We hope it’s been a good start to 2016 for you! To start things off, we’d like to congratulate Stephanie Runck, the most recent winner of a $100 Amazon gift card. Her operational tip was to implement a post-banding patient phone call. It provides an opportunity “to check up on the patient, answer additional questions and ensure they have their next banding already scheduled!”
New Advertising Templates
If you are looking to promote your practice by advertising hemorrhoid treatment to your community, we are always happy to help you through the process. We have recently added new templates for print and billboard advertising. We will customize the templates for your group, help negotiate rates and recommend which advertising medium(s) to use in order to achieve the best chance of success for your group. You can see an example to the left, but all of our advertising templates can be found here
Anorectal Health Questionnaire
Many groups and patients are accustomed to reviewing their paperwork at the start of the year. Your first reaction might be to avoid adding any new paperwork to what you already have, but using our anorectal questionnaire will actually make things easier. By already knowing all of the patient’s symptoms, it will increase efficiency during the patient’s first banding appointment.
Additionally, it’s a great way of identifying potential banding candidates who might have been silent otherwise. Think of the patients who have been having symptoms for years but don’t happen to be acutely symptomatic the day they come in for the procedure. Or the patients who have brought it up in the past but have been told their options include ointments and creams for temporary relief (or surgery).
Last but not least, there are the patients who are just too embarrassed to bring it up. If you’re looking to increase banding at your practice without having to spend money for advertising, this is a great way to do it. The questionnaire can be downloaded on our clinical forms page.
How Many Treatments Does a Patient Need?
We all have 3 hemorrhoidal columns so when a patient’s’ hemorrhoids start to become symptomatic, they typically need 3 separate treatments. Bandings are typically done one column at a time in order to reduce the risk of possible complications.
There are exceptions to this rule. Upon anoscopic evaluation, the provider may note that one column in particular looks quite normal. In cases such as this, the patient might only need to have two columns banded. These patients will represent about 10-15% of your hemorrhoid sufferers.
Patients with more sever disease; typically those with grade III hemorrhoids or “leakage” often times need more than 3 bandings. This group typically represents about 15-20% of your hemorrhoid patients.
All told, the average bandings per patient in our clinics was 3.1.
This Month’s Contest
To enter this month’s contest for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, please answer our short 4 question survey by emailing me your responses.
1. Hemorrhoid banding treats pain.
True or False
2. What is the average number of bandings per patient? 1,2,3,4
3. Prior to banding, patients need to:
a) Fast
b) Have an enema
c) Arrange for a driver
d) None of the above
4. What percentage of people will have symptomatic hemorrhoids by the age of 50?
30%, 40%, 50%, 60%
As always, thanks for your continued support and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions!
