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Everyone has a story to tell-and we want to hear yours. The entries are already starting to pour in for Medical Economics' 2011 Doctors' Writing Contest, and we would like nothing more than to add your compelling story about practicing medicine or the business of medicine to the mix.

I wrote an article last year outlining what I considered to be the "utopian" medical practice ("One doctor's vision of the utopian practice: The future of medical office technology is taking shape today," June 19, 2009). Technology that exists now is already making the utopian medical practice a reality in some places. But what is the next step? How does that translate into improving patient care? And how will it pay for itself, or more accurately, provide the mechanism by which it will pay for itself?

401(k) plan?

Retirement benefit options I can

Today's independent physician is overwhelmed by the challenges posed by the 3 "big Rs": reimbursement, regulation, and recession. As a result, many are falling victim to hospitals, which see the opportunity to buy up individual practices unable to cope with the 3 Rs, and thereby control healthcare in their region.

Employers that offer their employees limited medical plans are impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, since they are considered group health insurance plans.

Two recent studies have refocused attention on the question of whether apologizing for medical errors can reduce the cost of malpractice.

Determine whether gold is a safe investment.

The financial services reform legislation passed in July contains numerous provisions, two of which will be of interest to physicians. One concerns banking and lending; the other involves investing.

Some physicians have held their financial ground during the tough economy by innovating at their practices. Anne Trussell, MD, a solo internist in Little Rock, Arkansas, added ancillary cosmetic services to boost revenue at her practice when some patients limited office visits due to the cost. She always has kept her overhead low, so expanding services was the solution during these challenging times.

I felt numb, confused, and a bit scared as I sat in my car, staring at the steering wheel and going nowhere. Then the tears came. I could not believe that I had just quit the only remotely stable job I had held, after 11 years, and I was going to have to leave the office staff that had become like family. For what purpose? More money? Was I having a mid-life crisis? I didn't have an answer for myself, but I had opened my mouth in frustration and said 7 words to my long-time employer and friend that haunted me for months afterward: "I will have to make other plans." Meanwhile, how was I going to pay the bills?

Letter addresses AAFP position on electronic health record adoption.

The majority of office visits in 2008 were by patients 45 years old and older, according to a CDC study.

Offer my employees instead of a

If cost is a significant consideration and you can tolerate the hospital's primary care EHR templates, you should research any offers by local hospitals to subsidize your EHR purchase if you choose their system

More than 90 medical groups signed a letter to U.S. Treasury Department opposing any changes to the tax code that would allow trial attorneys to deduct litigation expenses from their taxes in certain cases.

Consider some low-risk retirement benefit options to offer employees instead of a 401(k) plan.

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology of Chicago, and the Drummond Group Inc. of Austin, Texas, were named in August by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as the first technology review bodies that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.

Learn about split billing for Medicare patients who come to the office for preventive visit and have multiple, serious, chronic medical conditions.

The Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis will partner with the Indiana Health Information Exchange, the largest health information exchange organization in the United States, to securely exchange electronic health record (EHR) information using the Nationwide Health Information Network in the third of three pilot programs announced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to improve the delivery of veterans? health information.

Inability to access their own medical records when needed was the top worry of respondents to a survey conducted by GfK Roper for electronic health record company Practice Fusion.

The not-for-profit Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has introduced Quality 101, a Web site designed to be a primer on the basics and metrics of quality measurement and improvement.

Cincinnati and Detroit are the two final pilot cities selected under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Beacon Community Program, which aims to use health information technology to help tackle leading health problems in communities across the country and accelerate development of a nationwide health IT infrastructure.

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology and the Drummond Group Inc. are the first two technology review bodies authorized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to test and certify electronic health record systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year. Applications for additional certification bodies also are under review.

In 2009, Iowa had 2.6 physicians for every 1,000 residents, below the 3.2 physicians per 1,000 residents average in the United States, according to one source.

Running a medical practice efficiently is one of the keys to flourishing in tough economic times, says one expert. When it comes to accounting and finances, examine several areas for possible improvement.

Learn how to profit share in your practice.

Practice ownership should come with benefits, according to one expert.

You'll need to ask yourself two questions before proceeding with coding for these procedures.

You recommend numerous strategies to your patients to help them stave off illness or to improve their health. When it comes to your medical practice, however, do you know what steps to take to make it strong and fit?