Compensation in primary care practices edged up about 2.6% in 2010, a smaller increase than in the previous year but still slightly more than specialty practices, a recent survey found. Overall, however, the news was far from good?many practices were operating at a loss.
Meaningful use incentives are a strong motivator for physicians to implement electronic health records (EHRs), but lack of funds remains the primary reason for not taking the plunge, according to a new survey. Still, practices which had stretched to buy them were highly satisfied with EHRs.
Public Citizen recently sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, asking him do something about the state medical board?s failure to stop potentially dangerous doctors from practicing. The letter from the advocacy group and an earlier report got wide coverage in the news media, but most accounts failed to point out that the medical board may not have been the villain in this situation but a victim itself of California?s fiscal crisis.
The response period for the government plan to make public reports on physicians? performance may be over but not before numerous medical associations expressed some concerns. Find out why more than 80 physician organizations called for measures to increase the accuracy of the information and to allow you more opportunity to review your own data.
According to new research, what patients perceive as barriers to office-based primary care may be more important than health insurance coverage in determining whether they go to emergency departments for nonacute care. Find out what potential patients see as barriers to seeing you.
The filing of a lawsuit by six Georgia primary care physicians has escalated the battle against the American Medical Association (AMA)-led process that favors higher payments to specialists at the expense of primary care. Read more to learn why plaintiffs maintain that government reliance on AMA?s Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) violates federal law.
Physician practices may not have the wherewithal to take on much payment risk in an accountable care organization, but commercial payers can provide the support needed to make a variety of risk-sharing models work. Read more to find out how those models work.
Add effective use of technology to diet, exercise and medication compliance when it comes to helping patients control their diabetes. A study found that care for patients with diabetes was appreciably improved when their physicians used electronic health records (EHRs) extensively. And lowering A1c? There?s an app for that.
Being served with a medical malpractice lawsuit can be disturbing, but, before you panic, keep something important in mind: There is a better than even chance the suit eventually will be dropped. The author of a recent study offers advice on speeding that process along.
Is your practice inadvertently trying to double-dip when it comes to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) incentive programs? To make sure you don?t, the agency has posted new answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about how many incentives you can receive at once. The information is complicated but useful.
No amount of urging and prodding from an enormous number of physicians and their associations could persuade Congress and President Obama to use the bipartisan debt deal to repeal the controversial Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. Even worse, the plan that actually was signed into law could mean additional Medicare reimbursement cuts for physicians.
The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a hybrid concierge practice.
A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine says that new information systems tend initially to increase malpractice risks for physician practices, largely because of unfamiliarity with the system and computer-related errors.
When your patients know what to do and why it is important, yet struggle to make lifestyle changes, you could consider a coaching approach. Coaching empowers patients to change ingrained lifestyle patterns and is consistent with patient-centered communication.
Rep. Tom Price, MD (R-Georgia), has introduced a bill in Congress aimed at ending the need for doctors to practice defensive medicine.
Physicians find it more difficult to refer children in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program to specialty care than they do privately insured children, according to the Government Accounting Office.
The number of adult Americans with health insurance continued to decline last year, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Find out how to set up a wireless network for your office computers.
Find out the advantages of purchasing disability insurance at a younger age.
Oklahoma likely will face the biggest shortage of family physicians due to the broader Medicaid eligibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a study in the New England Journal
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.
Respondents to the 2011 Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Medical Practice Today survey said four of the top five "considerable or extreme challenges" they face relate to operational issues.
Two information systems designed to detect Medicare and Medicaid fraud are not working as well as they should, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The author discusses participating versus nonparticipating status with Medicare and opting out.
The requirement for physicians to report quality data electronically would be delayed for at least a year under rule changes proposed recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
EHRs may be breathing new life into the mobile personal health record market. The mobile format encourages development of applications that allow patients to manage chronic diseases, make appointments, and perform other tasks.
The interim final rule was released in early July by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is available for comment until September 6. It requires insurers to use uniform transmission formats and standardized forms when they request information or provide patients' claims and coverage information to doctors.
Learn about the best option when purchasing a practice.
A recent CDC blog seeks to educate Americans on how to prepare for emergencies in a unique way. This physician suggests patient education should also be interesting as well as interactive, effective, and presented in multiple formats (instead of solely providing medical handouts).
The author learns that the value of close communication between doctor and patient-whether through words, appearances, or movements-has no price, no measure of productivity.