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| Accommodating disabled patients
| The second-floor office where I'd like to set up my internal medicine practice is not accessible to patients in wheelchairs. However, if I need to see any wheelchair-bound patients, another physician in the building has offered to let me use his office downstairs. Would this arrangement satisfy ADA regulations? Also, what changes will I have to make to the restrooms to accommodate handicapped patients? | | | When a deaf patient demands an interpreter
| | One of my deaf patients is capable of communicating with me in writing or by typing on a computer. However, she insists on having a sign-language interpreter present when she comes to the office. Does the Americans with Disabilities Act oblige me to provide one? | | | Can you fire a staffer on disability leave?
| | My office manager has been on disability for three months. During that time, my other four employees have taken over her tasks, and we're doing quite well without her. Can I eliminate her position? | |  MORE ARTICLES
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| When a medical group practice partner retires
| | A senior partner has announced his plan to retire from our single-specialty group practice. We have a buy-out in place and expect his departure will be amicable. However, we have no experience with managing the details of a doctor's departure. For example, when should he tell his patients and referring doctors that he's leaving? What else do we need to do? | | | A mediator or an attorney?
| | Both my partner-to-be and I agree that the buy-in agreement we signed years ago needs to be renegotiated. But we disagree on some issues. Should we hire a mediator to help us hammer out a new contract, or should we each hire our own attorney? | | | Nailing down the terms of a practice sale
| | I plan to recruit an associate who would buy my practice when I retire in a few years. I'd like to start cutting back my work schedule as soon as he's comfortable. When we draft the buy-sell agreement, what provisions should I include to protect my interests? | | | What happens if a partner dies
| | I'm forming a practice with two other doctors. If one of us dies, does his ownership interest pass to his estate? Should the remaining partners be required to buy his share? What should our contract say about transferring ownership in the event of death? | | | Could a contract clause spoil your retirement plan
| | My younger associate, whom I assumed would succeed me, told me that he intends to resign. He says our buy-sell agreement obligates me to purchase his shares. I plan to retire next year, and this will upset my plans. What should I do? | | | Time to rethink this buy-out agreement
| | According to our small group practice's buy-sell agreement, part of the payout upon termination is return of capital invested. How does the practice provide for the payout without hurting the remaining doctors? | | | Can out-of-state docs bankroll your practice?
| | I want to start my own practice, but I can't get a loan from the bank because I have so much debt already. I have several private investors lined up, though--physicians licensed in another state--who would like to be shareholders in the professional corporation I'd set up. Is this legal? | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| You can delegate work, but you can't delegate liability
| | If you are negligent, you are responsible for any damages you cause to another person. | | | U.S. Court in Arkansas rejects cardiology practice's antitrust action against hospital, insurer
| | The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed an antitrust action brought by the Little Rock Cardiology Clinic against Baptist Health and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. | | | Collections
| | If a patient receives insurance checks directly, cashes them, and refuses to pay the physician, aside from sending that patient to collection, might criminal charges also apply, and on what grounds? | | | ER Compensation
| | My hospital has recently started paying certain specialists to take ER calls. Other specialists continue to be required to take ER calls as a condition of medical staff privileges. Is this legal to force some physicians to take uncompensated ER coverage while others are being paid by the hospital? | | | Charging no-shows a fee
| | I just read the article on no-shows by Dr. Eric Shore (June 6, 2008 issue). I share his concern regarding physicians’ liability when patients neither arrive for their appointment nor cancel. There is an added expense for physicians to follow up on these unreliable patients. What are the legalities of charging no-shows a fee, and what is Medicare’s stance on this? | | | Debt collection
| | Is it okay to set up an in-office collection process for past due patient balances using a form letter that looks similar to a collection agencies letter? I have seen other office send these out. The letter usually has a letterhead that indicates something like "The Collection Center," and goes on to advise the patients that they have X number of days to pay their balance or further collection measures will be taken. | | | S corp, C corp, LLC, LLP—which is best?
| | Whether you're setting up a new practice or re-evaluating an existing one, here's help in sorting through your options. | |
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| Employee status carries some potential risks
| | Have you decided to practice medicine as an employee rather than a business owner? | | | Your employment contract
| | As you prepare to start a new job, read your employment contract carefully, make sure you understand all of its provisions, and, if necessary, let a lawyer have a peek. | | | Look out for employment contract snags
| | Be careful, because the terms of this agreement can have a profound impact on your career. | | | When a noncompete isn't ironclad
| | They're tough to break, but two Indiana doctors showed one way to do it. There are other ways that could work, too. | | | The end of restrictive covenants?
| | A state supreme court rules that "noncompete" clauses violate public policy by limiting patient access to medical care. | | | No contract? No good!
| | Leaving things to chance can spell disaster for your practice, the author says. | | | When a salary guarantee expires
| | This "base compensation" model provides built-in incentives for new physicians, and protects the group if they don't produce. | | Finding a Job
Step 4: Weighing offers
| | Before you sign an employment agreement, do your homework, talk with your advisers, then decide which offer you can't refuse. | | | A win-win alternative to noncompete clauses
| | For both groups and their employed doctors, there's now a fair and legal alternative to restrictive covenants. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Study details smartphone, tablet computer use
| | You and your peers increasingly are relying on smartphones and tablet computers to check email, research medications and conditions, and complete online surveys, according to new research by online research company Knowledge Networks using its Physicians Consulting Network. | | | Survey: Collaboration technologies could transform healthcare delivery
| | Collaboration and information-sharing between you and your fellow health professionals have the greatest near-term potential for facilitating large-scale health sector innovation, according to findings from a global health leader survey on national health sector innovation. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Practices unprepared for HIPAA electronic update
| | Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort. | | | Marketing can increase PHR adoption
| | Your patients belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, and those with the lowest annual incomes, may be less likely than others to adopt personal health records (PHRs), according to the results of research, titled ?The digital divide in adoption and use of a [PHR],? published in the March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. | | | Five million people affected by data breaches
| | Are you or any of your patients among the 5 million people who, according to a new white paper from accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., have been affected in the 166 incidents of data breaches since September 2009? | | | Government initiatives drive health IT spending
| | Confirming what you already may have suspected, results of the 22nd annual Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Leadership Survey suggest that federal government initiatives are the driving force behind current healthcare information technology (IT) spending. | | | Rural and male physicians most willing to use PHRs
| | Do you practice in a rural area, or are you a male physician? If either or both of these descriptions apply you to, you belong to a group(s) more willing to use electronic personal health records (PHRs) compared with your urban, suburban, and female colleagues, according to research published in the February issue of Health Affairs. | | | Research needed to support eHealth technology benefits
