Atlanta Dental Practice Attorneys | Georgia Medical Practice Lawyers

Planning to start a business partnership with a friend? Prudence demands looking at the pitfalls – as well as the potential strengths – of such relationships. Here are a few questions to consider.

What will my friend contribute to the business? Does he or she have strengths that will clearly enhance the business – abilities, knowledge, or resources that you don’t possess or aren’t willing to acquire by other means? Say, for example, you are good with customer relations, but not too good with numbers. If your friend loves details and is clever with records, the partnership may make sense. If, on the other hand, your friend really can not offer something that would round out the business or make it more profitable, you might want to consider partnering with someone else.

Are you willing to lose the friendship? This is a tough question, but one that’s critical to consider. After all, you and your friend will be working together, day in and day out, to make the business succeed. Such relationships can bring out the best – and worst – in people. If maintaining your friendship is one of your highest priorities, partnering with someone else may be a better choice.

What’s expected from each partner? Developing a profitable business is hard and often unrewarding work. You and any potential business partner should honestly discuss expected work hours, contributions, and responsibilities. Resentment can creep into any business relationship when partners feel that workloads and rewards aren’t fairly distributed.

Can you communicate effectively? Like a good marriage, a long-term business partnership takes honest communication to succeed. Ask yourself, for example, whether you can handle constructive criticism from your friend/business partner. Even the closest business partners don’t always see eye to eye, so it’s important to take an honest look at how you both handle disagreements. Will you work through difficulties for the firm’s sake, or bury your head in the sand and hope for the best? Answering this question is crucial to the success of your partnership.

The online world is growing. Facebook now boasts a “population” larger than the United States. Thousands of dentists are currently taking advantage of all types of social media. It is important to take a brief look at some important issues and areas of concern for dental professionals using or considering the use of social media to build and promote their public, patient, and employee relationships.

Public Relations

The advantages of a strong social media presence are clear. Information may be shared with colleagues to sustain camaraderie, with patients to strengthen dentist-patient relationships, and with the public to bolster your reputation. It is vitally important to consult with your legal advisers early and often when bringing your professional presence to an online forum.

Patient Relations

If content on your social media page is also medical in nature, depending on the forum, the Health Information Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA) may be implicated.

Members of the dental profession should adhere to the following guidelines:

(a) Dentists should be cognizant of standards of patient privacy and confidentiality that must be maintained in all environments, including online.

(b) When using the Internet for social networking, dentists should use privacy settings to safeguard personal information and content to the extent possible.

(c) If dentists interact with patients on the Internet, dentists must maintain appropriate boundaries of the patient-dentist relationship.

(d) To maintain appropriate professional boundaries dentists should consider separating personal and professional content online.

(e) Dentists must recognize that actions online and content posted may negatively affect their reputations among patients and colleagues, and may have consequences for their professional careers (particularly for dentists-in-training and dental students), and can undermine public trust in the dental profession.

When dental professionals provide a social media forum for patient feedback, they risk running afoul of HIPAA rules and regulations. Prior to building a social media presence, it is important to develop policies and procedures designed to guide appropriate use of the relevant forum. A few key points follow:

Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinic Health Act (HITECH Act), there are substantial penalties and fines that may be assessed for HIPAA violations that occur during social media exchanges. Under the HITECH Act, fines range from $100.00 to $100,000.00.

Be clear with a disclaimer that patient information is personal and should never be shared via the Internet. Inform participants that any posting that appears to be a violation of this policy will be removed.

Employee Relations

It is important to keep your employees from becoming lax about privacy rules when it comes to social media.

Education is always the first line of defense when it comes to privacy and security safeguards. Make sure all employees are trained and up to date about the privacy and security rules and be sure to disseminate a written company policy outlining permissible and impermissible actions. Make social media training a part of your HIPAA compliance program.

Social media is a powerful tool for expanding a dental practice, but be aware of the potential complications. Always consult your legal adviser before branching out into online forums.