Welcome to the Planning for Practice Success Newsletter

Practice Startup Success

Information Advice Encouragement

May 21, 2007                                                                                     ISSN 1934-3248

When you have a dream you've got to grab it and never let go.    Carol Burnett

In this issue:

I just read that entrepreneurs are “wild-eyed optimists.” Just like dogs. We are dog-sitting my son’s 9 month old dog named Cody for a couple of weeks while he roams around Europe (must be nice). I have had many dogs, but not recently, and I had forgotten how optimistic dogs are. When we’re in the kitchen, Cody is right there waiting, hoping we will drop something interesting that he can eat. He’s always ready to play and he loves being with us. All day, he waits on the porch for my husband to come home from work. He’s never moody or mad; he never gives up. He’s just SURE something wonderful is going to happen soon. Are you a “dog” entrepreneur? Are you working hard to find the good stuff waiting for you, the line of new patients at your door? Are you patient, never giving up? As Carol Burnett said, above, “Grab that dream and never let go.” Maybe we should all take a lesson from Cody. 

IRS Newsletter:  The IRS has a new weekly newsletter for small businesses.  Go to http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/ and click on “Join Mailing List” to subscribe.  You might also want to check out their “online classroom” which has a series of helpful videos about small business taxes.

In the “Go Figure” category.  Here are some reports from experiences trying to get startup loans. 

·        Grand Island, Nebraska.  No problem getting a loan from a local bank.

·        Nashville, Tennessee area.  SBA wanted 25% down.  Large bank said, “We don’t do startups.”  (Borrower had FICO score in 700 range!)

·        Michigan.  No problem getting a loan with a co-signer. 

·        South.  Loan for $75,000 plus another working capital loan. 

·        North Carolina.  No bank would finance, even though the borrower had lots of collateral (which was not in North Carolina assets).

Bottom line:  It appears that the loan acceptance phenomenon is variable, depending on state and region.  Please share your experience of getting a loan (or not!). 

HIPAA Covered Entity question:  Someone emailed me to ask if she was a covered entity under HIPAA. She does not do electronic billing. She is not a "covered entity" under HIPAA, because she isn’t "a health care provider that conducts certain transactions in electronic form."  That means she is not required to have a “Notice of Privacy Practices.”  But it’s still a good idea to (1) keep your patients informed about their right to privacy.  (2) Protect Patient Information.  As I always say, in these matters, “ACT AS IF” you were required to do this. Here is the HIPAA website that addresses this question:  http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HIPAAGenInfo/06_AreYouaCoveredEntity.asp#TopOfPage

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