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A spree of specialty- and hospital-based practice acquisitions in 2010 by national corporations such as IPC and Mednax may have some physicians wondering whether the days of publicly traded practice management companies, similar to those in the 1980s and 1990s, will return.

Going cash-only in your practice means getting out of the insurance-billing business and collecting from patients.

Stress is a constant presence in the workplace and never more than in economic times such as these.

In a physician practice, front-office staff members are often treated as the least necessary employees. These employees, however, meet and greet patients, schedule their visits, collect co-payments, and field phone calls.

For the second year in a row, the number of U.S. medical school seniors who will train as family medicine residents has increased, according to results released by the National Resident Matching Program.

Insurance paperwork and patients who don't follow instructions lead the list of your frustrations, according to a new survey.

Know whether it is permissible through HIPAA to keep copies of patients' records.

Primary care practices wishing to become a patient-centered medical home face a growing number of organizations offering accreditation, each with its own set of standards and guidelines.

Practicing medicine, as any other job in the field, can become boring. Worse yet, it can lead to burnout.

Learn how to handle patients who run up large balances and then switch physicians.

Letters discuss patients' cell phone usage and malpractice.

A program in which clinicians and hospitals respond to an adverse event with facts, an appropriate apology, and timely and fair financial compensation if warranted, is a viable but uncommon tactic used in efforts to reduce healthcare costs in Massachusetts, according to a new study.

Median compensation for primary care physician faculty at academic practices in 2010 increased 3.47% since 2009, according to results of an MGMA survey.

The author is reminded almost daily why he can be grateful for the job he has as well as its ample compensation.

If you want your practice to reap benefits from electronic health records (EHRs), computerized provider order entry, and clinical decision-support systems, it?ll take strong leadership and staff ?buy-in.? So conclude researchers from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (HIT) after reviewing 154 recent studies on the topic.

You and your patients have a new non-government resource for information related to the Affordable Care Act, thanks to a new Web site launched by a coalition that includes the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association, and five other organizations.

As a physician practicing family, or internal medicine, you are more likely than your colleagues in pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, or other medical specialties to quality for Medicare- or Medicaid-related incentives for achieving ?meaningful use? of electronic health records (EHRs). That?s the finding of an analysis of federal survey data by Brian K. Bruen, lead research scientist in the Department of Health Policy in the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, and colleagues.

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.

If your practice is on the small side and plans to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system soon, an analysis of 26 primary care practices?each ranging from two to 12 physicians?in the Dallas, Texas, area may provide some insights into the financial and nonfinancial costs you?ll incur.

Several months ago, we issued a rallying cry for the profession to come together to share innovative ideas and strategies in light of something that is becoming more and more apparent: Primary care is at a crossroads.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services levied more than $5 million in fines and penalties on a major hospital and a medical group for alleged violations of HIPAA.

Understand your rights regarding patients who refuse to pay their deductible expenses.

The president's fiscal year 2012 budget proposal sets the stage for stabilizing the Medicare physician payment system and building up the primary care physician workforce.

Six health plans in New York's Hudson Valley paid $1.5 million to 236 primary care physicians in 11 practices that achieved patient-centered medical home recognition from a national nonprofit organization.

Seventy-three percent of Americans surveyed would use a secure online communication service to make it easier to get lab results, request appointments, pay medical bills, and communicate with their doctors' offices.

This article on how to keep your practice running smoothly focuses on billing, collection, filing and other functions.

Know whether your disability insurance policy will cover you while working abroad.

Q: What are some of the pros and cons of establishing custodial accounts for children?