| | If the emails we receive are any indication, many physicians will say they don't need a study to tell them that the benefits of digital technology designed to improve the quality and safety of healthcare have yet to be proven by empirical evidence, but that's exactly what research published in PLoS Medicine, an online open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science, has found. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| AMA subsidiary expands availability of health IT platform
| | Your physician colleagues in Michigan may be able to offer insights into American Medical Association subsidiary Amagine Inc.?s health information technology (IT) platform, Amagine, which now is available to physicians nationwide. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Research needed to support eHealth technology benefits
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| If the emails we receive are any indication, many physicians will say they don't need a study to tell them that the benefits of digital technology designed to improve the quality and safety of healthcare have yet to be proven by empirical evidence, but that's exactly what research published in PLoS Medicine, an online open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science, has found. | | | Patients more likely to abandon e-prescriptions than paper ones
| | Patients are significantly more likely to abandon at the pharmacy prescriptions submitted electronically than those dropped off in person, according to the results of a study appearing in the Annals of Internal Medicine. | | | Technology can help reduce death risk, costs of coronary artery disease
| | An intensive population management program that matches patients who have coronary artery disease to personal nurses and clinical pharmacy specialists and uses electronic medical records, computerized disease registries, and the telephone not only reduces the risk of death but reduces healthcare costs as well, according to a new study published in the November issue of Pharmacotherapy. | | | Healthcare providers generally satisfied with IT
| | Healthcare providers responding to CompTIA?s Second Annual Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities survey said that they generally are satisfied with the information technology solutions they now use in their practices, but they?re also interested in improved reliability and performance as well as lower costs for future purchases. | | | MGMA report: EHRs boost practices' financial performance
| | Medical practices that have implemented an electronic health record system report better financial performance than those that have not, according to the Medical Group Management Association?s newly released Electronic Health Records Impacts on Revenue, Costs, and Staffing: 2010 Report Based on 2009 Data. | | | Report: Physicians' role in technology development in flux
| | The traditional model of innovation in the medical technology industry, which includes iterative product improvements driven by physician collaboration and interaction, is being affected by new restrictions on products eligible for 510(k) marketing clearance, according to Pulse of the Industry: Medical Technology Report 2010, Ernst & Young?s annual report on the industry?s performance. | | | First two EHR certification bodies named
| | The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology and the Drummond Group Inc. are the first two technology review bodies authorized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to test and certify electronic health record systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year. Applications for additional certification bodies also are under review. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Electronic messages ultimately not effective in improving colorectal screening rates
| | Researchers involved with a study published in a recent Archives of Internal Medicine hypothesized that you could improve colorectal screening rates among your patients by sending reminder messages and personalized risk assessments via their personal health records (PHRs). The results didn?t turn out quite the way they had thought. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Be careful when using social media
| | When you're on Facebook or Twitter or using other social media, remember to be honest, respect privacy, and uphold the reputation of the medical profession. | | | Five million people affected by data breaches
| | Are you or any of your patients among the 5 million people who, according to a new white paper from accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., have been affected in the 166 incidents of data breaches since September 2009? | | | Automation aids diabetes, hypertension care
| | A well-designed automated patient identification and outreach program can motivate those who have gaps in care to have their treatment needs addressed, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in Population Health Management. | | | HIE pilot projects paving way for 2012 adoption
| | By 2012, you may have access to an easy-to-use Internet-based tool that can replace mail and fax transmissions of patient data with secure, efficient electronic health information exchange (HIE), thanks in part to physicians and other healthcare providers now testing HIE using specifications developed by the Direct Project. | | | Docs, patients agree on key requirements for health IT
| | Chances are, you agree with your patients on key requirements for information technology (IT) to increase the quality, safety, and cost-efficiency of care, as well as core privacy protections, according to results of a national survey released by the Markle Foundation. Agreement between physicians and patients was strongest on requirements to ensure that new federal health IT incentives will be well spent. | | | Gaps exist in broadband use, government report finds
| | Socioeconomic factors such as income and education levels, although strongly associated with broadband Internet use, are not the sole determinants of use, according to ?Digital Nation II,? a new report issued by the Department of Commerce?s Economics and Statistics Administration and National Telecommunications and Information Administration. | | | Medical practices lag behind hospitals in electronic security efforts
| | Medical practices lag behind hospitals in their past efforts and future plans to address security issues related to electronic health records, according to responses to the 2010 HIMSS Security Survey, sponsored by Intel and supported by the Medical Group Management Association. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| EHR templates: Time-saver or patient safety risk?
| | Electronic health record usage is soaring due to a confluence of several factors. That doesn't mean the prefab templates they come with are risk-free. | | | When is informed consent not required?
| | In general, the only person or entity capable of giving consent is a patient with capacity, a legal guardian of a minor or incapacitated person, or a court of competent jurisdiction. | | | Beware the pitfalls of EHR licenses, donations
| | Adoption of electronic health records has yet to hit "critical mass" in the healthcare industry because of the perceived high cost. Before you look into cheap or free options, get to know the risks. | | | EHR security: Confluence of law, patient protection, benefit to physicians
| | Electronic health records are changing the paradigm of medical practice by making increasing volumes of information more central to patient care. | | | Electronic health records use exposes you to care and legal risks
| | The lay and medical press frequently extol electronic health record systems for their potential to improve coordination of care and access to patient information from disparate locations at the click of a mouse, to allow patients and caregivers to discuss and plan care based on that information, and to enhance the monitoring of quality of care. | | | AMA subsidiary expands availability of health IT platform
| | Your physician colleagues in Michigan may be able to offer insights into American Medical Association subsidiary Amagine Inc.?s health information technology (IT) platform, Amagine, which now is available to physicians nationwide. | | | Doctors suggest ways to improve EHRs
| | A newly published study by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers may lead to electronic health record (EHR) system improvements that facilitate your ability to follow up on your patients? abnormal test results?if vendors heed the findings. | | | Patients more comfortable with doctors who use EHRs
| | Good news if you use an electronic health record (EHR) system?and a tip on how best to use it, courtesy of the Sage Healthcare Insights survey: Patients feel more comfortable with physicians who use an EHR system, and they believe that the information contained in the medical record is more accurate when they physically see the information being entered electronically. | | | Will you really qualify for meaningful use?
