When I first saw GroupOn, I thought what a great way to drive patients in the door. I buy a GroupOn on occasion like many women I know. The thought that this new form of advertising was fee splitting never crossed my mind. However, once I learned that physicians and dentists are held to higher advertising standards, I understood why it was technically considered fee splitting.

GroupOn and other internet coupons are here to stay. We’re in the Information Age. Time has shown that those practices that market heavily benefit financially. There are Invisalign practices that give away I Pads to every new patient and Align Technologies promotes these marketing ideas. I don’t have an MBA to know what works and what doesn’t; there is too much risk involved for my participation. I’m also of a different generation where such practices were frowned upon by colleagues.

I don’t envy you and the decisions that you will be making in the future. I do see plenty of healthcare providers using these internet advertising devices and I do not think the majority of the public think it distasteful or illegal. It’s a part of daily life.

The law was probably written before the internet explosion. Its purpose was to prevent doctors from paying for referrals. GroupOn is a form of advertising. Certainly those who receive partial payment are in the advertising business and not endorsing these doctors.

There are new regulations for HealthCare companies to report how much money is being spent on entertaining clients. I can’t believe how much money some of my colleagues spend on general dental office staff to generate referrals. The gift giving to them and patients is staggering, but apparently quite effective. This upsets me more than GroupOn; however, both degrade the profession.

I'm not sure how I want the board to rule on this. Advertising is different from buying referrals from other professionals.