Groupon Banned – Is Fee Sharing Ethical?
The Oregon Board of Dentistry recently banned Groupons for Oregon dentists:
The Board has recently become aware of different companies soliciting Oregon licensees to enter into contracts for marketing promotional services between the licensee in the company to promote voucher systems for potential patients. The Board has preliminarily determined that these may violate the unprofessional conduct rule OAR 818-012-0030(3) which prohibits offering rebates, split fees, or commissions for services rendered to a patient to any person other than a partner, employee or employer.
The Board suggests that until this can be fully reviewed by the board, licensees proceed with caution and if they feel necessary seek legal counsel on this matter or contact board office at (917) 673-3200.
Source: Oregon Board Of Dentistry
Of course this is not the first professional organization to come down on Groupon and other daily deal programs. The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OBCE) also decided not to amend its fee splitting rule to exclude such sites as Groupon and Amazon’s Living Social.
Groupon Issue July, 25, 2011
The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OBCE) declined to begin rule making to amend the prohibition on fee-splitting on their July 21st meeting at the University of Western States. This decision means Groupon type fee-splitting arrangements are still prohibited for chiropractic physicians.
The OBCE has been reviewing the issues of group bond and similar Internet or other marketing programs for several months. They had potential draft language produced by the administrative rules advisory committee along with the dissent by one of their members outlining the potential problems with the language. (Note: The Summer 2011 Back Talk quoted testimony in support of Groupon.)
Arn Strasser DC, appeared before the OCBE and made a statement in opposition of changing the rule stating, “… the question is what the schemes such as group on, where we would join restaurants, nail parlors and tanning salon, along with medical providers such as dentist and cosmetic surgeons, due to our credibility and how the public perceives us? In my opinion, offering discounted services in the fee splitting away with companies such as group on undermines our credibility…”
OCBE members were concerned that changing the rule with the potential for problems and unintended consequences. They cited the difficulty in trying to craft a workable exemption.
The OCBE also heard that two other such marketing programs have changed their set up for health professionals from a fee splitting arrangement to vastly marketing program ( living social and Fox 12 daily deal). OCBE members wondered why group on could not do the same thing? (The question has been posed the group on but no answer has been received yet. ) they felt it would be better if the advertisers change their program for health professionals, instead of the OCBE amending the fee splitting rule prohibition.
Source: The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OCBE)
The question of offering a finders fee or splitting fees has been a concern for professional organizationd for decades. Real estate agents across the country are not allowed to split fees with non-licensed individuals. It seems to be a matter of ethics and professionalism.
What do you think? Should doctors, dentists, attorneys, med spas and real estate agents be allowed to split fees with non-professionals? If so should there be limitations? Would love to hear your comments.
Social Media Marketing for Med Spas
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“A dramatic transition is taking place in social media marketing. Those who recognize the transition and plan accordingly will thrive – while those who don’t will be left behind.”What is Social Marketing?
Coming Soon – Google 1+ Circles, You Can’t Live Without It
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The Google +1 button is ever changing! Google started rolling out new features that allow users to use the button to share a web page directly to Google+. Similar to Facebook’s sharing button, when on a web page, clicking the +1 button will also offer the option to ‘Share on Google+.’ Doing so will allow the user to add a comment, choose a Circle to share it with, and share!
This is an improvement from the +1 button’s previous functionality, whose sharing power was limited to a tab on the user’s Google+ profile. Here is a video overview of the +1 button’s new functionality.
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How to Build Great Products
Creating great products can be a difficult and confusing process, however, when you know what makes great products successful, you can increase your chances for success. You need:
1. Equalibrium
Good products depend on balance. Getting this right can mean being number one in your niche; getting it wrong can mean failure. Balance means getting everything about your product equally good.
There’s a reason why the Honda Civic has been one of the top-selling vehicles here for the past 15 years or so. It’s because it’s so perfectly balanced in so many areas – from driving dynamics, to fuel economy, to price.
Using Honda’s formula for success is simple: balance your efforts equally. Don’t spend all of your time and money developing an incredible product without putting equal effort into writing good sales copy and generating traffic.
At the same time, don’t spend all your time writing a great sales copy or generating traffic without putting the same effort into developing a killer product. Neglecting your product will result in a high rate of refunds, which is almost worse than making no sales at all.
2. Functionality
Quick and shallow success can be built on flash and style, alone. However, if you’re looking to build lasting success, your product needs to be functional, first and foremost.
The Gold Mine – Community Content
Content is critical for storytelling, attracting and engaging customers to buy your product or service. Small businesses are beginning to get it, but struggle with how to scale. Besides hiring an editorial staff and corporate journalists, one of the most valuable sources of content for online marketing comes from your community.
Tapping in to what customers care about related to your products /services and what your brand stands for can be a gold mine of meaningful content.
Interviews. Raising questions is one of the most basic ways to build content. The method you use depends on your desired outcome. Asking your community for suggestions who to interview and what questions to ask is a great way to get people involved. Interviewing industry leaders gives your audience unique content and creates a positive association for the company.