| | Are you part of the 80% of ambulatory providers who have purchased an electronic health record and are confident they will qualify for meaningful use this year? Take a closer look to be sure. | |
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| Survey: Collaboration technologies could transform healthcare delivery
| | Collaboration and information-sharing between you and your fellow health professionals have the greatest near-term potential for facilitating large-scale health sector innovation, according to findings from a global health leader survey on national health sector innovation. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Be careful when using social media
| | When you're on Facebook or Twitter or using other social media, remember to be honest, respect privacy, and uphold the reputation of the medical profession. | | | Practices unprepared for HIPAA electronic update
| | Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort. | | | 20% get healthcare information from social media
| | Is your practice using social media? Twenty percent of your patients may be doing so, and social media may be a way that you can reach them?and others. | | | Five million people affected by data breaches
| | Are you or any of your patients among the 5 million people who, according to a new white paper from accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., have been affected in the 166 incidents of data breaches since September 2009? | | | Marketing can increase PHR adoption
| | Your patients belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, and those with the lowest annual incomes, may be less likely than others to adopt personal health records (PHRs), according to the results of research, titled ?The digital divide in adoption and use of a [PHR],? published in the March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. | | | Patients want online connection to you
| | If your patient population is similar to the pool of those responding to a recent survey, you?ll want to consider adding a secure online communication tool to your practice to allow patients to obtain lab results, request appointments, pay medical bills, and communicate with your offices?if you haven?t done so already. | | | | Research needed to support eHealth technology benefits
| | If the emails we receive are any indication, many physicians will say they don't need a study to tell them that the benefits of digital technology designed to improve the quality and safety of healthcare have yet to be proven by empirical evidence, but that's exactly what research published in PLoS Medicine, an online open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science, has found. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Study details smartphone, tablet computer use
| | You and your peers increasingly are relying on smartphones and tablet computers to check email, research medications and conditions, and complete online surveys, according to new research by online research company Knowledge Networks using its Physicians Consulting Network. | | | Healthcare providers generally satisfied with IT
| | Healthcare providers responding to CompTIA?s Second Annual Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities survey said that they generally are satisfied with the information technology solutions they now use in their practices, but they?re also interested in improved reliability and performance as well as lower costs for future purchases. | | | Social networking, games, email top online activities
| | Americans spend 40% of their time online participating in social networking activities, playing games, or emailing. Almost 25% of the time online is spent with social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8%. | | | 94% of physicians now using smartphones
| | Ninety-four percent of physicians are using smartphones to communicate, manage personal and business workflows, and access medical information, according to a study released by Spyglass Consulting Group. | | | National initiative will share health data to spur creation of new apps
| | A national initiative by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Institute of Medicine aims to improve access to health data so that developers of Web and mobile phone applications, social media, and other information technologies can create tools designed to improve health. | | | HIMSS chair: IT will transform healthcare
| | "Healthcare information technology is the instrument that will transform healthcare . . . [and] improve quality, safety, access, and cost-efficiency," said Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society board chairman, March 1 in his opening remarks at the HIMSS annual conference in Atlanta. | | | One in five physicians likely to purchase iPad within year
| | Twenty percent of physicians plan to purchase an iPad within the year, according to responses from a survey by Epocrates shortly after Apple announced the device. | |
| Physician smartphone adoption rate to reach 81% in 2012
| | Physician smartphone adoption rates will experience significant growth over the next few years, according to the latest physician report from Manhattan Research. Currently, 64 percent of U.S. physicians own smartphones, but this rate will increase to 81 percent in 2012, according to the report. | | | Merck releases iPhone apps for its manuals
| | Merck & Co. has released iPhone applications for the professional and consumer editions of its Merck Manual. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Study details smartphone, tablet computer use
| | You and your peers increasingly are relying on smartphones and tablet computers to check email, research medications and conditions, and complete online surveys, according to new research by online research company Knowledge Networks using its Physicians Consulting Network. | | | Electronic messages ultimately not effective in improving colorectal screening rates
| | Researchers involved with a study published in a recent Archives of Internal Medicine hypothesized that you could improve colorectal screening rates among your patients by sending reminder messages and personalized risk assessments via their personal health records (PHRs). The results didn?t turn out quite the way they had thought. | | | AMA subsidiary expands availability of health IT platform
| | Your physician colleagues in Michigan may be able to offer insights into American Medical Association subsidiary Amagine Inc.?s health information technology (IT) platform, Amagine, which now is available to physicians nationwide. | | | Doctors suggest ways to improve EHRs
| | A newly published study by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers may lead to electronic health record (EHR) system improvements that facilitate your ability to follow up on your patients? abnormal test results?if vendors heed the findings. | | | Patients more comfortable with doctors who use EHRs
| | Good news if you use an electronic health record (EHR) system?and a tip on how best to use it, courtesy of the Sage Healthcare Insights survey: Patients feel more comfortable with physicians who use an EHR system, and they believe that the information contained in the medical record is more accurate when they physically see the information being entered electronically. | | | Government names new leader for HIT efforts
| | Remember this name--Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM--because you?re going to be seeing and hearing it a lot. He is the new person leading the federal government?s efforts to encourage the adoption of health information technology and health information exchange in the practices of you and your peers as well as by other health system entities. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Will you really qualify for meaningful use?
| | Are you part of the 80% of ambulatory providers who have purchased an electronic health record and are confident they will qualify for meaningful use this year? Take a closer look to be sure. | | | Survey: Collaboration technologies could transform healthcare delivery
| | Collaboration and information-sharing between you and your fellow health professionals have the greatest near-term potential for facilitating large-scale health sector innovation, according to findings from a global health leader survey on national health sector innovation. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| | | If a colleague is careless
| | Malpractice Alert | | | Should you sign a "consent to settle"?
| | Malpractice Alert | | | Do you need excess liability coverage?
| | Primary care physicians rarely do the high risk procedures that result in big judgments. | | | Can I pay a patient's bills?
| | Before offering to reimburse the patient's out-of-pocket expenses, report the matter to your liability insurer. | | | Consignment closets, 'stock and bill' arrangements still a viable option
| | In the age of heightened regulatory scrutiny, you may question whether consignment closet relationships are legal. If properly structured they can be especially beneficial to patients in need of expensive medical devices. | | | EHR templates: Time-saver or patient safety risk?
| | Electronic health record usage is soaring due to a confluence of several factors. That doesn't mean the prefab templates they come with are risk-free. | | | When is informed consent not required?
| | In general, the only person or entity capable of giving consent is a patient with capacity, a legal guardian of a minor or incapacitated person, or a court of competent jurisdiction. | | | Optimism may reduce malpractice risk
| | Taking responsibility for the health and life of other human beings requires a great optimistic contention that one can do the job as well as, or better than, others, and that the results will be as good as possible. | | | Potential problems exist in the Medicare enrollment process
| | When the Medicare program first began, providers enrolled using a single two-page form. Today it's not that simple, so knowing the rules ahead of time will best position you to receive timely payment. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| When is informed consent not required?
| | In general, the only person or entity capable of giving consent is a patient with capacity, a legal guardian of a minor or incapacitated person, or a court of competent jurisdiction. | | | Electronic health records use exposes you to care and legal risks
| | The lay and medical press frequently extol electronic health record systems for their potential to improve coordination of care and access to patient information from disparate locations at the click of a mouse, to allow patients and caregivers to discuss and plan care based on that information, and to enhance the monitoring of quality of care. | | | Sharing records can be challenging in a group
| | Understand the appropriate way to handle documentation in a clinic. | | | Be careful if ending treatment agreement
| | 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. | | | If asked for your records in a lawsuit, be prepared
| | What do you do if you realize that your records actually may do harm to a patient's lawsuit? | | | The phone is your friend when used properly
| | For whatever reason, the author says, many physicians appear to be afraid of the phone. | | | Tests, missed appointments require you to follow up
| | You encounter various situations in the practice of medicine, but what do they have in common? | | | Sick notes don't have to be painful
| | A doctor's sick note always has been regarded as a serious document. | | | 'Badmouthing' another doctor never a good idea
| | Refrain from making negative comments about another medical professional for several reasons. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| When is informed consent not required?
| | In general, the only person or entity capable of giving consent is a patient with capacity, a legal guardian of a minor or incapacitated person, or a court of competent jurisdiction. | | | Electronic health records use exposes you to care and legal risks
| | The lay and medical press frequently extol electronic health record systems for their potential to improve coordination of care and access to patient information from disparate locations at the click of a mouse, to allow patients and caregivers to discuss and plan care based on that information, and to enhance the monitoring of quality of care. | | | Be careful if ending treatment agreement
| | 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. | | | The phone is your friend when used properly
| | For whatever reason, the author says, many physicians appear to be afraid of the phone. | | | Tests, missed appointments require you to follow up
| | You encounter various situations in the practice of medicine, but what do they have in common? | | | Sick notes don't have to be painful
| | A doctor's sick note always has been regarded as a serious document. | | | Sharpen communication skills to lessen lawsuit risk
| | 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. | | | Good rapport with patients helps lessen lawsuit risk
| | When you spend a lot of time talking with patients in the office, you may wonder how you will finish all the work related to diagnosis and treatment on any given day, but many good reasons exist for these conversations. | | | Electronic health record-related risk lowered if records safe, accessible
| | As an increasing number of physicians migrate to electronic health records to replace their paper charts, concerns have been growing about the possibility of information being wiped out or no longer accessible. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| When is informed consent not required?
