Practice Management

Despite the predictions of many pundits, Congress' "lame duck" session was productive after all: Among other accomplishments, the long-awaited tax cuts are now law, at least through 2012.

Consider how other groups recruit new physicians when you find your practice in a similar situation.

In this second of two articles, the authors look at the methods used to value medical practices, the impact of antitrust laws on the pricing of doctors' services, how a hospital or managed care company exerts influence over practices in which they invest, and how doctors in independent practices can best evaluate a purchase offer.

This column addresses well visits that are combined with other services, coding for excisions and lesions, and providing hospital and office care on the same day.

This column presents tips to help you master two major skills involved in communicating with patients -- listening and providing informaiton -- and will provide other pointers.

Learn how healthcare reform taxation will impact your practice.

After reviewing thousands of medical charts, and interviewing hundreds of prospective clients who were the purported victims of medical negligence, general patterns of malpractice began to emerge that repeatedly formed the basis of successful claims against providers and healthcare facilities.

Lower-income families with high-deductible health plans are more likely to delay or forego care due to cost than higher-income families who have similar coverage, according to new research.

The healthcare world has seen major changes in the past 30 years that have led Wall Street and hospital systems to impose paradigm shifts on medical practices willing to accept their premises and terms.

The cost of inefficient healthcare claims processes, payment, and reconciliation is estimated to be between $21 billion and $210 billion, eating up to 10% to 14% of physician practice revenue, according to the American Medical Association.

Congress has delayed primary care's Medicare reimbursement cut for another year. Rather that this being cause for celebration, however, it simply represents the reality that had the cut gone through, there wouldn't be much incentive to stay in the practice of medicine-and Congress knows that.

The bigger and thicker your policy manual is, the more you may be choking the health and growth of your practice.

Surgeons married to physicians appear to face more challenges in balancing their personal and professional lives than do surgeons whose partners work in a nonphysician field or stay at home, according to a recent study.

Family physician Gregory Oliver, DO, has always had an interest in business, although it wasn't until his late 30s when he became an employed hospital physician that his interest deepened.

Letters discuss social networking and practicing solo.

An independent physician organization in Massachusetts representing 1,800 doctors and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Inc. signed a multi-year contract that pays physicians with a modified global payment model designed to encourage cost-effective care rather than reward doctors for the quantity of the care they deliver to patients.

Sigmund Freud regarded acting out as a clinical concept related quite specifically to psychoanalytic treatment. During treatment, patients' actions may represent the only way repressed memories and wishes initially find their way to the surface.

You can be prepared for increasing taxes.

Learn whether Medicare is paying for preventive services, how to bill for meningococcal vaccine, as well as coding for Medicare Advantage plans.

The best way to maximize payment from insurers for the services your practice provides to patients is to keep your knowledge current regarding American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology coding so that you correctly report your services to the payers the first time you submit a claim.

Americans remain divided over the nation's healthcare reform package, with 40% of adults wanting to repeal all or most of the legislation while 31% favor keeping all or most of the reforms, and 29% uncertain, according to results of a poll.

The most current Report to the Nation on Fraud by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates annual fraud at $952 billion, an increase of more than 46% from the 2008 figure of $652 billion.

It's natural for people to worry about that which they do not understand. As learned professionals, our reassurance can go a long way toward soothing our patients.

The consequences of incomplete information at the point-of-care can be inconvenience, inefficiency, increased costss, and adverse, even life-threatening outcomes for patients.

Patient education always has been a priority in this author's office.

Burnout threatens sometimes when the frank reality of what you have to do overtakes the feeling of altruism that led you to do it in the first place.

The American Medical Women's Association is the oldest multispecialty organization for women in medicine.

Letters discuss maintaining hobbies and use of electronic health records.

How can my small group practice compete with the larger practices and the health system-owned practices, you may be asking?

How would you react if your doctor told you that you have 6 months to live?