Hospitals: Strategies for easing the ED crunch
June 6th 2008Hospitals known as "safety net" facilities for the poor and uninsured are working with these patients in an attempt to prevent them from clogging busy EDs with their nonurgent needs, finds a new study from the Center for Studying Health System Change.
Personal Health Records: Pay us for reading these new PHRs, say internists
May 23rd 2008A new patient has compiled a voluminous medical history using the new Google PHR, and he wants you to incorporate the data into your records. The American College of Physicians believes you should be compensated for that.
National Provider Identifier: Many providers are dazed and confused in the NPI era
May 23rd 2008Two recent studies suggest that many healthcare providers weren't ready when the May 23 deadline came to submit insurance claims with only the new National Provider Identifier. What's at stake is millions if not billions of dollars in rejected claims.
Patients: Most haven't prepared an advance healthcare directive
May 16th 2008More than eight in 10 Pennsylvania residents have failed to prepare an advance healthcare directive that would guide their family, doctors, and other clinicians in an end-of-life situation, according to The Institute for Good Medicine at the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
Personal Finance: Jargon may be costing you money
May 16th 2008Basis point. Expense ratio. Index fund. If you can't define these terms, you're far from alone. Less than a third of investors who responded to a recent survey said they comprehended these phrases well enough to explain them to a friend or co-worker.
Medicare: Clock still ticking on physician payment cuts
May 2nd 2008With a 10 percent reduction in Medicare payments scheduled to take effect on July 1, the Senate Finance Committee is hoping to craft a streamlined bill by early next month that would reverse the projected cuts and give doctors a raise of as much as 1.7 percent for 18 months.
Physicians: Experienced nurses' assessment of new doctors
May 2nd 2008Nurses of the Baby Boomer generation say that newly minted doctors make better work partners than physicians they encountered earlier in their careers. That was one finding of a nationwide survey of nurses 45 to 60 years old to better understand their professional concerns and level of satisfaction.
EHRs: More prosperous practices tend to be paperless
April 25th 2008If you want to copy the habits of financially successful doctors who don't have to borrow money to meet payroll, consider implementing an EHR. That's one conclusion you could draw from survey data from the Medical Group Management Association.
Fraud and Abuse: Case against SC hospital goes forward
April 18th 2008A federal judge has given the Justice Department permission to bring a lawsuit against Tuomey Healthcare System in Sumter, SC for paying physicians to perform surgeries at its facilities instead of at doctors' own outpatient clinics.
Computer Security: The war against viruses and other malware has no end
April 11th 2008Malicious software code that infiltrates your computer is the number-one worry of IT security managers--again. It's a geeks' arms race out there, with authors of malware devising new ways to penetrate the latest cyber defense.