| | In general, the only person or entity capable of giving consent is a patient with capacity, a legal guardian of a minor or incapacitated person, or a court of competent jurisdiction. | | | Sharing records can be challenging in a group
| | Understand the appropriate way to handle documentation in a clinic. | | | Be careful if ending treatment agreement
| | 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. | | | On-site assessments for preventing malpractice liability offer several benefits
| | On-site assessments help doctors and office staff insulate themselves from malpractice liability in the office setting. | |
| | If asked for your records in a lawsuit, be prepared
| | What do you do if you realize that your records actually may do harm to a patient's lawsuit? | | | You can delegate work, but you can't delegate liability
| | If you are negligent, you are responsible for any damages you cause to another person. | | | Electronic health record-related risk lowered if records safe, accessible
| | As an increasing number of physicians migrate to electronic health records to replace their paper charts, concerns have been growing about the possibility of information being wiped out or no longer accessible. | | | Proper consent forms can be good evidence
| | Your attorney can use your consent forms and progress notes to build your defense in cases alleging lack of informed consent. | | | Treat zone program integrity contractor audit notice with seriousness, urgency
| | Through ZPIC audits, the government is becoming better able to successfully identify fraud, waste and abuse, and becoming more effective in successfully prosecuting those at fault. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| On-site assessments for preventing malpractice liability offer several benefits
| | On-site assessments help doctors and office staff insulate themselves from malpractice liability in the office setting. | | | Make sure you can get tail coverage if you need it
| | Leaving a group, employment, the state. Dying, becoming disabled or retired. If you have claims-made insurance, these are all occasions when you likely will need "tail coverage." | | | Medicare opt-out decision requires detailed knowledge
| | With the passage of the federal healthcare reform law and the increasing number of audits that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be conducting, it may be time to consider opting out of Medicare, but be sure to first know your options. | | | Medical tourism liability may fall on domestic doctors
| | When a U.S. resident is sent abroad for treatment by a managed car company, does a patient have any available recourse if he or she is a victim of negligence? | | |
Survey: Malpractice premiums
| | In the past decade, there was a sharp increase in medical liability premiums, but recently, malpractice insurance has started to level off, indicating a potential new trend. | | | 2009 Medical Economics Survey methodology
| | The methodology and numbers behind Medical Economics' 2009 Exclusive Survey | | | Malpractice insurance rates drop to 30-year low
| | Medical malpractice liability premiums are at a 30-year low and claims have dropped 45 percent since 2000, according to a recent study. | | | PHRs can boost efficiency, but also hold malpractice risk
| | Since personal health records could be the wave of the future, it is important to understand their risks and benefits. | | | Study: Half of younger uninsured are voluntary
| | Almost half of all uninsured U.S. citizens younger than 65 earn enough to afford health insurance but voluntarily don't purchase it, according to research by a Washington, D.C. think tank. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| If asked for your records in a lawsuit, be prepared
| | What do you do if you realize that your records actually may do harm to a patient's lawsuit? | | | Consider several points in settlement decisions
| | To settle or not to settle? Read the article to determine how to discern the best choice. | | | You the physician: Your own worst enemy
| | Barry Lang, MD, JD, a medical malpractice plaintiff's attorney and orthopedic surgeon, admits that doctors have the advantage in most medical malpractice lawsuit trials. | | | Survey: Malpractice premiums
| | In the past decade, there was a sharp increase in medical liability premiums, but recently, malpractice insurance has started to level off, indicating a potential new trend. | | | End-of-life care: Who decides when to pull the plug?
| | Efforts to thwart the increasing costs of healthcare cannot succeed without addressing the question of how much care to provide the terminally ill. | | | Viewpoint: EHR mandates should be coupled with tort reform
| | There is a middle road wherein standards and expectations of how to practice in a whole new world of real-time data can be established, and it must be addressed so that those who use EHR systems can do their jobs without apprehension and fear. | | | Arbitration beats litigation
| | An arbitration agreement signed before the patient seeks or starts treatment is more likely to be upheld than one signed just before treatment. | | | "Loss of chance" doctrine changes malpractice standards
| | The loss-of-chance doctrine provides that even if a patient had less than a 50-50 chance of a full recovery at the time of a physician's negligent act, it is a compensable injury if that negligence deprived the patient of any chance of recovery. | | | Pennsylvania high court rules time-limit unexpired in malpractice claim
| | The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed February 19 the grant of summary judgment in favor of a physician who alleged the medical malpractice action against him was time-barred under the two-year statute of limitations. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Sharing records can be challenging in a group
| | Understand the appropriate way to handle documentation in a clinic. | | | The phone is your friend when used properly
| | For whatever reason, the author says, many physicians appear to be afraid of the phone. | | | Tests, missed appointments require you to follow up
| | You encounter various situations in the practice of medicine, but what do they have in common? | | | You the physician: Your own worst enemy
| | Barry Lang, MD, JD, a medical malpractice plaintiff's attorney and orthopedic surgeon, admits that doctors have the advantage in most medical malpractice lawsuit trials. | | | New HIPAA rules on information breaches take effect in September
| | If patient information is stolen, practices must notify the affected patients and, in some cases, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and local media, according to new regulations that go into effect on September 23. | | | Q&A: When patients refuse to provide social security numbers
| | Patients are not required to provide their social security numbers, even if your practice asks them to do so. | | | Improve patient communications with voicemail and e-mail
| | E-mail and voicemail are excellent and convenient means of dealing with prescription renewals, appointment reminders, and other standard administrative tasks. | | | New HIPAA rules get tough on security breaches
| | The additional rules obligate physicians to individually notify patients and the local media if there has been a security breach of "protected health information." | | | What the 'Red Flags rule' means for you
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| By rule, any medical practice that extends, renews, or continues credit for a patient—i.e., one that bills patients for services rendered—is subject to the "Red Flags Rule." | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Sharing records can be challenging in a group
| | Understand the appropriate way to handle documentation in a clinic. | | | 'Badmouthing' another doctor never a good idea
| | Refrain from making negative comments about another medical professional for several reasons. | | | You can delegate work, but you can't delegate liability
| | If you are negligent, you are responsible for any damages you cause to another person. | | | You the physician: Your own worst enemy
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| Barry Lang, MD, JD, a medical malpractice plaintiff's attorney and orthopedic surgeon, admits that doctors have the advantage in most medical malpractice lawsuit trials. | | | End-of-life care: Who decides when to pull the plug?
| | Efforts to thwart the increasing costs of healthcare cannot succeed without addressing the question of how much care to provide the terminally ill. | | | When to refer a nonadherent patient to a mental health specialist
| | Consider a referral to a mental health provider for patients who remain nonadherent to therapy or lifestyle changes even after extensive patient education efforts. | | | Know when the Stark law applies to you
| | The Stark law is relevant only in situations that involve a specific set of health services and patients who use Medicare. | | | How to avoid malpractice liability in cross-coverage arrangements
| | For a solo practitioner or a small group practice, cross-coverage arrangements are like oxygen: Without them, there is no life—that is, no weekends, no evenings, no vacations, and no holidays. | | |
"Nationalized" medicine lacks national standards
| | To properly design a compliant, multi-state medical practice, physicians must understand the significantly different laws and regulations they may encounter. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| EHR templates: Time-saver or patient safety risk?
