I hope this edition of the practice support newsletter finds you well. Before getting started, we would like to congratulate Anna Smith for winning last month’s contest. Anna aced last month’s survey and won the corresponding $100 gift card.
Colon Cancer Awareness Month
After the big year end rush, I know many practices tend to slow down a bit in the first few months of the year with patients starting over again on their deductibles. With colon cancer awareness month coming up, I’m sure that will be changing for many of you.
If you are planning to ramp up your efforts in creating community awareness by participating in health fairs, you know that capturing patient attention is always a priority.
Since 50% of people suffer from symptomatic hemorrhoids by the age of 50, hemorrhoids are certainly an attention grabber. In order to help educate your community about the prevalence of hemorrhoid and promote treatment, we have a number materials to help in this regard. In working with various practices over the years, we have found the following to be quite helpful:
• Playing our patient video on a TV/monitor
• Having staff wear our “got hemorrhoids” t-shirts
• Displaying our patient flipbooks so you can educate attendees on hemorrhoids
• Handing out patient brochures so they can take some information home with them (remember to stamp/label the back with your contact information)
• Handing out our pens and t-shirts as give-aways (because everyone likes free “stuff”)
Can Hemorrhoid Banding Treat Pain?
Anorectal pain is a common symptom that patients present with and hemorrhoids are often to blame. In the vast majority of cases, hemorrhoids are actually painless. The chief symptoms that present with hemorrhoid patients are itching, bleeding, swelling, soiling and prolapse.
So what causes the pain?
Some patients’ pain may be coming from a thrombosed external hemorrhoid or something more serious like an abscess, but in the vast majority of cases, pain is actually a result of fissure or spasm. Our medical directors are very aggressive in treating these patients with topical 0.125% NTG ointment. Taking care of these associated perianal complaints will go a long way towards getting the best clinical results and having happy patients!
You can read more about this topic on our website at https://physicians.crhsystem.com/practice-support/clinical-pearls/#1 or feel free to call or email with any questions.
This Month’s Contest
To enter this month’s contest for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, please tell us (through words or a picture) how your office has gotten creative in creating awareness for hemorrhoids.