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To close the broadband connectivity gap that exists among healthcare practices, the Federal Communications Commission is proposing transforming its Rural Health Care Program, which is authorized to spend $400 million per year, to help healthcare delivery locations meaningfully use health information technology.

"Healthcare information technology is the instrument that will transform healthcare . . . [and] improve quality, safety, access, and cost-efficiency," said Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society board chairman, March 1 in his opening remarks at the HIMSS annual conference in Atlanta.

Although it's been nine years, Jeff Pearson, DO, clearly remembers hearing actor Stephen Furst speak about his battle with diabetes at the 2001 annual convention of the American Osteopathic Association.

Understand the changes for 2010 in billing for inpatient services and how to bill for pulse oximetry.

Cardiovascular diseases have not captured public awareness as much as the seventh leading cause of death in women: breast cancer.

The False Claims Act (FCA) prohibits the "knowing" submission, or causing of a submission, of a false claim to the federal government. The Federal Enforcement Recovery Act extends the reach of the FCA to medical practices that fail to notify the government of overpayments received. This situation creates potential liability for practices that fail to pay careful attention to their billing and collection processes.

Investment options are addressed

In May, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and 15 hospitals statewide will try to reduce preventable hospital readmissions.

The U.S. economy is in turmoil, real estate values are generally down, the stock market has not fully recovered, and T-bill returns are miserly. Investors are looking for alternative, advantageous opportunities.

Get your questions answered on coverage and filing limits.

I didn't know Dennis "Denny" Sandlin, MD, personally, but the colleagues we have in common tell me he was a great human being.

Spring comes, the blood stirs, and physicians' thoughts turn to conventions.

Can you justify the time and cost away from your office to attend a conference? If you go, how do you get the most for your time and money?

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act took effect in April 2009.

Get your questions answered on CMS and audit criteria.

Changing the model of physician inaccessibility we have come to expect not only has improved my patient care and led to an exponential growth of my business.

President Obama's $3.8 trillion 2011 fiscal year budget contains earmarks that will benefit primary care physicians, according to the AAFP.

The Food and Drug Administration granted clearance to market the first point-of-care device to diagnose allergies in the offices with a moderate complexity lab.

Ascension Health will offer online and Web camera visits to patients beginning in the spring.

Elderly patients forgo care when copayments for office visits increase, leading to increased hospital time, according to a new study.

Estate planning are addressed

Nearly 90 percent of Americans agree that financial stress can negatively affect one's health, according to a Harris Interactive study.

Twenty percent of physicians plan to purchase an iPad within the year, according to responses from a survey by Epocrates shortly after Apple announced the device.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and American Society for Quality expect to issue a call for submissions for their "Stories of Success! Leveraging HIT, Improving Quality & Safety" series in early March.

Automated telephone outreach with speech recognition is not an effective way to increase the incidence of colorectal cancer screening, according to a study of 80,000 health plan members published in the February 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Medical practice leaders continue to experience administrative challenges reporting data for Medicare?s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, according to results of a survey recently released by the Medical Group Management Association. Specifically, respondents reported difficulty accessing the feedback reports and said that the presentation of information in the reports was not satisfactory.

More than 150 health information technology systems from 104 participating companies and organizations, including vendors, health information exchanges, government agencies, and open-source development groups, were tested recently at IHE North America?s annual Connectathon. Results are posted here.

403(b)s are addressed

One physician hates the way she feels about herself when she has negative emotions about some of her patients.

Heatlhcare jobs are expected to be the fastest-growing category through most of the new decade.