| | Electronic health record usage is soaring due to a confluence of several factors. That doesn't mean the prefab templates they come with are risk-free. | | | On-site assessments for preventing malpractice liability offer several benefits
| | On-site assessments help doctors and office staff insulate themselves from malpractice liability in the office setting. | | | Electronic health record-related risk lowered if records safe, accessible
| | As an increasing number of physicians migrate to electronic health records to replace their paper charts, concerns have been growing about the possibility of information being wiped out or no longer accessible. | | | Treat zone program integrity contractor audit notice with seriousness, urgency
| | Through ZPIC audits, the government is becoming better able to successfully identify fraud, waste and abuse, and becoming more effective in successfully prosecuting those at fault. | | | You the physician: Your own worst enemy
| | Barry Lang, MD, JD, a medical malpractice plaintiff's attorney and orthopedic surgeon, admits that doctors have the advantage in most medical malpractice lawsuit trials. | | | Medical tourism liability may fall on domestic doctors
| | When a U.S. resident is sent abroad for treatment by a managed car company, does a patient have any available recourse if he or she is a victim of negligence? | | | Survey: Malpractice premiums
| | In the past decade, there was a sharp increase in medical liability premiums, but recently, malpractice insurance has started to level off, indicating a potential new trend. | | | Don't be afraid to contact your insurer when you smell a suit at your doorstep
| | Inform your malpractice insurance carrier any time you have suspicion that a patient is considering a lawsuit. | | | Repayment of Stark violations can be tricky
| | Exceptions that permit referrals under Stark are complex, therefore determining a violation has happened and the preferred way of managing are also difficult. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| First telehealth provider launches on the Google Health platform
| | Users of Google Health who have scheduled telehealth consultations with physicians or mental health therapists via MDLiveCare will be able to share medical records with their doctors before the appointments and receive records from the doctors after the appointments, thanks to a new collaboration between the two companies. | | | Exercise stress testing in the primary care office
| | Exercise stress testing is helpful in evaluating chest pain in selected patients and is a cost-effective strategy for triaging patients with chest pain in the primary care setting. | | | Know when the Stark law applies to you
| | The Stark law is relevant only in situations that involve a specific set of health services and patients who use Medicare. | | | Q&A: Offering limited emergency services
| | If you are going to represent yourself as providing emergency care, you should be prepared to handle the full range of emergency care services. | | | The risks of dealing with supplements
| | The overwhelming majority of doctors know little about supplements or the risks, rules, and regulations that may apply when selling them from a medical practice. | | | Q&A: How to get paid for imaging services
| | Is there any way for a solo physician who wants to do imaging services to get the full global fee from Medicare without owning the equipment? | | | Q&A: Steering clear of Stark
| | Several colleagues and I would like to open a diagnostic center with lab, CT, MRI, and X-ray capabilities. We are all independent primary care practitioners in separate offices. How can we do this and avoid Stark Law violations? | | | Physician group may employ part-time physicians for endoscopies
| | A physician group's proposal to employ part-time two physicians to perform endoscopies would not generate prohibited remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in an advisory opinion posted December 15. | | | Imaging self-referral proposal would amend Stark laws
| | A Medicare bill introduced in July would require physicians to disclose to patients any self-referral of imaging services such as MRIs and CT scans. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Billing dilemmas with a concierge practice
| | Learn the ins and outs of billing in a concierge practice. | | | Billing for noncredentialed providers
| | Determining whether it is legal to bill for services performed by noncredentialed physicians. | | | EHNAC adopts new criteria for accreditation
| | The non-profit Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) has adopted new program criteria for 2011 for the following programs: | | | Examining accounting and finances can illuminate ways to save, bring in revenue
| | Running a medical practice efficiently is one of the keys to flourishing in tough economic times, says one expert. When it comes to accounting and finances, examine several areas for possible improvement. | | | Coding versus billing skills
| | Get your questions answered on coding and billing skills, as well as what to consider before taking the job. | | | How to decipher PQRI protocol, how to handle same-day consultations
| | Various areas of coding, including PQRI measures, ophthalmology consults, are addressed | | | Don't be afraid to contact your insurer when you smell a suit at your doorstep
| | Inform your malpractice insurance carrier any time you have suspicion that a patient is considering a lawsuit. | |
| | Coding the day prior to hospital discharge, dialysis and discharge on same date
| | Allowing a doctor to bill for a discharge the night before it occurs prevents a situation in which patients are occupying hospital beds solely in wait of a physician. | | | Survey: Medicare Part B is the easiest
| | Medicare Part B causes medical groups the least amount of hassle, according to a survey of 1,700 practices released at the Medical Group Management Association?s annual conference in Denver last month. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Practices unprepared for HIPAA electronic update
| | Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort. | | | It's prime time to increase efficiency through operations
| | The medical practice of the future may resemble the Santa Monica, California, multispecialty practice Oceanside Wellness Center, depicted on the show "Private Practice," according to one business consultant. | | | Cost control top theme for healthcare industry in 2010
| | Healthcare cost control is the overarching theme for 2010, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute's "Top 10 health industry issues in 2010" report. | | | Things to consider before accepting a job offer
| | Get your questions answered on coding and billing skills, as well as what to consider before taking the job. | | | Q&A: Tips to save money on supplies and control inventory
| | Supplies in your practice can cost more than you think. | | | How an integrated care group turns the tide against cardiometabolic disorders
| | Holston Medical Group employs team-based strategy to treat patients with cardiometabolic disorders. | |
| | 2009 productivity survey: How do you compare?
