Practice Management

Professional associations are moving to help ensure that it's fair to all physicians.

Medicare reimbursement clarification; raising patient satisfaction; misusing peer review; watch that apostrophe! medical costs foster high settlements; when faith is gone...

Who am I? Why am I here?

A no-show showdown letter

Tax deduction caveat; Managed care contract incentives; Should you continue care? Co-signing correction; Is the hearing process working? A true hero; The tough choice

More and more, doctors are refusing to let payers work the float at their expense.

IT skills every office manager needs

As liability payouts rise, physicians are ordering more tests and making more referrals—often against their better judgment.

Evaluation without retribution; The community hospital and its responsibility; Electronic health records; End of life comfort; Public information; A tax postcript

Exemption from HIPAA; using Internet-based messaging service pagers; compliance officer obligations

CMS will soon start issuing National Provider Identifiers to replace current PINs, UPINs, and most other IDs.

No thanks to universal coverage; in defense of hospice

They earn substantially more than their peers for some very good reasons.

More answers to your EHR questions

More answers to your EHR questions

These vendors can reduce computer headaches and make an EHR less expensive up front. Some physicians really like them.

Paying for an electronic health records system can be harder than choosing one. Here's help.

Spending on physician services rose at a smart pace in 2003, but not across the board.

Med-mal report sparks a debate; Get legal assistance; Courses to enrich the program

Answers to your questions about...paper record disposal; deceased patients and privacy; rights of a surviving spouse; faxes and the security rule

Straws that break your back

An increasingly vocal group of physicians says the hospital peer review process is misused to strike down competitors and outliers.

The author learns a lesson about serenity when a patient refuses treatment for her advanced breast cancer.

An increasingly vocal group of physicians says the hospital peer review process is misused to strike down competitors and outliers.

EHR questions? We have answers

It's the dark side of prescribing. Here are some enlightened ways to minimize the hassles.

Answers to your questions about...clearinghouses; transcription services; janitorial services

Fifteen percent of primary care physicians already have electronic health records (EHR) systems, and many more want them, according to the results of an in-depth Medical Econmics survey of family physicians, internists, ob/gyns, and pediatricians. The survey also reveals the most popular EHR brands.

Compare your expenses to your colleagues', and see how you can cut back.

The President's got newly minted political capital—but the jury's out on whether he'll spend it on tort reform, HSAs, and other key healthcare agenda items.