Cheapest option may not be least expensive
August 25th 2011Every physician faces choices. Although the right choice for your practice may appear at first to be the least expensive option, in far too many cases, the option that starts out as the least expensive ends up costing you more either immediately, in the long run, or both.
Half of office-based U.S. physicians work with 'physician extenders'
August 24th 2011About half of all office-based U.S. physicians were in practices employing so-called ?physician extenders,? with primary care physicians being more likely to work with them than medical specialists, according to a government report.
PCPs lead way with increasing EHR adoption
August 24th 2011Physician practices are steadily adopting electronic health records (EHRs), according to recent reports, and primary care physicians are leading the pack. More than 40% of practices now use EHRs, with more than 2,200 already having attested to meaningful use. Who are they and how did they do it?
Physician feedback reports need revamping, GAO says
August 24th 2011The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs to make substantial changes in methodology and distribution before physician feedback reports can be considered meaningful, actionable, and reliable for individual physicians as well as groups, according to the Government Accounting Office (GAO). The reports indicate how practices are meeting criteria that will ultimately determine their Medicare reimbursement.
PCPs highly likely to face malpractice suits but not to pay claims
August 24th 2011Family medicine practitioners have a lower probability of being sued for malpractice than most specialties but still have at least a 75% chance of facing a lawsuit before typical retirement age, according to a new study. The good news? More than three-quarters of all claims resulted in no payments.
ACOs can pay off with time, pilot project indicates
August 24th 2011Accountable care organizations (ACOs) can be financially rewarding for participating physician groups, but it may take longer than expected, if the results of the physician group practice demonstration apply. Read more to find out when the risks actually resulted in rewards.
Compensation up slightly but practice margins are ailing
August 24th 2011Compensation in primary care practices edged up about 2.6% in 2010, a smaller increase than in the previous year but still slightly more than specialty practices, a recent survey found. Overall, however, the news was far from good?many practices were operating at a loss.
Physicians are highly satisfied with EHRs but some still can't afford them
August 17th 2011Meaningful use incentives are a strong motivator for physicians to implement electronic health records (EHRs), but lack of funds remains the primary reason for not taking the plunge, according to a new survey. Still, practices which had stretched to buy them were highly satisfied with EHRs.
Fiscal crisis affects California medical board actions
August 17th 2011Public Citizen recently sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, asking him do something about the state medical board?s failure to stop potentially dangerous doctors from practicing. The letter from the advocacy group and an earlier report got wide coverage in the news media, but most accounts failed to point out that the medical board may not have been the villain in this situation but a victim itself of California?s fiscal crisis.
Public performance report law needs tweaking, groups say
August 17th 2011The response period for the government plan to make public reports on physicians? performance may be over but not before numerous medical associations expressed some concerns. Find out why more than 80 physician organizations called for measures to increase the accuracy of the information and to allow you more opportunity to review your own data.
Barriers to seeing PCPs send patients to EDs
August 17th 2011According to new research, what patients perceive as barriers to office-based primary care may be more important than health insurance coverage in determining whether they go to emergency departments for nonacute care. Find out what potential patients see as barriers to seeing you.
Is current Medicare payment system illegal as well as unfair to PCPs?
August 17th 2011The filing of a lawsuit by six Georgia primary care physicians has escalated the battle against the American Medical Association (AMA)-led process that favors higher payments to specialists at the expense of primary care. Read more to learn why plaintiffs maintain that government reliance on AMA?s Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) violates federal law.
Payer support critical in making ACOs work, study says
August 11th 2011Physician practices may not have the wherewithal to take on much payment risk in an accountable care organization, but commercial payers can provide the support needed to make a variety of risk-sharing models work. Read more to find out how those models work.
Diabetes care improves with new information technology
August 11th 2011Add effective use of technology to diet, exercise and medication compliance when it comes to helping patients control their diabetes. A study found that care for patients with diabetes was appreciably improved when their physicians used electronic health records (EHRs) extensively. And lowering A1c? There?s an app for that.
Most malpractice claims eventually dropped, study finds
August 11th 2011Being served with a medical malpractice lawsuit can be disturbing, but, before you panic, keep something important in mind: There is a better than even chance the suit eventually will be dropped. The author of a recent study offers advice on speeding that process along.
Avoid incentive double-dipping with new CMS information
August 11th 2011Is your practice inadvertently trying to double-dip when it comes to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) incentive programs? To make sure you don?t, the agency has posted new answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about how many incentives you can receive at once. The information is complicated but useful.
SGR still around, additional Medicare cuts possible in debt deal
August 11th 2011No amount of urging and prodding from an enormous number of physicians and their associations could persuade Congress and President Obama to use the bipartisan debt deal to repeal the controversial Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. Even worse, the plan that actually was signed into law could mean additional Medicare reimbursement cuts for physicians.
EHR transition initially may raise lawsuit risk
August 10th 2011A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine says that new information systems tend initially to increase malpractice risks for physician practices, largely because of unfamiliarity with the system and computer-related errors.