Practice Management

Physician 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?

The 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.

Family 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.

Accountable 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 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.

Meaningful 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.

According 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.

The 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.

Physician 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.

The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a hybrid concierge practice.

A 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.

When your patients know what to do and why it is important, yet struggle to make lifestyle changes, you could consider a coaching approach. Coaching empowers patients to change ingrained lifestyle patterns and is consistent with patient-centered communication.

Find out how to set up a wireless network for your office computers.

As a physician, whether to treat a patient is up to you. And whether to discontinue treatment is up to you and your patient. The author discusses reasons why you may wish to discontinue treatment and the best way to handle each situation.

Respondents to the 2011 Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Medical Practice Today survey said four of the top five "considerable or extreme challenges" they face relate to operational issues.

The author discusses participating versus nonparticipating status with Medicare and opting out.

The requirement for physicians to report quality data electronically would be delayed for at least a year under rule changes proposed recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

EHRs may be breathing new life into the mobile personal health record market. The mobile format encourages development of applications that allow patients to manage chronic diseases, make appointments, and perform other tasks.

The interim final rule was released in early July by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is available for comment until September 6. It requires insurers to use uniform transmission formats and standardized forms when they request information or provide patients' claims and coverage information to doctors.

A recent CDC blog seeks to educate Americans on how to prepare for emergencies in a unique way. This physician suggests patient education should also be interesting as well as interactive, effective, and presented in multiple formats (instead of solely providing medical handouts).

The author learns that the value of close communication between doctor and patient-whether through words, appearances, or movements-has no price, no measure of productivity.

Learn how to back up your practice management data using a cloud-based storage service.

Award staff bonuses based on behaviors you want to encourage.

Although it may seem easier to add ancillary services that can be performed in the office, new revenue sources from outside activities offer some advantages.

Learn how to run a better staff meeting.

These practice management pearls are intended to help fill in the gaps of being a better businessperson.

Letters discuss writing kind notes, working "part time," and the justice system here and abroad.

More than 70% of primary care and multispecialty practices are on the path to becoming Patient-Centered Medical Homes, according to a new study, and some new technology is helping them gather the patient information they need to achieve that status. Learn about some products that can help your practice conduct affordable patient surveys.

More than 90% of medical practices responding to a recent survey said that it would be ?very? or ?extremely? burdensome to meet the requirements of the proposed ?accounting of disclosures? rule. Read more to find out what several associations are suggesting in place of that rule.

What does it take to achieve a high level of brand equity? Focus, hard work and consistency.