Practice Management

For clinicians who aspire to leadership positions within their healthcare organization, keys to success include the ability to embrace ambiguity, not being afraid to fail, and falling in love with the problem and not the solution.

New guidelines on the treatment of cholesterol highlight four groups of people who will most likely benefit from statin therapy, and emphasize the need to tailor stain therapy to meet the individualized needs of each patient.

For patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), management may be both challenging and multimodal, and treatment with rate or rhythm control is all about quality of life and managing symptoms. Whether to opt for rate or rhythm control is based on patient specific factors, with patient preference a key factor shared by both treatment strategies.

As increasing numbers of physicians are called into leadership positions, new skills are needed to meet the many nonclinical demands required to fill these positions.

Hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and the lifetime risk of developing hypertension is high. It is also widely known that treating hypertension reduces morbidity and mortality even in very old persons, and that an important aspect of blood pressure management is lifestyle modification.

Medical liability concerns still rate high on the list of concerns by cardiologists, despite State tort reforms in the past decade that have resulted in fewer claims made against physicians and subsequent decreased malpractice insurance pricing.

Cardiologists should get involved with social media and set the standard for the medical industry, said Kevin R. Campbell, MD, at the 2015 ACC conference.

Medical office furniture makes an important and lasting impression on patients. Now may be the right time to assess the condition of your furniture and see if an upgrade is necessary.

A study of 34 physician practices jointly sponsored by RAND Corporation and the American Medical Association found that alternative payment models are changing the way physicians and medical practices operate. However, changing the payment system doesn't always ensure patient care improves.

Physicians across the country are witnessing the advent of new payment models such as patient-centered medical homes, bundled payments, accountable care organizations, and other risk models. What do physicians need to know to incorporate-and succeed with-these payment models?

Follow these tips to help patients manage their sleep disorders, and ensure you are reimbursed correctly.

In the first-place winner for our 2015 Annual Physician Writing Contest, Daniel Taylor, DO describes his experience helping "Jeremy," a 15-year-old boy struggling with problems associated with obesity.

Many physicians doubt that electronic health records (EHRs) improve the quality of care. But relatively few practices are mining their EHR data to see how well they’re doing or to update their care delivery processes.

Observing other physicians’ struggles and having challenges of my own with the EHR compels me to consider ways to incorporate the computer into the patient-physician encounter in a manner that supports rather than detracts from the work that I love to do.

Electronic health records (EHR) use has steadily increased among office-based physicians since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, but new studies indicate that the number of physicians who don’t or plan to participate is substantial.

A fellow at the Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation writes that the market should drive down interoperability costs.

HHS’ announcement that, by the end of 2016, it aims to link 30% of Medicare reimbursements to the "quality of value" is the latest sign that, after years of talking about the importance of quality and outcomes in medicine, payers are getting serious about making them part of their reimbursement formulas.

Follow these tips to improve patient management and adherence of asthma treatments

You need to be specific in your ICD-9 coding for asthma because there are several codes available.

Even the most experienced physicians and practice managers face a daunting dilemma on the financial front: Should they handle billing and collections internally or hand over these tasks to an external vendor? There are strategies that physicians can use to evaluate potential vendors and make the best decision for their practice.

Ask these 10 questions before you choose a RCM vendor

Being sued for malpractice, especially for the first time, can be an unsettling and frustrating experience. The consequences of a lost case can range from an increase in future insurance premiums to a health department investigation which could affect your license. So it is imperative that you immediately report a malpractice claim to your professional liability insurance carrier and retain an attorney specializing in the defense of medical malpractice cases in order to protect your interests.

Treating chronic diseases such as diabetes requires a strong and open relationship between physician and patient.

Chronic care management can become an additional revenue stream for practices, but it requires understanding how to use the codes.

Rising costs can affect treatment adherence and lead to negative outcomes for patients. But physicians can take some small steps to help their patients overcome this challenge.

Despite changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that dramatically affect the risk profile of medical practices, many have yet to establish a full arsenal of defenses against data breaches. The simple fact is that failure to update your protections can multiply your vulnerabilities and fines if a breach occurs.

More than one-third of American adults are obese and this can lead to a wide range of comorbidities and other health problems. Health professionals need to communicate with patients to help them manage obesity.

Insurance carriers have come a long way when it comes to reimbursing for obesity-related treatment. However, you will need to make sure that your diagnosis coding is specific and complete in order to support medical necessity.

Physicians who leave independent private practice to join a large group or a hospital system have different considerations when it comes to medical professional liability (MPL) insurance.

There are many ways to have a medical career. Choosing whether to take employment, buy a practice, or start from scratch involves assessing your personal and professional values, and the specific location you are targeting. The bottom line: Choose what will make you personally and professionally happy.