| | While primary care physicians, by and large, worked as much in 2008 as they did the previous year, the number of patients seen increased just marginally, according to Medical Economics' annual productivity survey. | | | Q&A: Cure for too much overtime; 10 ways to cut expenses; specialty-specific budget resources
| | Staff overtime can cost practices thousands of dollars yearly. Learn how to control overtime. | | | Q&A: Monitor your practice's economic vital signs
| | What statistics do I really need to track in my practice? | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Tests, missed appointments require you to follow up
| | You encounter various situations in the practice of medicine, but what do they have in common? | |
| | Practices unprepared for HIPAA electronic update
| | Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort. | | | Five million people affected by data breaches
| | Are you or any of your patients among the 5 million people who, according to a new white paper from accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., have been affected in the 166 incidents of data breaches since September 2009? | | | Healthcare industry unprepared for data breach, survey says
| | Companies that work with healthcare organizations and handle private patient information are largely unprepared to meet the new data breach-related obligations included in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. | | | New HIPAA rules on information breaches take effect in September
| | If patient information is stolen, practices must notify the affected patients and, in some cases, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and local media, according to new regulations that go into effect on September 23. | | | State privacy laws deter EHR adoption in hospitals
| | EHR adoption has decreased in hospitals in states where privacy laws restrict the ability to disclose patient information, according to a study published in the journal Management Science. | | | Improve patient communications with voicemail and e-mail
| | E-mail and voicemail are excellent and convenient means of dealing with prescription renewals, appointment reminders, and other standard administrative tasks. | | | PHRs can boost efficiency, but also hold malpractice risk
| | Since personal health records could be the wave of the future, it is important to understand their risks and benefits. | | | Q&A: When your practice's computers get repossessed
| | A few months ago, our practice ran into some financial difficulties, and we tried to renegotiate our lease contract for our computers, but were rebuffed. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Lower-income families in high-deductible plans more likely to forego care
| | Lower-income families in high-deductible health plans are more likely to delay or forgo care due to cost than higher-income families who have similar coverage, according to researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. | | | Aetna, WellPoint earn electronic data exchange certification
| | Aetna and WellPoint are the first national health plans to earn certification for electronically exchanging administrative data using the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange Phase II rules. | | | Telemedicine program tested in Minnesota
| | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota?s 10,000 employees and family members are part of a new pilot program testing the insurer?s Online Care Anywhere program. The program is designed to allow patients access to medical care from home or work via computer or phone. | | | Managed care company loses data on 446,000 patients
| | The Connecticut attorney general's office is investigating the loss of health information of 446,000 state residents by managed care company Health Net and the company's six-month notification delay. | | | California launches first online PPO rating report card
| | California launched an online resource designed to help consumers decide which preferred provider organization is best for them. | | | How to handle insurer requests for more information on patients' pre-existing conditions
| | What to do with presented with requests from insurance companies for more patient information | | | Survey: Medicare Part B is the easiest
| | Medicare Part B causes medical groups the least amount of hassle, according to a survey of 1,700 practices released at the Medical Group Management Association?s annual conference in Denver last month. | | | Medicare cracks down on false claims
| | Pfizer allegedly promoted four drugs for off-label indications and caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs for uses that were not medically accepted indications and therefore not covered by those programs. | | | From private practice to hospital medicine
| | Alfred J. Maher, MD, differs from most hospital physicians in that he didn't begin working as a hospitalist soon after residency. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Patients more comfortable with doctors who use EHRs
| | Good news if you use an electronic health record (EHR) system?and a tip on how best to use it, courtesy of the Sage Healthcare Insights survey: Patients feel more comfortable with physicians who use an EHR system, and they believe that the information contained in the medical record is more accurate when they physically see the information being entered electronically. | | | Be careful when using social media
| | When you're on Facebook or Twitter or using other social media, remember to be honest, respect privacy, and uphold the reputation of the medical profession. | | | Survey: Collaboration technologies could transform healthcare delivery
| | Collaboration and information-sharing between you and your fellow health professionals have the greatest near-term potential for facilitating large-scale health sector innovation, according to findings from a global health leader survey on national health sector innovation. | | | 20% get healthcare information from social media
| | Is your practice using social media? Twenty percent of your patients may be doing so, and social media may be a way that you can reach them?and others. | | | Marketing can increase PHR adoption
| | Your patients belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, and those with the lowest annual incomes, may be less likely than others to adopt personal health records (PHRs), according to the results of research, titled ?The digital divide in adoption and use of a [PHR],? published in the March 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. | | | Good rapport with patients helps lessen lawsuit risk
| | When you spend a lot of time talking with patients in the office, you may wonder how you will finish all the work related to diagnosis and treatment on any given day, but many good reasons exist for these conversations. | | | Patients with pain, mental health issues most 'e-empowered'
| | Patients most likely to be "e-empowered" are those with pain-related or mental health conditions, according to the 10th Cybercitizen Health U.S. study by Manhattan Research. | | | Electronic alerts reduce unneeded test in elderly
| | An electronic message sent to doctors the moment they order a blood test for elderly patients reduces the unnecessary use of a test for which results often are false-positive for the elderly, according to research published in the November edition of American Journal of Managed Care. | | | Lower-income families in high-deductible plans more likely to forego care
| | Lower-income families in high-deductible health plans are more likely to delay or forgo care due to cost than higher-income families who have similar coverage, according to researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Introduction: Charting a course to success for your practice
| | Medical Economics convened a panel of experts to discuss the things you can control to strengthen your medical practice to withstand factors beyond your control. We share their advice related to operations, practice valuation, front office matters, and accounting and finances. | | | Examining accounting and finances can illuminate ways to save, bring in revenue
| | Running a medical practice efficiently is one of the keys to flourishing in tough economic times, says one expert. When it comes to accounting and finances, examine several areas for possible improvement. | | | Q&A: Tips to save money on supplies and control inventory
| | Supplies in your practice can cost more than you think. | | | Q&A: Cure for too much overtime; 10 ways to cut expenses; specialty-specific budget resources
| | Staff overtime can cost practices thousands of dollars yearly. Learn how to control overtime. | | | First steps in your job search
| | Whether just done with residency, an experienced hospitalist seeking new work, or a private practice physician transitioning to hospitalist work, a job hunt, at the outset, is an exercise in information-gathering. | | | Health plan proposal has downside
| | A rule proposed in the health reform legislation would allow health insurers to sell plans across state lines. | | | Q&A: Monitor your practice's economic vital signs
| | What statistics do I really need to track in my practice? | | | Survey: Physicians confused about off-label drug use
| | Nearly half of physicians believe that various off-label uses of prescription drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a national survey. | | | A complex constellation of interrelated conditions
| | An estimated 47 million Americans have double the average risk of heart disease because they are affected by a complex constellation of interrelated conditions, including obesity, impaired glucose metabolism, hypertension, and lipid disorders. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Doctors suggest ways to improve EHRs
| | A newly published study by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers may lead to electronic health record (EHR) system improvements that facilitate your ability to follow up on your patients? abnormal test results?if vendors heed the findings. | | | AMA subsidiary expands availability of health IT platform
| | Your physician colleagues in Michigan may be able to offer insights into American Medical Association subsidiary Amagine Inc.?s health information technology (IT) platform, Amagine, which now is available to physicians nationwide. | | | HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Government to release IT toolkit for medical practices
| | If you have a small or medium-sized practice, look for a toolkit in January from the federal agency for Healthcare Research and Quality designed to help you analyze workflow and redesign your practice before, during, and after you implement healthcare information technology (IT). | | | Introduction: Charting a course to success for your practice
| | Medical Economics convened a panel of experts to discuss the things you can control to strengthen your medical practice to withstand factors beyond your control. We share their advice related to operations, practice valuation, front office matters, and accounting and finances. | | | Investment in staffing and technology makes a lasting impression
| | Proper investment in the staffing and technology related to day-to-day operations can improve the impression your medical practice conveys and help insulate it from economic downturns and other events beyond your control. | | | It's prime time to increase efficiency through operations
| | The medical practice of the future may resemble the Santa Monica, California, multispecialty practice Oceanside Wellness Center, depicted on the show "Private Practice," according to one business consultant. | | | Examining accounting and finances can illuminate ways to save, bring in revenue
| | Running a medical practice efficiently is one of the keys to flourishing in tough economic times, says one expert. When it comes to accounting and finances, examine several areas for possible improvement. | | | Viewpoint: Increase efficiencies to cut costs
| | Get a head's up on efficiency basics. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice
| | Need help adopting electronic health records and achieving meaningful use? You can look to the 3,000 people who will be the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals by the end of the summer. More than 2,200 of these graduates are expected to complete their training in April. | | | Practices unprepared for HIPAA electronic update
| | Where does your group stand in transitioning to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic standards? If you?re like the majority of respondents to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey, it?s facing significant challenges in this effort. | | | Report: Doctors, hospitals must cooperate for ACO, HIE success
| | Healthcare reform will require physicians and hospitals to engage in information-sharing via collaborations such as health information exchanges (HIEs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs). Results of a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, however, found that both groups must overcome issues with one other to be successful. | | | Government to release IT toolkit for medical practices
| | If you have a small or medium-sized practice, look for a toolkit in January from the federal agency for Healthcare Research and Quality designed to help you analyze workflow and redesign your practice before, during, and after you implement healthcare information technology (IT). | | | Take these steps to protect the value of your practice -- and the dividends it pays you
| | Practice ownership should come with benefits, according to one expert. | | | Introduction: Charting a course to success for your practice
| | Medical Economics convened a panel of experts to discuss the things you can control to strengthen your medical practice to withstand factors beyond your control. We share their advice related to operations, practice valuation, front office matters, and accounting and finances. | | | It's prime time to increase efficiency through operations
| | The medical practice of the future may resemble the Santa Monica, California, multispecialty practice Oceanside Wellness Center, depicted on the show "Private Practice," according to one business consultant. | | | Examining accounting and finances can illuminate ways to save, bring in revenue
| | Running a medical practice efficiently is one of the keys to flourishing in tough economic times, says one expert. When it comes to accounting and finances, examine several areas for possible improvement. | | | EHR system can help practices pinpoint areas for improvement
| | Electronic health record systems can help medical practices improve their design and payment structures, according to one doctor?s examination of his five-physician internal medicine practice, published in the April 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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Watchdog group releases personal health record privacy report card
| | The watchdog group Patient Privacy Rights has released its first personal health record privacy report card in an effort to educate and protect consumers. | | | Managed care company loses data on 446,000 patients
| | The Connecticut attorney general's office is investigating the loss of health information of 446,000 state residents by managed care company Health Net and the company's six-month notification delay. | | | HHS to award $80 million for health IT training
| | The Department of Health and Human Services plans to award $80 million in grants to develop and strengthen the health information technology workforce. | | | Contract should ensure EHR compliance
| | Practices making the plunge into electronic health records prior to the final definition of "meaningful use" should require the EHR contract guarantee the system will meet those requirements. | | | New HIPAA rules on information breaches take effect in September
| | If patient information is stolen, practices must notify the affected patients and, in some cases, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and local media, according to new regulations that go into effect on September 23. | | | Federal bill would provide deferred-payment loans for EHRs
| | A deferred-payment loan of up to $315,000 for solo physicians to purchase electronic health record systems may soon be available from the Small Business Administration. | | | Is there an exemption from the federal EHR mandate?
