Risk Management Tips August 11, 2015

Risk Management Tip – Board Rules

Hi. I’m Dr. Stu Hoffman, President of ChiroSecure and back again with another risk management tip for you.

Question: are you keeping up to date on your State Board’s most recent rules and regulations?

Here are some reasons to check your State Board’s website periodically.

Number one. At ChiroSecure we see many board complaints due to the doctor simply omitting the title chiropractor in some of their advertising or on their website. Most State Boards require you to add the word chiropractor after your name. You cannot just have Dr. John Smith in an ad or on a website. The State Board will require clarification so that the public knows exactly the type of doctor they may be responding to.

Number two. When advertising, please make sure that you do not make any claims, you cannot substantiate as well as any guarantees you cannot backup or any comparisons that cannot be proven. State Boards will take offense to this and may initiate an investigation against the doctor. It may be another chiropractor or even a medical doctor in your area that sends a complaint to your board which will initiate an investigation against you.
Many of our doctors get ads from a seminar or a marketing group who may not have had the ad tested or reviewed by the licensing board in your state in order to make sure it is compliant with your board’s rules and regulations. Also, these types of ads can often cause increased risk since the controversy that they can cause can be high.

Number three. In most states you cannot promote or advertise that you specialize or are a specialist in any specific area. The position has been taken that this is an attempt to make yourself look better than your peers and is not something that the licensing boards allow.
Number four and lastly. State Boards change their rules and regulations as well as their board members periodically so it is important to stay abreast of any new changes that occur. This will allow you to maintain to low risk in your practice.

I will see you back again for some more great tips from ChiroSecure. Please like us on Facebook and have a great day. Thank you.