses are up because restaurants, clothing stores, doctor’s offices etc are spending more on personal protective […]