Neil H. Baum, MD

Neil H. Baum, MD

Tulane University School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Medical School, Vanguard Communications Group

New Orleans, Louisiana

Neil H. Baum, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a retired urologic surgeon. Additionally, Dr. Baum serves as the Medical Advisor to Vanguard Communications Group. Dr. Baum is the author of Marketing Your Clinical Practice - Ethically, Effectively, and Economically, which is in its 4th edition, has sold over 175,000 copies, and has been translated into Spanish. He also wrote The Complete Business Guide to a Successful Medical Practice, which was published in 2015. Dr. Baum was the columnist for American Medical News for more than 25 years. Dr. Baum also wrote the popular column, “The Bottom Line,” for Urology Times for more than 20 years. He is a requested speaker each year to the Practice Management Seminar for the American Urological Association (AUA), where he discusses techniques for making urology practices more efficient and more productive. He has written more than 9 books on practice management and over 250 peer-reviewed articles on various urologic topics. Dr. Baum is also the medical advisor to Vanguard Communications Group.

Talks by Neil H. Baum, MD

The Present and Future of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Posted by | Feb 2022

Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, discusses current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical practice. He describes AI as the game changer of the 21st century, and lists its numerous current uses in the clinical setting, such as reading mammograms, examining retinas of diabetic patients, reading pathology slides, screening for skin cancer, uncovering health disparity between whites and non-whites, and collating and summarizing millions of similar cases for doctors. Dr. Baum also highlights several nonclinical uses for AI, observing that AI’s ability to complete clinical data entry allows the doctor to focus on their interaction with patients. He then argues that AI will not replace physicians because clinical judgment will not be replaced by data and algorithms, patients do not want to be treated by a machine or algorithm, and AI cannot provide empathy and understanding. Dr. Baum moves on to consider the future of AI healthcare, suggesting that it will fill in the gap caused by the pending physician shortage and the aging Baby Boomer population. He claims that AI will automate routine processes that consume so much of a physician’s time, such as processing routine requests from the inbox, medication refills, and result notifications. He lists other future medical applications for AI, including improving drug compliance through home AIs like Alexa, identifying patients who are or are not eligible for certain treatments, and monitoring patients between visits. Dr. Baum concludes that AI will serve as an adjunct for physicians and help increase available knowledge while allowing doctors to focus on empathy and understanding.

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Conducting Patient Surveys

Posted by | Feb 2022

Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, gives recommendations on how urologists can improve their practices by conducting patient surveys. He notes that one of the key needs and wants of urologists is to monitor the urologist-patient encounter, and he highlights two pathways to success in this area: (1) find out what the patient wants and give him/her more of it; and (2) find out what the patient does not want and avoid it. Dr. Baum explains that the best way to identify what patients do and do not want is to conduct patient surveys. He recommends using a suggestion box and notes that in his own practice, he gives patients a card with six yes-or-no questions on the front and space on the reverse side for patients to write out the three questions they would like to have answered during their visit. Dr. Baum also suggests creating online surveys with questions such as “How likely are you to recommend this practice to others?” and “How responsive were the staff and the doctors to your questions?” He concludes that urologists need to listen to their patients and need to ask them how they can serve them better.

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Organizational Mission Statements for Medical Practices

Posted by | Feb 2022

Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, gives advice on how medical practices can formulate organizational mission statements, and explains why they are important in maintaining a motivated staff. He defines a mission statement as a truth told in advance that tells where a doctor and their practice are going. Dr. Baum then lists reasons why a practice should write a mission statement, explaining that mission statements help patients understand a doctor and their practice, separate a practice from the competition, and can bring patients closer to a practice. He also describes the essential elements of a mission statement, noting that it should contain the physician/practice’s philosophy of patient care and their principle beliefs, should state the practice’s ideals, and should inspire doctors, staff, and patients. Dr. Baum shares his own practice’s mission statement of “commitment to providing the best health care for our patients, to exceeding patients’ expectations regarding their health care, and to attention to the LITTLE details because they make a BIG difference.” He recommends that others do as he has done in his practice and make it so employees and patients regularly see the mission statement by displaying it in the reception area, exam room, and employee lounge, as well as on brochures, newsletters, stationary, websites, and blogs. Dr. Baum follows this with advice on how to craft a mission statement, suggesting that doctors look at mission statements from other businesses, review hospital mission statements, and involve all of the staff and doctors of the practice in the process. He concludes with an example of how his practice’s mission statement helped motivate his staff to pay attention to the little details and better maintain the cleanliness of the practice’s restrooms throughout the day.

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Time to Cut Down the Phone Tree

Posted by | Jan 2022

Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, discusses the problems with phone trees and gives suggestions for how medical practices can replace them. He observes that a telephone call is typically the first interaction between a patient and a doctor’s office, so the experience should be a good one. However, Dr. Baum argues, phone trees can make that first impression a negative one since phone trees can be difficult to navigate, can result in callers being on hold for a long time, may force callers to restart the lengthy process if the call is dropped, and may make it difficult for callers to leave a message. To determine whether a phone service is causing problems, Dr. Baum recommends conducting a survey of patients with questions about how quickly the phone was answered, how long callers were placed on hold, how difficult the phone tree was to navigate, and whether callers were able to speak to a human. He then gives three suggestions on how to cut down the phone tree including: conducting a telephone traffic study to determine when to make sure a greater number of people are available to answer the phone; increasing phone availability to include early and late hours when working people are available; and trimming or removing the phone tree to make the process simpler.

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The Elevator Speech: Getting Your Point Across in Thirty Seconds

Posted by | Jan 2022

Grand Rounds in Urology Contributing Editor Neil H. Baum, MD, Professor of Urology at Tulane Medical School, discusses elevator speeches and explains how physicians can use them to effectively advertise their practice to potential patients and business partners. He defines an elevator speech as a way to tell your professional story in 30 seconds. Dr. Baum states that, due to the fact that first impressions are established in less than seven seconds, elevator speeches are effective thanks to their short length. He recommends beginning an elevator speech with a 7-10 word headline to grab a listener’s attention, and following up with an explanation of how you will achieve the promise in your headline. Dr. Baum suggests ending an elevator speech with a 1-3 sentence success story that is customized to your listener’s needs and makes them want to invest more time with you. He concludes that elevator speeches provide a great opportunity to connect with potential patients and that a good elevator speech will capture the listener’s attention.

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