| | Although Medicare is expected to offer a financial hardship exemption from electronic health records, the agency has offered scant details so far. | | | Study to make physician notes available to patients online
| | Starting next year, about 25,000 patients will be able to see all the encounter notes from their primary care physicians on an online personal health record for the duration of a 12-month study. | | | Pen-and-paper workarounds plus EHR may boost efficiency
| | The use of pen-and-paper workarounds in conjunction with electronic health records could boost overall efficiency, according to a new study. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Q&A: Cure for too much overtime; 10 ways to cut expenses; specialty-specific budget resources
| | Staff overtime can cost practices thousands of dollars yearly. Learn how to control overtime. | | | 2009 productivity survey: How do you compare?
| | While primary care physicians, by and large, worked as much in 2008 as they did the previous year, the number of patients seen increased just marginally, according to Medical Economics' annual productivity survey. | | | 2009 earnings survey: How do you compare?
| | A rough year for the U.S. economy had little negative impact on the income of physicians, according to the results of Medical Economics' 2009 Exclusive Survey. | | | Exercise stress testing in the primary care office
| | Exercise stress testing is helpful in evaluating chest pain in selected patients and is a cost-effective strategy for triaging patients with chest pain in the primary care setting. | | | Q&A: What to do when your schedule isn't full
| | What statistics do I really need to track in my practice? | | | Q&A: Monitor your practice's economic vital signs
| | What statistics do I really need to track in my practice? | | | Doctors prepare for swine flu, await final word from federal officials
| | Now that the H1N1 vaccine has been approved, primary care physicians are waiting to hear whether 1 or 2 shots will be required for adult patients. | | | Cardiometabolic Disorders & Weight: Action for Outcomes
| | For the first time, 17 of Advanstar Communications' Life Sciences publications and its web portal, ModernMedicine.com, are collaborating in a coordinated, interdisciplinary initiative to address a major public health issue: cardiometabolic disorders and weight. | | | Know when the Stark law applies to you
| | The Stark law is relevant only in situations that involve a specific set of health services and patients who use Medicare. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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Starting a practice:
The first steps, one year out
| | Here's the first installment of our nuts-and-bolts guide to getting a medical office up and running. | | Starting a Practice
9-10 months out: Loans, leases, and credentialing
| | This second article in our series gives you guidelines for financing your new practice, finding office space, and making certain that you'll get paid. | | Starting a practice
7-8 months out: Benefits and insurance
| | Choosing insurance coverage and practice perks can be daunting. This third installment of our series will help you snare the right ones. | | Starting a practice
5-6 months out: Office design and supplies
| | Now's the time to consider how your office will be laid out and what furnishings and equipment you'll need. | | | Considerations when buying a practice
| | IRA conversion, practice buying considerations are addressed | | | Viewpoint: A doctor's journey to the medical home
| | My attempt to create a patient-centered medical home really started 20 years ago. | | | Is becoming a medical home worth the trouble?
| | Although most of the programs promise increased reimbursement or lump-sum payments, conversion to a medical home requires a level of transformation that can be prohibitive to many practices. | | | America's best places to practice
| | With primary care physicians in demand almost everywhere, there's not a region in the nation that wouldn't love to claim you as its own. The question is: Which state is best for your bank account, your career, and your peace of mind? | | | Viewpoint: Find your own best place to practice
| | With any luck you've already found your own "best place to practice." If not, consider this your invitation to find a friendly place all your own. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| 10 things patients need to hear at every visit
| | Experienced physicians know that it's important to meet a patient's emotional needs, as well as his medical ones. Here are tips to do just that. | | | Patient Communication: Getting what you need
| | Open communication fosters better medicine and can reduce noncompliance, bad outcomes, and, possibly, malpractice suits. | | | What my patients taught me about healing
| | Some remarkable people have taught the author that being "cured of disease" and being "healed" are not the same thing. | | | Be careful when using social media
| | When you're on Facebook or Twitter or using other social media, remember to be honest, respect privacy, and uphold the reputation of the medical profession. | | | AMA adopts new social media policy
| | The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy in an effort to help physicians maintain a positive online presence and preserve the integrity of the patient-physician relationship. | | | Investment in staffing and technology makes a lasting impression
| | Proper investment in the staffing and technology related to day-to-day operations can improve the impression your medical practice conveys and help insulate it from economic downturns and other events beyond your control. | | | No consensus on broadband access and healthcare information
| | Americans are divided about whether broadband Internet access is an advantage when it comes to obtaining health information, according to the results a national phone survey by the Pew Research Center?s Internet & American Life Project. | | | Studies examine online patient communication in healthcare
| | Two papers in the July issue of Health Affairs examine how email, cell phones, and other technology can affect the patient-provider relationship and health outcomes. | | | Study allows patients to view physician notes
| | A new study in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington will examine the effect of physicians sharing with patients, through online medical record portals, the comments and observations they make after each patient encounter. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Case studies serve as 'meaningful use' examples
| | The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and American Society for Quality expect to issue a call for submissions for their "Stories of Success! Leveraging HIT, Improving Quality & Safety" series in early March. | | | Most EHR users believe they will achieve 'meaningful use'
| | Eighty-five percent of healthcare providers believe that their ambulatory electronic health record software will let them meet the 2011 meaningful use deadlines being considered by the federal government, according to a report from research firm KLAS. | | | How to decipher PQRI protocol, how to handle same-day consultations
| | Various areas of coding, including PQRI measures, ophthalmology consults, are addressed | | | Hospital permitted to share pay-for-performance bonuses with physician-owned practice
| | The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) has given the green light to a hospital's proposed arrangement to change its pay-for-performance program to allow for sharing with a physician-owned entity a percentage of the bonus compensation it receives from a private insurer for meeting certain quality targets, according to an advisory opinion posted October 14. | | | Incentive Programs: How does an extra $100,000 sound?
