Practice Management

Two decades of studies intended to reduce Medicare spending didn’t save much money, the Congressional Budget Office says. Learn more about the failed plans.

A new Oregon law requires concierge and other “retainer” practices to register and be certified by the state. Find out why.

Referrals from primary care physicians and specialists more than doubled from 1999 to 2009, a recent analysis found. See why experts disagree on the reason behind the growth.

Physician practice owners struggle to implement EHR systems more than non-owners, a recent study shows. Your success may depend on those whom you least suspect.

This year the government is giving physicians extra time to drop their Medicare participation. But you do face one snag if you let the relationship linger too far into 2012.

More than one fourth of new physicians said they would choose a different field if they had it to do over again, according to a survey by physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins.

Price, ease of integration and more come into play when considering updating your practice management system. You'll need a way to compare the many options and variables.

Decide whether to invest in an automated denial tracking system to keep better tabs on delayed or denied insurance payments.

Beginning a full-time, house-call geriatric practice in one state while living in another creates a payment dilemma.

The author has seen a troubling rise in fraud, graft and discount doctoring since insurers have raised premiums, copays, and deductibles to maddening heights.

Equipment and supplies for new free health clinics in Palm Bay, Florida, and Bluffton, South Carolina, are the first results of the Family Medicine Cares initiative.

Learn how to free up physicians' time to efficiently and effectively maintain a steady patient volume and viable operations.

Medical Economics' technology editor is on your side, here to help with every matter of health information technology, from barcoding to EHR to mobile apps and more.

Letters discuss 'death committees,' the growth of urgent care and decline of primary care, and increasing revenue streams without compromising one's ethics.

Typos and filing mistakes can create a huge Medicare billing problem, as one writer discovered. Here's what to do if you get 'disowned.'

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for its physician fee schedule November 1 and stated that providers would see an across-the-board reduction of 27.4% for services in 2012, but much is still unclear about this change.

What to consider when deciding whether to contract with a communications vendor for appointment tracking.

Be prepared to receive less reimbursement for the services you provide.

What kind of technology exists to assist in tracking insurance claims from the office visit to paid in full?

When you've decided that the time is right to sell your practice, one of the important issues impacting what you get from the transaction is income taxes.

Other than your home, your largest lifetime expense may well be paying for your children's or grandchildren's educations. Here's how to start.

In the "real" world, people expect to pay more for something if it's of higher quality or offers superior performance. The same cannot be said of the healthcare industry.

Discover what led EHR systems by vendors eClinicalWorks, Cerner, Sage, and NextGen to be named the best systems for midsize-to-large physician practices, according to a report by a market research firm.

Physicians need to be more cost-conscious, but not at patients? expense, according to the new ethics manual from the American College of Physicians (ACP). Read why in this exclusive interview with ACP President Virginia Hood.

Government and commercial health plans must now use an electronic tracking number to match your claim and the plan’s payment, according to a federal rule that went into effect this year.

Reforming team-based payments and expanding the scope-of-practice for nurses could boost primary care access in the United States, according to a policy analysis by a nonprofit group.

The CEO of an accountable care organization participating in a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative says he is confident his network of 180 primary care physicians will earn a cost-savings incentive throughout the 3-year program.

The cost of defending a medical malpractice lawsuit continues to increase, as does the cost of liability insurance premiums for some specialties, according to two reports released in December by the American Medical Association.

More than 100,000 primary care practices are using the services of a regional extension center to implement electronic health records. Consider joining them if your practice is closer to the beginning of the process than the end.

The federal Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction failed to reach agreement on a deficit-reduction proposal, which means that doctors still face a 27% cut in Medicare payments effective January 1. Predictably, the decision elicited strong reactions from organizations representing primary care physicians. Read what the organizations are saying on your behalf and their suggestions for future action.