Points Programs for Products and Services
© 2025 HMP Global. All Rights Reserved.
Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of The Dermatologist or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates.
Give Them Some Points
We introduced our own points program so patients are less likely to choose a pharmacy chain that offers points for buying similar products. All our services receive points as well, not just for a particular company, as we are trying to build loyalty to our clinic, not to pharma.
Benjamin Barankin, MD, FRCPC | Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Anchoring for Better Adherence
To reduce the perceived burden of treatment, I like to anchor patients on the idea of something worse first. For example, if I tell a mom to apply triamcinolone for her child’s eczema twice a day, she may think, “I have to chase that kid down twice a day? What a nightmare!” So instead, I tell her to apply the medication 4 times a day: before school, have the school nurse do it at school, after school, and at bedtime. After giving mom a few seconds to consider this, I say, “No, wait, that is more than we need. Let’s just do it twice a day, before and after school,” leaving mom thinking, “What a relief! Just twice a day. That will be easy.”
Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhD | Winston-Salem, NC
Counseling on Lesion Removal
When discussing removal of small nevi or angiofibromas, especially on the nose when an indented scar could result, a great analogy is to ask whether the patient would rather have a speed bump or a pothole to determine if removal is prudent.
Ronald Vender, MD | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Normal Saline Before Lidocaine
For our pediatric patients, we inject normal saline solution before lidocaine to keep the lidocaine from burning. I tell kids that they will feel a little stick and it might feel weird, but it will not be worse than my pulling one of their hairs out, and then I pull a hair out to demonstrate. So why not treat everyone like a kid? Consider injecting normal saline solution before lidocaine for adult patients too.
Jo Herzog, MD | Vestavia Hills, AL
Subscribe