| | By lowering their patients' cost of care doctors who participate in the new Bridges to Excellence Medical Home program can earn a potential annual bonus of $125 for each patient covered by a participating employer. | | | Thumbs down to report cards
| | Payers' efforts to measure and report on physician performance draw fire from the AMA and AAFP. | | | A new tool helps docs winnow measures
| | Many physicians didn't participate in CMS' Physician Quality Reporting Initiative because Medicare's bonus didn't justify the costs involved. But a new service might help physicians get onboard if CMS extends the program next year. | | | Compliance: What about a crackdown on patients?
| | That's what West Virginia's Medicaid program is aiming for. But in the process, physicians may be put in a very bad place. | | | Compliance: Patient autonomy vs P4P imperatives
| | How far will you go to get patients to comply? In the era of pay-for-performance, that question just got a whole lot more difficult. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Disability policy cost for women versus men
| | Disability insurance, disability policy cost and tax obligations while training overseas are all addressed | | | Roth conversion: Is it the right strategy for you?
| | Deciding on a traditional versus Roth IRA calls into consideration several factors, including tax rates. | | | New credit card law could mean higher fees for consumers
| | Recent changes in credit card laws will likely affect everyone in ways both positive and negative. | | | Q&A: How a car purchase affects your credit score
| | A little-known fact about credit scores is that generally automobile financing uses a unique set of scores. | | | Q&A: Keys to maintaining a good credit score
| | I have several credit cards, two of which have sizable balances. Is there a way I can manage my debt in a way that improves my credit score? | | | Q&A: When your adjustable-rate mortgage increases
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| I have an adjustable-rate mortgage that I've had no problem paying, but it's about to go up in a few months and I'm afraid it'll be too expensive. What can I do? | | | The 150 best financial advisers for doctors
| | To help you get control of your financial future, Medical Economics offers our annual exclusive list of the 150 best financial advisers for doctors. | | | Federal bill would provide deferred-payment loans for EHRs
| | A deferred-payment loan of up to $315,000 for solo physicians to purchase electronic health record systems may soon be available from the Small Business Administration. | | | Q&A: What's a cafeteria health plan?
| | Adopting a cafeteria plan will allow you and your employees to not only pay health insurance premiums on a pre-tax basis, but also unreimbursed medical expenses, dental expenses, eye care, and pharmaceuticals. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| When does converting an IRA make sense?
| | IRA conversion, practice buying considerations are addressed | | | Q&A: When to save, when to pay off debt
| | A general rule when deciding between paying down debt or savings is to estimate the difference between the interest rate of the debt and potential return on investment. | | | The 150 best financial advisers for doctors
| | To help you get control of your financial future, Medical Economics offers our annual exclusive list of the 150 best financial advisers for doctors. | | | Q&A: Is it better to make a charitable donation in stock or cash?
| | If you do not have stocks with gains, you are better off donating cash. | | | Q&A: Converting an IRA to a Roth
| | How can I convert my individual retirement account into a Roth IRA? | | | Q&A: An exit strategy for retiring doctors
| | I'm starting to consider an exit strategy for when I'm ready to retire from my practice. What do I need to know about handling the sale of my building, tax planning, retirement options, etc.? | | | Q&A: Tired of hearing 'buy and hold'
| | Does the same old "buy-and-hold" strategy still have a pulse for those of us in our fifties, sixties, and older? | | | Q&A: What's a self-directed IRA?
| | The self-directed IRA can be invested in any investment the IRA custodian and the IRS allow. | | | Revamping your practice's retirement plan
| | Now may be the time to review your original goals for having a retirement plan, then evaluate whether your plan is meeting those goals. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| What would you do? P4P and noncompliance
| | What angers physicians more than recalcitrant patients? Insurance companies that penalize them because of these patients' actions. | | | What would you do? Testing and insurance
| | A patient's coverage takes a back seat to clinical factors, say most respondents to our ethics poll. | | | What would you do? Alternative medicine
| | For most doctors, our poll shows, patient autonomy is key when the patient turns away from conventional medicine. | | | What would you do? Reproductive Rights
| | Our poll shows that physicians, like the general population, are deeply divided on the ethical implications of abortion. | | | What would you do? Splitting pills
| | There's no one-size-fits-all answer, judging by your responses to our poll examining the difficulty faced by physicians caught between a frugal patient and an insurance company's rules. | | | What would you do? New issues in medical ethics
| | The insurance reimbursement situation, pay for performance, and expensive technology have made it harder than ever to choose the most appropriate ethical course. | | | Abortion: A right or an outrage?
| | Physicians are just as divided as the rest of the nation on this controversial issue. | | | Gifts: What's all the fuss about?
| | Most doctors tell us they aren't unduly influenced by gifts from pharmaceutical companies, and they don't understand all the commotion. | | | Cloning: Where are the limits?
| | A sheep named Dolly brought the issue to the front pages, but doctors face far more intricate dilemmas than simply whether to create carbon copies. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| OIG: Practice owned by physicians and podiatrists poses minimal fraud risk
| | The Office of Inspector General ruled a shared medical practice with 23 physician and podiatrist investors poses little referral abuse risk. | | | Q&A: Steering clear of Stark
| | Several colleagues and I would like to open a diagnostic center with lab, CT, MRI, and X-ray capabilities. We are all independent primary care practitioners in separate offices. How can we do this and avoid Stark Law violations? | | | Physician group may employ part-time physicians for endoscopies
| | A physician group's proposal to employ part-time two physicians to perform endoscopies would not generate prohibited remuneration under the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in an advisory opinion posted December 15. | | | Imaging self-referral proposal would amend Stark laws
| | A Medicare bill introduced in July would require physicians to disclose to patients any self-referral of imaging services such as MRIs and CT scans. | | | Hospital permitted to share pay-for-performance bonuses with physician-owned practice
| | The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) has given the green light to a hospital's proposed arrangement to change its pay-for-performance program to allow for sharing with a physician-owned entity a percentage of the bonus compensation it receives from a private insurer for meeting certain quality targets, according to an advisory opinion posted October 14. | | | Gas cards for valued patients?
| | Can we reward valued patients with gas cards, or does that violate governmental regulations? | | | Rising physician self-referral rates has resulted in higher utilization of certain services, report says
| | The number of physician-owned facilities has increased substantially in the past decade, and physician self-referral has resulted in higher utilization of services, especially imaging services, according to a new report issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation?s Synthesis Project. | | | How the new Stark rules affect you
| | You'll applaud some changes, but have trouble with others. | | | Will leasing space from your spouse trigger Stark?
| | Q. My wife, a family physician, owns a building where she practices. I'd like to rent space from her to open a satellite neurology clinic. Are there any Stark or other legal problems with this arrangement? We don't plan to routinely refer patients to one another, but what happens if a patient wants to see both of us? | | | MORE ARTICLES
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Practice Tools
